Not all the characters made it to the end of the animated classic. The Evil Scientist is defined by his willingness to control his creations at whatever the cost. For a movie that deals with Christmas, its surprising to have Santa on the bottom of the list. Nightmare Before Christmas characters' deaths Ranking All The Nightmare Before Christmas Characters 8 Santa. Jack cherishes him and always cares for him. He is Jack Skellington’s loyal friend and is always there to help and cheer him up. Zero is a ghost dog from Nightmare Before Christmas characters. But that kind of explanation isn't really required for a movie where holidays have their own worlds that exist inside trees.Zero Zero the ghost dog is Jack's loyal friend. Granted, having Oogie Boogie made out of a bunch of bugs doesn't really make sense either, especially since it's not clear how they all come together to have one consciousness as Oogie Boogie, complete with a single, big booming voice. Making Finkelstein the controller of Oogie Boogie doesn't add anything to the narrative, and if anything, it makes the character unnecessarily more complicated. In fact, he hated the idea so much that he "flipped out and kicked a hole in the wall then walked out of the room." Thompson couldn't confirm whether he also yelled, "You try to make a dupe out of me?!" but we'll just assume that's what happened.Įven though that's an unnecessary reaction to a creative consideration, I have to say that I agree with Burton on that not being a good idea. "Henry and Tim had a giant fight over Oogie Boogie where Henry wanted the reveal inside Oogie Boogie to be Dr Finkelstein, manipulating Oogie Boogie rather than the sack of moths."īurton didn't like that. After all, even in these more progressive times, this issue hasn't been continually pushed forth by any activist groups, and nowadays, a company like Disney would certainly answer quickly for accusations like that, hence the warnings about cultural insensitivity on Disney+ for movies and TV shows that have outdated depictions of certain cultures and people. That train of thought seems to track because there are several iterations of the boogeyman, both in the United States and in countries like Hungary, Brazil, Portugal, Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia, and North Macedonia, where the image of the boogeyman is a man, woman, or creature who carries a sack used to kidnap children.Īny ties to racist elements seem to merely be coincidental. He's made to look like a creepy ghost made out of an old sack. We went with Ken Page, who is a black singer, and he had no problem with it."įrom my perspective, the name Oogie Boogie is merely a reference to the boogeyman. I think those are some of the most inventive moments in cartoon history, in no way racist, even though he was sometimes a villain. "Cab Calloway would dance his inimitable jazz dance and sing 'Minnie the Moocher' or 'Old Man of the Mountain', and they would rotoscope him, trace him, turn him into a cartoon character, often transforming him into an animal, like a walrus. According to Wikipedia, Henry Selick had this response to the backlash that did end up coming from the organization: But I guess that wouldn't be the first time an actor of actress or color took a job that came with potentially racist baggage simply because it meant getting work in an industry where minorities have to struggle to find jobs.įor what it's worth, composer Danny Elfman was also worried about the character potentially being seen as racist, specifically by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). If there was even a hint of that being the case, you would think that Page wouldn't have been interested in the role. Plus, the fact that the character is voiced by Black actor Ken Page feels like a strike against the idea of this being a racist character. But it doesn't make sense to have a character resemble a racist Klansman but then give him the name of a racial slur used to disparage the very people they hate. All the hard work that Selick, Burton, and their team did to make this film happen can be seen on-screen, with gorgeous stop-motion animation and a. And Thompson is correct that the term "boogie" (without Oogie) is a racial slur for Black people. The Nightmare Before Christmas is a meticulously crafted masterpiece, and yes, ‘meticulously crafted’ is a fitting advective in this scenario given that this is a stop-motion animated film. I can understand possibly seeing Oogie Boogie resembling a Klansman, even if the burlap material he appears to be made out of is less white and more beige (or green when the black lights come on). I think it's a fun segment of the story as it was executed but it's a troubling one." And as I said, I really did beg Tim to reconsider. It was a troubling part of the film for me, to be frank. I said: this is so ugly and dangerous and antithetical to everything inside me. I begged the powers that be to change something about that character, because of that. Oogie Boogie is a derogatory term for African Americans in the American south. "The Oogie Boogie character looks like a Klansman.
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