The Nightmare Before Christmas is a beloved ’90s classic. But did you know the movie started life over ten years earlier, when producer Tim Burton wrote a poem in 1982? At the time, Burton was an animator at Walt Disney Studios, and he tried to turn The Nightmare Before Christmas into a short film. Disney considered it, but nothing ever happened with it, and eventually Burton lost his job. Then he went on to direct Pee-wee’s Big Adventure and Batman. Suddenly, Disney was more interested in The Nightmare Before Christmas, and as an entire feature-length film. That’s just one of the Nightmare Before Christmas facts featured in the newest episode of You Think You Know Movies!

Burton wanted to direct the film, but he was already committed to directing Batman Returns. That’s when Burton hired Henry Selick to direct the film. 120 artists ultimately worked on the project, spread out over 20 different studio soundstages. When it was released, The Nightmare Before Christmas became the first-ever full-length stop-motion animated feature from a major Hollywood studio. Today, it’s still regarded as one of the best.

‘You Think You Know Movies?’ is a ScreenCrush original series that dives deep into the cinematic worlds of your favorite movies and freeze frames a few tidbits you might not have known. We’ve already tackled Star Wars, The Avengers and Spider-Man, but now we’re headed to Halloween Town for some Nightmare Before Christmas fun. Watch more installments of ‘You Think You Know Movies?’ below and let us know in the comments what movies we should cover next.

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