This is the original poem from Tim Burton’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas”

We owe a lot to the creative genius of Tim Burton, from Edward scissor hands As far as Frankenweeniepassing through Batman y The Corpse Bride (apart from some inspired by Roald Dahl’s works).

Burton’s legacy was to teach the general public, that greedy for commercial material and marketing stickers, that there was life beyond Disney and that children’s cinema could exude art and social denunciation, beyond principles. and necessarily blue princesses. And, among them, I think just that Nightmares before Christmas he was the pioneer, the first widely known and the one that even today, 28 years later, everyone can talk about.

You probably know that, although in popular imagination this film is by Tim Burton, in reality the film is not his. That is to say: it took a long time, this is undeniable, but the film was directed by Henry Selick, another brilliant director who also dealt with The worlds of Coraline, James and the giant peach and the new one out Wendell & Wild (You have it since last Friday on Netflix). Burton was the film’s producer, but in the film’s entire three-year production process, he only appeared in the film. setting up on five occasions, to discuss creative differences.

So what did Tim Burton do?

Burton is in charge of the ideology: he wrote, in the 1980s and while he was animator at Disney, a long poem inspired by a showcase that he saw one day, by chance, while they were removing the Halloween decorations and mounting the Christmas ones and , for a short time, pumpkins, skeletons and witches coexisted with elves, gifts and Santa Claus.

When Disney released the special edition for DVD and Blu-Ray in 2008, it included an animated short film in which the masterful Christopher Lee narrated the original poem.

An absolutely beautiful poem narrated by a unique voice. A wonder, a Halloween gift 🙂

Today, as a curiosity and to celebrate this day that, as you know, I like so much, I have taken the liberty and time to translate it into Spanish, respecting as much as possible the meter and the rhyme and preserving its content.

Hope you like it 🙂

It was late autumn in Halloweenland.

and the freezing air felt.

Against the moon, a tired skeleton

he sat alone on a hill.

Tall, thin, bat-like bow tie.

Surname Skellington, his name was Jack.

At Halloweenland he was bored,

where everything was always the same.

“I’m tired of fear, of terror, of fear.

Tired of being something that moves in the dark.

Tired of looking at you while I’m very still,

My feet hurt from my skeletal dancing.

I don’t like cemeteries or places without light.

There has to be more to living screaming ‘Boo!’ ‘

Then from a grave, with a spectacular leap,

a ghostly mist came whimpering.

He was a ghost dog, he could barely bark,

with a red nose that glowed in the dark.

It was Zero, Jack’s dog, undoubtedly his best friend,

even though Jack didn’t hear it coming, and Zero was saddened.

All night and all day

Jack walked disconsolately.

And deep in the forest

Jack had a vision

just before night:

In some trees, very close,

there were three carved doors;

in front of a stunned Jack

the three stood up

but there was one

who seemed to call him.

Excited, he opened the door

and a heavy snowfall hit him.

Jack didn’t know, but it was over

in the center of a place called Christmas!

Bathed in the lights he was full of joy:

He had finally found the feeling he wanted.

And so his friends wouldn’t accuse him of lying

took out some socks full of candy and licorice.

A photo of Santa Claus with all his elves.

Gifts by the fire, toys on the floor,

He took dolls, cars, trains.

Lights, decorations, the star of the tree …

And also the “Christmas” sign.

took the letter gen.

He took everything that could shine or shine,

he also took a handful of snow.

He stole everything and secretly, without further ado,

He took everything with him to Halloweenland.

Upon arrival, his followers admired the souvenir,

but no one was prepared for what was to come.

Many were excited, some were afraid:

Jack was willing to change Halloween.

In the following days, under thunder and lightning,

Jack sat alone, totally obsessed.

“Because they received laughter and joy

and to us the cemeteries and the fear in the dark night?

I could be Santa Claus! Make gifts!

Why can he do it year after year?

Outraged by the injustice, Jack thought and thought.

And an idea came to him … “Yes … Yes … Why not?”

At Christmas, Santa Claus was at his chores

when he heard a whisper through the door.

And at the opening, dismayed,

He saw three horrible creatures, three little ones in disguise,

who have opened their bags

and yelled “Trick or treat!”

Santa Claus was captured and brought in front of Jack

that the criminal mind was in that kidnapping.

Everyone gathered at Halloweenland

see Santa for the first time.

And as they glared at the strange old man,

Jack told Santa about his big plan:

“My dear Mr. Claus, I think it is a crime

that you have to be Santa Claus all the time!

Now I will sow joy and deliver gifts.

We will change places.

I will be Santa Claus this year.

I’ll be the one to tell you: “Merry Christmas!”.

You can rest, you can go to my coffin.

You can slam doors, make noises, yell “Boo!”

And please don’t think badly of my proposal.

I promise to make Santa as good as possible. “

And even if Jack and his friends thought they did a good job

his Christmas schedule turned out to be a bit macabre.

On Christmas Eve they prepared gifts

and Jack tied the reindeer to a coffin by the reins,

but when it was all about to begin

A thick fog fell over Halloweenland.

Jack said, “We can’t take off!

It is too thick!

There can be no Christmas.

I will not be San Nicola … “

Then a small red light pierced the darkness.

What could it be? It was Zero! Jack’s dog!

Jack said, “Zero, my friend,

I need your light.

will you come with me tonight?

driving my coffin? “

Being so needy was Zero’s big dream,

so he happily took command of the flight.

And as the loaded coffin began its ghostly flight,

Jack laughed and shouted: “Good night everyone! And Merry Christmas!”.

It was the nightmare before Christmas, and in every building

no one was at peace, not even a mouse.

Socks tastefully decorated the fireplace.

At dawn everyone would be scared!

The children, curled up in their beds,

with monsters and skulls they would have nightmares.

The moon, suspended over the freshly fallen snow

throw a mysterious cloak over the cursed city.

And now Santa’s laughter sounded like a whine.

And they rang like bones banging bells.

And what appeared before his eyes was a sled

coffin-shaped, pulled by deer skeletons,

and a driver, skeletal and ugly, who makes them fly.

And they knew, at that moment, that it couldn’t be Saint Nicholas.

With real joy, from roof to roof

Jack happily handed out every toy and gift.

He jumped and slid from roof to roof,

with gifts that seemed to have been brought from the dead.

Jack kindly did his job …

Unaware that the world was terrified.

He visited David and Susan’s home;

He left them two puppies taken from a grave.

Later in little Pablo’s house

left a doll possessed by the devil himself.

A vampire bear with sharp teeth.

A train with tentacles.

A puppet with an ax.

a carnivorous plant

disguised as a garland

There were screams of terror, but Jack couldn’t hear them.

Christmas had filled him with joy.

Jack finally, from the starry night, looked down

and I saw the hustle and the noise and the light under the roofs.

“They’re celebrating it! It looks like a lot of fun!

I’m sure they feel very grateful. “

But what he thought were fireworks

in reality they were bullets destined to be deadly.

Jack prodded Zero: they had to go up!

And they flew as far as they could,

until suddenly a missile hit them.

And as they fell into the graveyard, hidden in the dark,

a voice was heard again: “Good evening everyone! And Merry Christmas! “.

Jack perched on a large stone cross,

and from there he reviewed his incredible loss.

“I thought it might be Santa, I really did.”

He was so confused that even his soul ached.

Not knowing where to turn, he looked up at the sky.

He fell into the grave and began to cry.

And when Zero and Jack lay crumpled together

They heard a very familiar voice beside them.

“My dear Jack,” said Santa Claus, “I applaud your gesture.

I know you didn’t mean to cause this

and that’s why you’re sad and broken now,

but stealing Christmas … should never have happened.

Hope you know Halloween is where you need to be.

There is much more, Jack, that I would like to tell.

But now I have to go, because it’s almost Christmas. “

Jack was sad on his way home, but, as in a dream, in the end

Santa Claus brought Christmas to the town of Halloween.

Filed under: 90s, Cinema, Curiosities, Childhood