The Nightmare Before Christmas began life in 1982 as a poem written by a young Disney animator called Tim Burton. In the same year, a stop-motion short called Vincent was released and it soon led to Tim Burton developing the idea further. It would take over 10 years for The Nightmare Before Christmas to be released. Although it’s now considered part of the Walt Disney Pictures library, it was originally released by Touchstone Pictures, as Disney thought it was a little too dark to be released under their banner, Since then it’s become a cult classic and has previously inspired LEGO® products including BrickHeadz and Collectable Minifigures. Now Halloween Town has been recreated in the latest LEGO Ideas set.
Product Details
Set Name: Disney Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas | Set Number: 21351 | Pieces: 2193 | Theme: Ideas
Number of Bags: Bags x 16 (paper) + loose elements | Instructions: Paper booklet + Builder App | Stickers: Sheet x 1 | Insiders QR: Yes
RRP: £169.99/$199.99/199.99€/299.99AUD/259.99CAD
Availability: LEGO Stores & LEGO Online from September 3rd (Insiders) August 6th (General)
As with all LEGO Ideas sets, The Nightmare Before Christmas is based on a fan-created design. UK-based LEGO fan Simon Scott’s project achieved 10,000 votes in September 2022 and was revealed as becoming a LEGO Ideas set in February last year. In the first of three instruction booklets, you can learn about Simon’s inspiration for creating the original idea and a little history about the film which became a cult classic.
Those familiar with Tim Burton’s work will know he has a unique visual style. His films often stray into the macabre and lean into the gothic tones. This is perfect for an entire town which dotes entirely on celebrating Halloween. The film opens in Halloween Town, which as the name suggests, focuses on celebrating the spookiest day of the year. The celebrations are led by Jack Skellington – the Pumpkin King. But he yarns for something different and stumbles upon doors leading to other holiday realms including Christmas Town. He’s memorized by the colourful magic of Christmas and brings the newly discovered festivities to Halloween Town and it’s the town which forms the basis of the set.
Halloween Town is split into three sections and begins with the Town Hall. This crypt-like building features some interesting details. The three pillars standing on either side of the oddly-shaped doorway, help to give the appearance of the building being a little crooked. The Town Hall is used to display a countdown to Halloween, which has been altered to countdown to Christmas instead. Just below this countdown is some Halloween-themed bunting. This is a unique material piece which is held in place by the bone bar. This looks great and I’m glad this route was chosen over a sticker.
The interior of the Town Hall is a little cramped but can be accessed by removing the proof section. Within the roof is another surprise but more on that later. In front of the Town Hall is a bubbling green pool, overlooked by a grey snake-like creature. This adds a pop of colour to the otherwise darker-toned set.
Next up is the largest section of the set, Jack’s house. This is an impressive structure as it’s nicely detailed and I just love the shape of the house. It has elements often associated with Haunted Houses, such as a rundown exterior, an odd shape and an old iron gate marking the entrance to the house. Similar to the Town Hall building, it’s built in sections which allows you to gain better access to the interior. As the house tapers from quite narrow and its base to much wider near the roof, the interior of Jack’s house features a lot more detail.
In the top section of Jack’s house is his study, this is where he plans his take on the newly discovered holiday of Christmas. Here you’ll find various little details such as a chalkboard, which is annoying to connect and Jack’s design for his Sandy Claws suit, on a stickered tile. But that’s not all found within Jack’s dwellings, there’s a festive surprise lurking within the roof.
Both the Town Hall and Jack’s house feature removable roof panels. Not only does this connection method offer the best way to achieve a sloping roof, but it also allows for the space beneath them to include some hidden details. So popping on the roof of both buildings uncovers a selection of Christmas decor. These include wreaths, presents and Christmas Trees. All of which can be used to decorate Halloween Town. This is a great feature and offers the option to portray Halloween Town in both its usual way or dotted with festive flare.
Finally, the set’s third section is probably the most iconic. Even if you haven’t seen the movie, the image of a spiral hill silhouetted against a pale yellow moon, you will have probably seen something with this on it. Officially known as Spiral Mountain, the part of Halloween Town features prominently in the closing moments of the film, where Jack and Sally share a moment. When the set was first announced it was unclear if the set featured the moon. It was clearly not brick-built so it was a given it was something found in the set as opposed to a little visual flare used to make the packaging more appealing. But thankfully it is a physical part of the set, with the moon being added to the set as a large carded element. This is held in place with a ball-joint rod. Unlike the small Halloween decoration used on the town hall, the moon piece is loose in the box, but hopefully thanks to the paper-based bags, it should remain intact. It was perfectly fine in my set which was a relief.
Dotted around the foot of the mountain are various gravestones, many of which are decorated with stickers and nestled amongst them is Zero’s little dog house. With each section complete, they can be connected to each other with a simple clip and rod system found on each part of the build.
This isn’t the first time Jack and Sally have appeared in Minifigure form. They were featured in the second series of LEGO Minifigures. However, both Minifigures are completely new. Sally is very similar to her previous version, but her outfit design has been tweaked as has her make-up. Jack has had a more drastic redesign. His face features the most subtle of changes with his eye sockets being a little smaller. The bat bowtie used on the CMF version returns and the newish long legs and arms are used to make the Minifigure look a little more like Jack’s long skinny frame. Jack is joined by his ghostly canine, Zero. This is a unique element and is made of a rubbery material.
Lock, Shock and Barrel are a trio of infant Trick-or-treaters, employed by Jack to capture ‘Sandy Claws’ from Christmas Town. They are tricky characters to pull off in Minifigure form. The basic appearance has been captured in the three Minifigures, but that also means they are quite plain characters. They are joined by Santa Claus, the jolly fellow from Christmas Town. This uses elements previously used to create other versions of the character. His head is a little different and in place of legs, he has a skirt element to make him look as if he’s wearing a robe.
Finally, Halloween Town’s mayor is included as a buildable figure. This uses unique printed pieces including the Mayor’s body and his two faces. The odd mix of cylindrical elements works nicely for the character’s unique look. It certainly wouldn’t have worked as a Minifigure.
It’s been many years since I watched The Nightmare Before Christmas but decided to watch it again as I built this set. It’s a fun film and still features impressive animation, 30 years on. Like many of the Ideas sets, this is another impressive celebration of the source material. What I like about this set is that it expands upon what’s seen on screen. The festive decorations hidden within some of the buildings are a good example of that. It is a shame it lacks Oogie Boogie, but even without him, the set has a nice lineup of characters. Jack and Zero are the standouts. But the real stars of the set are the buildings. They are very detailed and getting them to appear ramshackled yet stable structures is quite impressive. The Nightmare Before Christmas LEGO Ideas set will be available early next month.
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These were provided to BricksFanz by the LEGO Group for purposes of review. The thoughts within this review are those of BricksFanz and do not reflect those of the LEGO Group or Disney. Providing a set for free does not guarantee a favourable opinion of the set.
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