Ho-Ho-Horrors! Tim Burton's 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' Returns to The El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood for the Halloween Season, October 25-31

HOLLYWOOD, Calif., Oct. 24 -- Make no bones about it, Jack Skellington is back -- along with some of his monstrously good friends -- as Hollywood's legendary movie palace, The El Capitan Theatre, lets loose a Tim Burton triple threat this Halloween season, October 25-31. The line-up features Tim Burton's stop-motion animation classic, "The Nightmare Before Christmas," along with two of his rarely seen shorts, "Frankenweenie" and "Vincent."

"The return of 'Nightmare' to the El Capitan has become a Halloween tradition as highly anticipated as costumes and trick-or-treating," says Lylle Breier, senior vice president of special events for Buena Vista Pictures Distribution. "The movie's legions of fans have grown every year since it was originally released in 1993, and we're delighted to be offering the film again this year, along with two of Tim's forever-popular shorts, 'Frankenweenie' and 'Vincent.'"

The run launches on Friday, October 25 with two filmmaker panels featuring "Nightmare" director Henry Selick, "Frankenweenie" co-star Shelley Duvall, and "Nightmare" co-star Glenn Shadix, who provides the voice of the Mayor of Halloween Town. E! Entertainment Television's on-air personality Todd Newton will moderate both the 7:00PM session and a newly added second panel at 9:30PM.

"The first panel is selling out so quickly that we went back to the participants and asked if they would do an encore performance that same night," says Breier. "Without hesitation, they all said 'yes.' But I suggest fans reserve their tickets soon because they are going very fast!"

Touchstone Pictures' stop-motion animated musical, "Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas," was directed by Henry Selick and based on a story and characters by Tim Burton. The film follows the earnest but misguided adventures of Jack Skellington, Halloween Town's beloved Pumpkin King, as he attempts to take over the Christmas holiday. Against the advice of Sally, a lonely rag doll who has feelings for him, Jack enlists three mischievous trick-or-treaters -- Lock, Shock and Barrel -- to help him kidnap Santa Claus. Jack eventually realizes his mistake but has to contend with the evil Oogie Boogie before he can make things right and restore the Christmas holiday. With ten ghoulishly delightful songs by Danny Elfman (who also provided the singing voice for Jack) and the vocal talents of Chris Sarandon, Catherine O'Hara, William Hickey, Glenn Shadix, Paul Reubens and Ken Page, "The Nightmare Before Christmas" combines the artistry of stop-motion animation with state-of-the-art technology to create a unique and entertaining moviegoing experience.

"I'll probably never have another filmmaking experience like it in my career," says director Henry Selick. "To have Tim as your godfather on a project like that is a real gift. It was very labor intensive, of course -- at the height of production we only produced 70 seconds of finished film per week -- but every day we saw miracles and it was very rewarding. 'Nightmare' was truly a hand-made movie: Every frame was crafted by an artist."

"This is one project I felt was a classic the first time I saw a rough cut," adds Shadix. "Tim created the world and Henry brought it to life. I got involved when I was in Tim's pool and he was in the Jacuzzi nearby one Sunday in the summer of 1991. He yelled down to me, 'Hey Glenn, you got a big voice. Wanna do the Mayor in Nightmare?' I wasted no time yelling back 'Sure!' And that was that."

"Frankenweenie," a 30-minute featurette directed by Tim Burton and written by Lenny Ripps, was originally released in 1984. An homage to the great horror films of the 1930s, this clever black-and-white send-up follows the efforts of young Victor Frankenstein to bring his beloved pet back to life after the dog is killed by a car. Using the techniques of his legendary namesake, Victor causes panic in the neighborhood during the course of his unconventional experiment. Shelley Duvall, Daniel Stern, Paul Bartel and Barret Oliver star.

"I loved the story of 'Frankenweenie' and felt it was something all ages would enjoy," says Duvall. "Tim Burton is more than a director -- he's an artist involved in all aspects of the filmmaking process. He really creates his own worlds; in fact, I almost wish the movie could have been shot in color AND black and white, because the sets were so gorgeous! Tim has his own signature style, just like Robert Altman, who I've worked with on seven films. We in the cast spent many of our free moments on the set playing with those very sweet dogs, which of course were around way before Spuds McKenzie!"

The 1982 stop-motion animated short, "Vincent," marked Tim Burton's professional directing debut. Seven-year-old Vincent Malloy would rather be Vincent Price than a little boy, and reimagines his life as a horror film -- much to his mother's dismay. Co-produced by Burton and Rich Heinrichs, this merrily macabre effort won acclaim at festivals around the world. The narration is provided by the late, great Vincent Price himself.

In addition to the opening-night festivities, the entire run features a special exhibit of "Nightmare" props and sets on display in the El Capitan's lobby. The schedule is as follows:

October 25 at 7:00 p.m., 9:30 p.m. and the witching hour of 12 midnight

October 26 at 11:30 a.m., 2:00 p.m., 4:30 p.m., 7:00 p.m., 9:30 p.m. and 12 midnight

October 27 at 7:00 p.m. October 28 at 7:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.

October 29-30 at 2:00 p.m., 4:30 p.m., 7:00 p.m., and 9:30 p.m.

October 31 at 2:00 p.m., 4:30 p.m., 7:00 p.m., 9:30 p.m. and 12 midnight

Tickets are $10 for adults; $6.50 for children ages 3-11 and seniors; and $6.00 per person for groups of 20 or more. Bargain prices are available for the 11:30 a.m., 2:00 and 4:30 p.m. shows. VIP admission of $19 includes popcorn, soft drink and a reserved "best seat in the house" -- plus no waiting in line! You can see why people are dying to come... For more information and to purchase tickets, call 1-800-DISNEY6 (1-800-347-6396).