Would you like to inspect the original subtitles? These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated:
1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,890
[MUSIC - "WHAT'S THIS?"]
2
00:00:12,070 --> 00:00:17,650
"Nightmare Before Christmas--"
that was a unique moment for me
3
00:00:17,650 --> 00:00:21,760
in my life that I've never had
anything quite like it since,
4
00:00:21,760 --> 00:00:24,890
because I'd always, as a
songwriter, with Oingo Boingo,
5
00:00:24,893 --> 00:00:26,563
and with the Mystic
Knights before that,
6
00:00:26,560 --> 00:00:29,020
I always kind of struggled
getting a song together.
7
00:00:29,020 --> 00:00:32,330
And usually, there's a process,
like what am I singing about?
8
00:00:32,330 --> 00:00:35,400
And I have a tune I like,
but I don't know what I'm--
9
00:00:35,397 --> 00:00:37,477
what's bothering me right
now, because frequently,
10
00:00:37,480 --> 00:00:39,820
I sung about things
that bothered me.
11
00:00:39,820 --> 00:00:42,660
I just don't want to write
things just to be obnoxious,
12
00:00:42,658 --> 00:00:44,198
like when I started
out, because that
13
00:00:44,200 --> 00:00:45,710
was enough in the beginning.
14
00:00:45,710 --> 00:00:48,010
Now, I'm looking for things
that I'm thinking about.
15
00:00:48,010 --> 00:00:49,060
It was hard.
16
00:00:49,060 --> 00:00:51,520
And I start "Nightmare
Before Christmas" with Tim,
17
00:00:51,520 --> 00:00:56,410
and so this was unique because
it's the first time in my life
18
00:00:56,410 --> 00:01:00,430
I'd written for a
character that wasn't me,
19
00:01:00,430 --> 00:01:03,890
the character I felt
a close kinship with.
20
00:01:03,890 --> 00:01:06,590
And as I wrote more and
more for Jack Skellington,
21
00:01:06,590 --> 00:01:11,110
he became more of my alter ego
that I felt was part of me,
22
00:01:11,110 --> 00:01:14,260
but that developed in the
course of writing 10 songs.
23
00:01:14,260 --> 00:01:16,780
It was unique because
there was no script.
24
00:01:16,780 --> 00:01:20,820
Tim and I did not know
how to begin a musical.
25
00:01:20,820 --> 00:01:24,960
There was no guidebook
or manual to look up
26
00:01:24,960 --> 00:01:26,800
on how to begin a
musical animation that
27
00:01:26,803 --> 00:01:27,723
doesn't have a script.
28
00:01:27,720 --> 00:01:28,440
He had a story.
29
00:01:28,440 --> 00:01:29,550
He had an outline.
30
00:01:29,550 --> 00:01:32,130
And that's what, basically,
he got the job from.
31
00:01:32,130 --> 00:01:34,740
I just knew what I
didn't want it to be.
32
00:01:34,740 --> 00:01:38,190
I didn't want it to
be a Broadway musical
33
00:01:38,190 --> 00:01:42,800
because, in that period,
I felt like Broadway
34
00:01:42,800 --> 00:01:46,040
had become an extension of
adult contemporary music.
35
00:01:46,040 --> 00:01:50,480
And so I wanted to write
something musically that
36
00:01:50,480 --> 00:01:53,870
was contemporary but retro,
meaning the songs were modern,
37
00:01:53,870 --> 00:01:58,700
but they also referred back
to things that were retro.
38
00:01:58,700 --> 00:02:00,590
In the sense, I was
trying to put together
39
00:02:00,590 --> 00:02:02,790
different eras of song
writing and trying
40
00:02:02,793 --> 00:02:04,463
to find a way to make
it sound like this
41
00:02:04,460 --> 00:02:05,840
could come from any era.
42
00:02:05,840 --> 00:02:09,350
So my great driving
influences were--
43
00:02:09,350 --> 00:02:12,620
obviously, Kurt Weill
was the biggest influence
44
00:02:12,620 --> 00:02:14,260
because I loved
"Threepenny Opera."
45
00:02:14,260 --> 00:02:14,890
[MUSIC PLAYING]
46
00:02:14,885 --> 00:02:23,075
[NON-ENGLISH SINGING]
47
00:02:23,070 --> 00:02:25,220
There was also
Gilbert and Sullivan.
48
00:02:25,220 --> 00:02:26,930
I loved Gilbert and Sullivan.
49
00:02:26,930 --> 00:02:30,570
I think there's just nothing
better from the 19th Century.
50
00:02:30,570 --> 00:02:33,590
These are what I
took into the songs.
51
00:02:33,590 --> 00:02:35,150
We don't have a
script, but Henry
52
00:02:35,150 --> 00:02:36,760
is ready to start animating.
53
00:02:36,760 --> 00:02:38,510
We have to start coming
up with something.
54
00:02:38,510 --> 00:02:40,910
We just-- we're just behind.
55
00:02:40,910 --> 00:02:42,650
Let's just start with the tunes.
56
00:02:42,650 --> 00:02:45,920
OK, take out the drawings,
and I would say, just tell me
57
00:02:45,920 --> 00:02:47,300
what happens here.
58
00:02:47,300 --> 00:02:50,040
And he goes-- he starts
telling me the story,
59
00:02:50,040 --> 00:02:52,250
and I would start
hearing the tune.
60
00:02:52,250 --> 00:02:54,780
And he would have, sometimes,
little phrases, bits of lyrics
61
00:02:54,782 --> 00:02:55,492
that he had done.
62
00:02:55,490 --> 00:02:56,840
It's like, oh, that's
good, that's good,
63
00:02:56,840 --> 00:02:58,040
and I would shut them down.
64
00:02:58,040 --> 00:02:59,220
And I'd say, OK, that's it.
65
00:02:59,223 --> 00:03:00,143
Don't tell me anymore.
66
00:03:00,140 --> 00:03:02,630
Get out there, and I
run back to my studio.
67
00:03:02,630 --> 00:03:06,020
And we did this 10
times, and each song only
68
00:03:06,020 --> 00:03:07,580
took about three days to write.
69
00:03:07,580 --> 00:03:11,660
I'd call him back twice a
week to hear a new song.
70
00:03:11,660 --> 00:03:13,670
And I'd play him the
one that I just wrote,
71
00:03:13,670 --> 00:03:17,030
and he was like, oh, yeah,
OK, yeah, that's good.
72
00:03:17,030 --> 00:03:18,480
Well, what happens next?
73
00:03:18,480 --> 00:03:20,170
Now, Jack wanders
into the forest,
74
00:03:20,170 --> 00:03:21,920
and he's going to come
across these doors.
75
00:03:21,920 --> 00:03:24,250
And he gets pulled down,
and it's Christmasland,
76
00:03:24,252 --> 00:03:25,212
and he's never seen it.
77
00:03:25,210 --> 00:03:26,040
Everything is fresh.
78
00:03:26,043 --> 00:03:27,183
Everything is new.
79
00:03:27,180 --> 00:03:29,910
And it's like, yes, what's this?
80
00:03:29,910 --> 00:03:30,410
I got it.
81
00:03:30,410 --> 00:03:30,910
I got it.
82
00:03:30,910 --> 00:03:31,430
I got it.
83
00:03:31,430 --> 00:03:32,100
Get out of here.
84
00:03:32,100 --> 00:03:32,510
Get out of here.
85
00:03:32,510 --> 00:03:33,320
And he's-- OK, I'm going.
86
00:03:33,320 --> 00:03:33,980
I'm going.
87
00:03:33,980 --> 00:03:34,580
Go back.
88
00:03:34,580 --> 00:03:35,690
Write "What's This?"
89
00:03:35,690 --> 00:03:36,860
Lay down all the vocals.
90
00:03:36,860 --> 00:03:40,760
I was laying down all the
vocals for everything as I went.
91
00:03:40,760 --> 00:03:42,440
Comes back three
days later, and he
92
00:03:42,440 --> 00:03:43,070
hears, (SINGING) what's this?
93
00:03:43,070 --> 00:03:43,530
What's this?
94
00:03:43,530 --> 00:03:44,510
There's color everywhere.
95
00:03:44,510 --> 00:03:44,900
What's this?
96
00:03:44,900 --> 00:03:45,710
There's white things in the air.
97
00:03:45,710 --> 00:03:46,160
[MUSIC - "WHAT'S THIS?"]
98
00:03:46,160 --> 00:03:46,970
(SINGING) What's this?
99
00:03:46,970 --> 00:03:48,130
I can't believe my eyes.
100
00:03:48,128 --> 00:03:48,918
I must be dreaming.
101
00:03:48,920 --> 00:03:49,620
Wake up, Jack.
102
00:03:49,620 --> 00:03:50,490
This isn't fair!
103
00:03:50,492 --> 00:03:51,802
What's this?
104
00:03:51,800 --> 00:03:53,840
And he's going,
yeah, that's good.
105
00:03:53,840 --> 00:03:55,130
Now, what happens?
106
00:03:55,130 --> 00:03:58,430
And we just went the
whole way like that.
107
00:03:58,430 --> 00:04:02,150
And at points, it
was stuff that wasn't
108
00:04:02,150 --> 00:04:04,040
going to be in song at all.
109
00:04:04,040 --> 00:04:06,950
But it's like, Jack
calls a town meeting,
110
00:04:06,950 --> 00:04:08,850
and he's bringing
everybody, and he's
111
00:04:08,850 --> 00:04:12,210
going to explain what
they don't understand.
112
00:04:12,210 --> 00:04:15,530
He's trying to explain the
spirit of Christmasland
113
00:04:15,530 --> 00:04:16,940
to Halloween Land.
114
00:04:16,940 --> 00:04:17,910
And it wasn't a song.
115
00:04:17,912 --> 00:04:19,372
It was never intended
to be a song.
116
00:04:19,370 --> 00:04:22,250
But he's telling me
the story, and I go,
117
00:04:22,250 --> 00:04:23,950
this is a thing
called a present.
118
00:04:23,953 --> 00:04:25,373
The whole thing
starts with a box.
119
00:04:25,370 --> 00:04:26,140
A box?
120
00:04:26,140 --> 00:04:27,140
Is it filled with a pox?
121
00:04:27,140 --> 00:04:28,790
(IN A SILLY VOICE) A pox,
how delightful, a pox.
122
00:04:28,790 --> 00:04:30,440
(SPEAKING NORMALLY) No, no,
no, you don't understand.
123
00:04:30,440 --> 00:04:32,690
A box with bright colored paper,
(SINGING) and the whole thing's
124
00:04:32,690 --> 00:04:33,710
topped with a bow.
125
00:04:33,710 --> 00:04:34,670
(SPEAKING NORMALLY)
And now, it's a song.
126
00:04:34,670 --> 00:04:35,150
(SINGING) But why?
127
00:04:35,145 --> 00:04:36,095
(SINGING) How ugly.
128
00:04:36,095 --> 00:04:36,575
(SINGING) What's in it?
129
00:04:36,570 --> 00:04:37,390
What's in it?
130
00:04:37,390 --> 00:04:39,140
It's the point of
the thing not to know.
131
00:04:39,140 --> 00:04:39,980
It's a bat!
132
00:04:39,976 --> 00:04:40,686
Will it bend?
133
00:04:40,688 --> 00:04:41,228
It's a rat!
134
00:04:41,230 --> 00:04:41,970
Will it break?
135
00:04:41,970 --> 00:04:44,510
Perhaps it's the head
that I found in the lake.
136
00:04:44,510 --> 00:04:48,380
And there we went, and then
I started really having fun.
137
00:04:48,380 --> 00:04:50,670
(SINGING) Everyone,
please, now, not so fast.
138
00:04:50,670 --> 00:04:54,170
(SPEAKING NORMALLY) Now,
that little phrase is--
139
00:04:54,168 --> 00:04:54,708
I don't know.
140
00:04:54,710 --> 00:04:55,910
It's right out of--
141
00:04:55,905 --> 00:04:57,535
I don't know if it's
out of Cole Porter
142
00:04:57,530 --> 00:04:59,610
or it's out of something
from Gilbert and Sullivan
143
00:04:59,613 --> 00:05:00,713
or something in between.
144
00:05:00,710 --> 00:05:02,690
But every time I got
to those moments,
145
00:05:02,690 --> 00:05:03,980
I was really having fun.
146
00:05:03,980 --> 00:05:05,730
(SINGING) Ah dah-dah
bum bum bum bum bum.
147
00:05:05,727 --> 00:05:07,307
(SPEAKING NORMALLY)
It's like, I never
148
00:05:07,310 --> 00:05:09,560
get to do this unless
it's really silly,
149
00:05:09,560 --> 00:05:11,120
but here, I'm
putting it into song.
150
00:05:11,120 --> 00:05:14,720
And I love these archaic little
moments, musical moments,
151
00:05:14,720 --> 00:05:19,130
that I could grab and make a
hodgepodge, kind of a collage,
152
00:05:19,130 --> 00:05:20,510
of styles from different things.
153
00:05:20,510 --> 00:05:22,610
So within one song,
I might be going
154
00:05:22,610 --> 00:05:26,570
from Kurt Weill to Cole
Porter to Gilbert and Sullivan
155
00:05:26,570 --> 00:05:29,120
and then back to
Kurt Weill again.
156
00:05:29,120 --> 00:05:29,990
Who knows?
157
00:05:29,990 --> 00:05:32,180
But it was that easy.
158
00:05:32,180 --> 00:05:34,100
In that month,
there was actually,
159
00:05:34,100 --> 00:05:37,650
by the time we finished,
more than half the story,
160
00:05:37,650 --> 00:05:39,390
half the movie, was there.
161
00:05:39,390 --> 00:05:41,520
Half the movie was done in song.
162
00:05:41,520 --> 00:05:43,410
And it's like,
OK, what the hell?
163
00:05:43,410 --> 00:05:48,900
And Disney,
fortunately, let us be.
164
00:05:48,900 --> 00:05:51,390
They didn't have any
involvement in the process.
165
00:05:51,390 --> 00:05:52,310
Nobody came in.
166
00:05:52,310 --> 00:05:53,940
Nobody asked to hear anything.
167
00:05:53,940 --> 00:05:55,890
They were just like,
OK, you know what?
168
00:05:55,890 --> 00:05:59,400
We're at the point now where
let's let Tim and Danny go
169
00:05:59,400 --> 00:06:00,390
and do their thing.
170
00:06:00,390 --> 00:06:03,720
Let them go play,
and play we did.
171
00:06:03,720 --> 00:06:06,420
And since we had no
one to answer to,
172
00:06:06,420 --> 00:06:09,540
this is where, of course, we had
the most fun working together,
173
00:06:09,540 --> 00:06:12,060
because it really was like
that most of the time.
174
00:06:12,060 --> 00:06:15,680
It was only "Batman" that
there was producers and others
175
00:06:15,680 --> 00:06:17,880
and the studio involved,
but most of the time,
176
00:06:17,880 --> 00:06:19,150
we were left on our own.
177
00:06:19,150 --> 00:06:20,940
Nobody was paying
attention to what we were
178
00:06:20,942 --> 00:06:22,262
doing on "Edward Scissorhands."
179
00:06:22,260 --> 00:06:22,950
Nobody cared.
180
00:06:22,950 --> 00:06:26,920
It was a low budget movie,
and just go do your thing.
181
00:06:26,920 --> 00:06:28,420
But to do a musical at Disney--
182
00:06:28,420 --> 00:06:30,450
I didn't realize
until much later.
183
00:06:30,450 --> 00:06:32,210
I go, how could they
have allowed that?
184
00:06:32,210 --> 00:06:36,630
That's not in their mindset to
just let two people go run off
185
00:06:36,630 --> 00:06:40,110
and not say, so, gentlemen, let
us listen to what you're doing.
186
00:06:40,110 --> 00:06:40,920
They didn't.
187
00:06:40,920 --> 00:06:44,670
Now, was that our good fortune,
or was that their wisdom
188
00:06:44,670 --> 00:06:46,380
or a combination of the two?
189
00:06:46,380 --> 00:06:49,870
Whatever it is, I'm really
grateful for that now,
190
00:06:49,870 --> 00:06:53,370
because I think that's a
really rare thing for--
191
00:06:53,370 --> 00:06:56,520
just let a couple artists
just go and do their thing.
192
00:06:56,520 --> 00:06:59,190
And I realized-- here I
am, for the first time
193
00:06:59,190 --> 00:07:02,250
ever, writing through
another voice.
194
00:07:02,250 --> 00:07:04,070
And because it's
another voice, I
195
00:07:04,073 --> 00:07:06,243
didn't have to think about
what he's thinking about.
196
00:07:06,240 --> 00:07:07,320
I knew what he was
thinking about.
197
00:07:07,320 --> 00:07:09,450
Tim was telling me what
he's thinking about.
198
00:07:09,450 --> 00:07:11,940
He was showing me pictures,
and it was right there.
199
00:07:11,940 --> 00:07:13,530
And I go, I love this.
200
00:07:13,530 --> 00:07:16,060
There's no stressing over,
what is the character--
201
00:07:16,060 --> 00:07:17,870
what am I wanting to say?
202
00:07:17,868 --> 00:07:19,408
Of course, I know
what I want to say.
203
00:07:19,410 --> 00:07:22,080
I want to say, (SINGING)
what have I done?
204
00:07:22,080 --> 00:07:23,040
What have I done?
205
00:07:23,040 --> 00:07:24,040
How could I be so blind?
206
00:07:24,040 --> 00:07:26,620
(SPEAKING NORMALLY) Because he's
just crashed in the graveyard
207
00:07:26,623 --> 00:07:28,203
because he's screwed
up Christmas.
208
00:07:28,200 --> 00:07:30,300
There's not any stress
over what it's about.
209
00:07:30,300 --> 00:07:32,070
It's-- it's just right there.
210
00:07:32,070 --> 00:07:34,620
It's like, he's singing
about the story.
211
00:07:34,620 --> 00:07:39,510
And so "Nightmare Before
Christmas" was a rare thing.
212
00:07:39,510 --> 00:07:42,870
The actual creation
of the songs that
213
00:07:42,870 --> 00:07:45,690
ended up being such a
big portion of the film--
214
00:07:45,690 --> 00:07:49,770
it just was a rare
moment of synchronicity.
215
00:07:49,770 --> 00:07:54,720
Tim and I were in complete
synchronicity, and it's like,
216
00:07:54,720 --> 00:07:58,140
let's just do our
thing and have fun.
15522
Can't find what you're looking for?
Get subtitles in any language from opensubtitles.com, and translate them here.
Afrikaans
Akan
Albanian
Amharic
Arabic
Armenian
Azerbaijani
Basque
Belarusian
Bemba
Bengali
Bihari
Bosnian
Breton
Bulgarian
Cambodian
Catalan
Cebuano
Cherokee
Chichewa
Chinese (Simplified)
Chinese (Traditional)
Corsican
Croatian
Czech
Danish
Dutch
English
Esperanto
Estonian
Faroese
Finnish
Galician
Georgian
German
Greek
Guarani
Haitian Creole
Hausa
Hawaiian
Hebrew
Hmong
Hungarian
Icelandic
Indonesian
Irish
Italian
Japanese
Kazakh
Kinyarwanda
Kirundi
Kongo
Korean
Krio (Sierra Leone)
Kurdish
Kyrgyz
Laothian
Latin
Latvian
Lithuanian
Luganda
Luo
Luxembourgish
Macedonian
Malagasy
Malay
Maltese
Maori
Mauritian Creole
Moldavian
Mongolian
Myanmar (Burmese)
Montenegrin
Nepali
Norwegian
Pashto
Persian
Polish
Portuguese (Brazil)
Portuguese (Portugal)
Quechua
Romanian
Romansh
Russian
Samoan
Scots Gaelic
Serbian
Sesotho
Setswana
Seychellois Creole
Shona
Sindhi
Sinhalese
Slovak
Slovenian
Somali
Spanish
Swedish
Tajik
Thai
Tigrinya
Tonga
Turkish
Turkmen
Ukrainian
Uzbek
Vietnamese
Welsh
Wolof