The Nightmare Before Christmas is a 1993 American stop-motion animated musical fantasy film directed by Henry Selick and written by Caroline Thompson. It tells the tale of Jack Skellington, King of Halloween Town, who stumbles upon Christmas Town and becomes obsessed with celebrating the holiday himself. Danny Elfman wrote the songs and score and provided Jack's singing voice, while the principal voice cast includes Chris Sarandon, Ken Page, Catherine O'Hara, Glenn Shadix, William Hickey, Paul Reubens and Ed Ivory.