Tim Burton's "The Nightmare Before Christmas" makes its highly anticipated annual return to its favorite haunt - Hollywood's legendary El Capitan Theatre - for a special engagement from October 21 through October 31, and for the first time ever, in 4-D, it was announced today by Lylle Breier, senior vice president of worldwide special events for Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. Breier said, "As always, the El Capitan is your ‘Nightmare' headquarters, and this year, our guests will be introduced to the magic of 4-D. The film will be presented in Disney Digital 3-DTM, and there will be exciting sensory effects for our guests to experience at the same time - including wind, snow, fog, and much more. It's a way of seeing "The Nightmare Before Christmas" like never before for our loyal customers who have made a tradition out of seeing this Disney classic here every year."
The engagement kicks off on Thursday October 21 at 7:00 pm with opening night festivities hosted by Disney producer Don Hahn ("Beauty and the Beast," "The Lion King," "Who Framed Roger Rabbit"), and there will be special ghoulish frights and delights for opening night guests as well.
The film screens daily at 10:00 am, 12:15 pm, 2:30 pm, 4:45 pm, 7:00 pm, and 9:15 pm. Special late night Halloween weekend shows will be given at 11:15 pm Fridays and Saturdays only.
Tickets can be purchased at the El Capitan box office (6838 Hollywood Blvd.), online at
www.elcapitantickets.com, or by calling 1-800-DISNEY6. Special group rate tickets for parties of 20 or more are available by calling 1-818-845-3110.
Disney's Soda Fountain and Studio Store, located adjacent to the El Capitan Theatre, joins in the Halloween spirit by offering a special "Pumpkin King Dinner" on select days, which includes dinner, ghoulish cupcake decorating, a commemorative photo and a special gift. Seating is limited and reservations are required.
Commenting on the announcement, Breier said, "We're delighted to be bringing ‘Nightmare Before Christmas' back to the El Capitan Theatre in a new and exciting way using both glorious Disney Digital 3-D and our special brand of 4-D for the first time ever. Our guests will get closer than ever to Halloweentown's beloved Pumpkin King, Jack Skellington, as he attempts to take over the Christmas holiday. Each year brings new screams of delight from our audiences, and they love being able to see their favorite
Tim Burton characters in a whole new way. The film grows more popular every year with moviegoers and we're very excited to continue our Halloween tradition."
The enormously popular stop-motion animated feature, directed by Henry Selick and presented by
Walt Disney Pictures, was converted from its original 2-D format into a stunning dimensional and enchanting 3-D version in 2006 using the latest advancements in 3-D technology and animation. It became the first movie in industry history to be released exclusively in Digital 3-D, and it represented the first time in the history of motion pictures that a 3-D feature was created from an existing animated classic. An award-winning team of technicians and animators at Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), in collaboration with In-Three Inc., helped Disney to convert the film from 2-D to 3-D by creating a new right eye image (by animating digitized versions of the original puppet characters and projecting footage of the sets onto dimensional geometry).
First released in 1993,
Tim Burton's "The Nightmare Before Christmas" was directed by Henry Selick ("James and the Giant Peach"), and based on a story and characters by
Tim Burton. The film follows the earnest-but-misguided adventures of Jack Skellington, Halloweentown's beloved Pumpkin King, as he attempts to take over the Christmas holiday. Against the advice of Sally, a lonely rag doll who has feelings for him, Jack enlists three mischievous trick-or-treaters - Lock, Shock, and Barrel - to help him kidnap
Santa Claus.
Jack eventually realizes his mistake but has to contend with the evil Oogie Boogie before he can make things right and restore the Christmas holiday. Fueled by an unforgettable Grammy-nominated soundtrack featuring songs by Oscar® nominee
Danny Elfman,
Tim Burton's "The Nightmare Before Christmas" in Disney Digital 3DTMpromises to be fun for the whole family.
