A 3D Nightmare before Christmas

I usually don't do film reviews, but I just came back from the 3D version of A Nightmare Before Christmas. Now, if you know me, you know I'm a fan of puppetry. This includes anything stop-motion. (For those who don't know, stop-motion animation requires moving an object millimetre by millimetre and taking a photo for each move - creating frames, that when shown in order very fast, look like the items move by themselves. Something akin to a flip-book of cartoons) The great thing is that in 3D, suddenly all the textures and materials come alive. Now, yes, the objects in the movie are created out of clay, wood, foam, etc, but somehow in 2D your mind lumps the animation into one box - along with all the Pixar and Dreamworks animations, even though one is real objects and one is computer-animated. Suddenly, you are aware that the windows are made with acetate, the clouds with pillow-stuffing, the heads painted and wooden. Rather than detract from the mystery of the creation of the movie, it adds to it. Because of the 3D, you really not only feel that you can reach out and touch, but with your mind, can feel the textures without even thinking about it. Add to this the extraordinary effect 3D has on the camera angles, the cinematography of looking up staircases, or looking down on Sally from above, or indeed, the Oogey-Boogey room (when Jack is fighting him), and especially Jack's song in the cemetary when he realises he is the King of Halloween, all becomes so much more expert and delicate. I'm not a fan of musicals, and when I saw this movie the first time (and a couple of times after that), the songs got on my nerves. Other than my fascination with stop-motion, I probably would not be interested in the movie at all. But after having seen it in 3D, I am now a convert of A Nightmare Before Christmas-land. (Actually, I do have a favourite part of the movie, which is anything to do with the fluoro puppetry in the Oogey-Boogey scenes. You hardly ever see this technique in theatres, let alone in a movie) If you're a fan of this movie, then you MUST see it in 3D. It is ten times better, from both an artistic/aesthetic point of view, and a technical one. My hope is that this will come out as a special DVD, with a pair of glasses, so that we can all enjoy it at home. It would be a great addition to the DVD collection. *This is halloween, this is halloween, halloween, halloween....*