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It's not always easy to identify a classic movie as soon as it is released, with many films having to build a following over years or decades. Take, for example, The Nightmare Before Christmas, which was developed by Tim Burton and directed by Henry Sellick. The idea of a feature-length stop-motion animated movie was ambitious for 1993, which was shortly before the embrace of 3D CGI. Even with strong reviews, the movie didn't earn the financial response of movies like Beauty and the Beast or Aladdin, but it has definitively earned its place as a staple of the Halloween and Christmas seasons.
Between the fact that its fandom grows with each passing year and that this world is ripe for more stories, Burton and Sellick have largely shut down all talks of a sequel or a reboot over the years. Interestingly, 1993 also saw the release of another relative flop from Disney, with Hocus Pocus similarly growing a cult following since its release. It may have taken 29 years to get Hocus Pocus 2, but the decades-later sequel gives Nightmare Before Christmas us hope that a new movie could somehow emerge.
While we will have to keep waiting for a follow-up movie, which might never come, there are still other exciting releases from The Nightmare Before Christmas franchise. For example, this October will see the release of Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas – Zero's Journey (Ultimate Full-Color Graphic Novel Edition with Sprayed Edges). This new hardcover contains all 20 issues of the original series, as well as supplemental materials.
Penguin Random House describes the story, "Jack Skellington is the undisputed Pumpkin King of Halloween Town and creative genius behind the most spooktacular scares. Beside him through every great new creepy concept is his ever-faithful ghost pup, Zero. Finding himself lost in a curious land of baked goods, hand-wrapped presents, decorated trees, and joyful caroling, Zero must traverse the unfamiliar world of Christmas Town to find his way home!"
The publisher confirms the following special features of this Ultimate Edition:
- This deluxe collectors’ edition combines the entire Zero’s Journey series into one book and re-releases it in full-color!
- Exclusive Special Edition Hardcover at a large premium collectors’ edition size!
- The Bookscan-Ranked Hit and beloved by librarians and Tim Burton fans!
- Never-before-published cover illustration by Kei Ishiyama, one of the original artists for the original series!
Zero's Journey first debuted in 2018 and then was collected into a paperback edition in 2024. Whether you already have a copy or this is the first you're hearing of the story, it's an edition well worth the investment.
In addition to being a whimsical and macabre experience in its own right, part of what made the original movie so magical is that it blends the iconography of Halloween and Christmas, two events that couldn't be more of a juxtaposition. What this also means is that the movie enters heavy rotation heading into the Halloween season, only for enthusiasm to extend all the way through to the end of the year. Still, no matter how much support the concept might have, Burton doesn't want to try to replicate it, with this new release of Zero's Journey being the next best thing.
Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas – Zero's Journey (Ultimate Full-Color Graphic Novel Edition with Sprayed Edges) is now available for pre-order before it is released on Oct. 6.
