Storygraph | Bookshop.org

A retelling of Disney Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, accompanied by original concept and sketch art from development of the film. This beautiful hardback features premium cloth binding, a ribbon marker to match the cover, foil stamping and illustrated endpapers, making this the perfect gift for all those who have been enchanted by the magic of The Nightmare Before Christmas and a book to be treasured by all. A family favourite and cult classic, Disney Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas is one of the best-loved films of all time. Relive the magic through this retelling of the classic film, accompanied by paintings, sketches and concept art from the film’s development.

Just like The Nightmare Before Christmas Novelisation, this book was always going to be a comfort read for me. I’ve watched the film a few times over now, and I’ve read the novelisation. Revisiting the story in a new way, with concept art and sketches, felt like a lovely way to indulge with a revisit to this world.

Seeing the art, paintings and sketches from the film’s development was super interesting, and I love how it added an extra layer of depth to this story for me. I love seeing behind the scenes of films and their development, and I honestly enjoyed pouring over the pages about who drew which art piece and their involvement in the film (right at the back of the book).

However, this book wasn’t without a few flaws. This book is quite short at only 64 pages including the extra information at the back, and I felt like it jumped quite a bit between scenes, missing out quite a bit of context from the film. This was difficult to judge with a background knowledge of the film, but I couldn’t help but feel I would be a bit lost as a first time reader. At points, I even jumped back in case I’d missed out a page.

Saying that, I can still see this as a quick version to consume in the run up to Christmas, and I’m sure I’ll enjoy flicking through the pages again and again.

★★★
3 out of 5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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