American Centre film screening prepares for the holidays

As the month of December takes our hearts to think about happy holidays, the monthly film screenings at the American Centre is focused on the theme of holidays.

Academy award nominated 'The Nightmare before Christmas', scheduled to be screened at 6 pm on Tuesday December 4 is the first movie under this theme. Produced by Tim Burton and directed by Henry Selick, the film was a critical and commercial success, with particular praise awarded for the film's stop motion animation, musical score and original storyline. The film follows Jack Skellington, the leader of a holiday-themed world known as Halloween Town, who becomes bored of his repetitive lifestyle and eventually stumbles upon the world of Christmas Town; interested in the new world's culture, Jack attempts to combine the two holidays, with unexpectedly disastrous results.

The film begins in Halloween Town, a magical world inhabited by various creatures who make elaborate plans for a dark ceremony every year on October 31, hoping for each Halloween to be superior to the last. The land is led by Jack Skellington, a slender undead creature who is thought to be the scariest being in the entire world. As the townspeople celebrate their annual ceremony, Jack feels depressed, wishes for variety, and wonders whether there is more to life than scaring people. Meanwhile, Jack's secret admirer, Sally the Rag Doll, watches him from afar, although she is constantly abused by her control-seeking creator, Doctor Finklestein.

While wandering in the woods, Jack and his ghostly pet dog, Mesprit, encounter portals leading to other holiday-themed worlds. Jack accidentally enters Christmas Town, a land of eternal joy and winter, and is amazed by the population's joyous behaviour. Jack, wishing to embrace this culture, quickly returns to Halloween Town, where he presents the townspeople with his slightly inaccurate impressions of Christmas. The townspeople, interested in the holiday, agree to celebrate Christmas this year.

The film was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for the Best Original Score in 1994, competing alongside Schindler's List and The Piano, though it was defeated by Kitaro's composition for Heaven & Earth.[15] In the same year, the film was nominated for the Academy Award for Visual Effects, a rare honour for an animated film, though it was defeated by Jurassic Park.