Which actors could play Tim Burton's wicked and wonderful creations in a live-action Danny Elfman's greatest ever movie scores. Tunes like "This Is Halloween" and "What's This?" have earned The Nightmare Before Christmas a cult following that gathers more and more foul festive followers every Fall.
The Nightmare Before Christmas stars Jack Skellington - the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town - who falls in love with a Frankenstein's ragdoll called Sally, but accidentally finds himself crossing the forbidden border into Christmas Town. Despite his noble intention to spread the wholesome message of Christmas to his dark and demonic denizens back home, Jack almost ruins both holidays by kidnapping Santa. In true musical fashion, only the potent blend of love and spontaneous singing can save the day.
Though The Nightmare Before Christmas' popularity bulges like Oogie Boogie's stitching year upon year, rumors of Disney producing either an animated sequel or a live-action remake have yet to bear fruit. If The Nightmare Before Christmas was one day afforded the live-action treatment, however, which modern actors would be perfect for the principle cast?
Tom Hiddleston as Jack Skellington
He may not weigh much, but The Nightmare Before Christmas - the indisputable star every other Halloween Town resident orbits around. The most important ingredients in Jack's wretched recipe are theatrical showmanship and an uncanny knack for self-reflective pathos. Jack Skellington's actor would also need a writhe physicality befitting of the surname, and the ability to hold a tune wouldn't hurt either. Few actors match that description as closely as Tom Hiddleston, most recognizable for his performance as Loki in the MCU.
The natural showman qualities Hiddleston infuses into Thor's brother would work perfectly for The Nightmare Before Christmas' Jack Skellington, and the way I Saw The Light reveals the actor's surprisingly good set of pipes. Tom Hiddleston possesses the star power, talent, and popularity to lead a successful The Nightmare Before Christmas adaptation and, more importantly, is one of the few A-listers who could do justice to Chris Sarandon's original voice acting.
Jasmine Cephas Jones as Sally
Though Sally is often outshone by the loud ghoulish bombast of Jack Skellington, her character is just as pivotal to Hamilton's Jasmine Cephas Jones would make a fine live-action Sally.
As Peggy Schuyler, Jasmine Cephas Jones' Hamilton performance covers the same broad strokes as The Nightmare Before Christmas' Sally (albeit without the detachable limbs). Of all the Schuyler sisters, Peggy is the most reserved and unsure, but Jones plays her with the kind of inner determination a live-action Sally would need. Jasmine Cephas Jones pulls double duty as Maria Reynolds in Hamilton, and here she demonstrates a more romantic side. Swap a Founding Father for a singing skeleton, and Jones would be the perfect (after)life partner for Jack in The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Where many of Jack Skellington's musical numbers succeed on sheer personality, Sally's delicate songs require a more nuanced Broadway voice. As you'd expect from a Hamilton alum, Jones would have no trouble hitting Sally's notes.
Andre Braugher as Oogie Boogie
The main villain of The Nightmare Before Christmas, any live-action Oogie Boogie performance would struggle to match the work of Ken Page. Boogie's booming voice is an iconic part of Tim Burton's 1993 movie, and though his exterior appearance resembles a nightmarish potato sack, the vocal is closer to a cabaret jazz singer who moonlights as a comedian. Oogie Boogie's strange tonal mixture of menacing monstrosity and comic relief is a balance few could execute successfully in live-action - even if the villain himself was rendered via CGI. Taking into how Oogie's voice is perhaps even more important than the physical performance, Jasmine Cephas Jones' Sally.
Braugher's Captain Raymond Holt remains super-serious 90% of the time in his cop-themed comedy day job, but the remaining 10% finds him pulling maniacal faces, getting overly excited coming up with new insults for his nemesis, and (in the direst of emergencies only) throwing some surprisingly sharp dance moves. Holt's combination of serious and silly proves Andre Braugher could give Oogie Boogie the more threatening shades Aladdin genie-esque fun and outrageous humor.
Doug Jones as Dr. Finkelstein
Widely known as Hocus Pocus' Billy Butcherson, Doug Jones perhaps isn't the first actor one might pick for The Nightmare Before Christmas' Dr. Finkelstein. As Sally's creator, Finkelstein is bitterly twisted and over-protective, almost delighting in keeping his homemade daughter hidden from the outside world, saved solely for his scientific purposes. There's a caring pride hidden somewhere in that thin frame, but it's often overpowered by the stench of coercion and deadly nightshade. At 6 foot 3, Doug Jones is a whole heap taller than Dr. Finkelstein, but the actor's extra-curricular activities in mime and contortion would give his performance a unique physical quality that no other actor can replicate.
Jones' alien-like movements in Hellboy are ideal for a creepy mad scientist such as Dr. Finkelstein, whose head is what happens when a duck meets a cookie jar. Whether he played the live-action The Nightmare Before Christmas character swathed in prosthetic adornments, or as a more realistic Dr. Frankenstein parody, Doug Jones combines the requisite Halloween horror credentials with a genuine ability to emote behind layers of makeup - as evidenced by his Saru performance. Those features are precisely what Sally's creator needs in The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Paul Reubens as Halloween Town Mayor
The unnamed Mayor of Halloween Town may not be the most complex or layered resident in The Nightmare Before Christmas' spooky universe, but he makes a huge contribution to Tim Burton's overall aesthetic. When fans recall the opening notes of "This Is Halloween," the second character they (the first being Jack Skellington, of course!) is the amusing mayor with his long top hat and spinning head. One man who might actually get away with portraying such a strange elected official is Paul Reubens, known predominantly for his Pee Wee Herman character. With some nifty CGI, Herman's exaggerated happy and angry faces, combined with that unmistakable voice, would fulfill the mayor's role splendidly in a live-action The Nightmare Before Christmas movie, bringing just the right amount of offbeat eccentricity to Halloween Town's festivities.
Paul Reubens' presence in a live-action The Nightmare Before Christmas remake would also bring the property full circle, since the actor voiced Lock (one of Oogie Boogie's trick-or-treat followers) in the 1993 stop-motion original. A frequent collaborator of Tim Burton's, Paul Reubens also knows his way around that trademark "The Cure meets the Addams Family" style The Nightmare Before Christmas helped popularize.
