Jack Skellington is one of the most iconic Halloween and Christmas icons since his debut in Tim Burton’sThe Nightmare Before Christmas. He is everywhere around this time of year. He’s on our televisions, plastered on shirts and hoodies, and he even towers over us in the form of huge Halloween decorations. He has been a part of our lives since the 1993 film originally hit theaters, marking a30-year milestoneof frights, festivities, and box office returns.
For those who may not know who he is, Jack Skellington is the main protagonist inThe Nightmare Before Christmas. He’s the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town, a place full of frights and grotesque stop-motion puppetry. As the Pumpkin King, Jack has been responsible for sharing the spirit of Halloween with the world that lies outside Halloween Town for years and years. However, Jack finds himself bored with his current responsibilities. He soon discovers a secluded area of trees in the woods that are doorways to other holiday-themed worlds. After a swift investigation, Jack eventually discovers Christmas Town and, subsequently, the Christmas holiday. Though he attempts to embrace this new holiday with his haunted flair, Jack accidentally goes overboard with his newfound passion. With the help of his friends, he rediscovers himself and regains his love for Halloween.
Did you know Jack’s first appearance wasn’t inThe Nightmare Before Christmas? Most believe he first appeared in the 1988 filmBeetlejuice—whose sequel recently wrapped filming— during the title character’s transformation into a carnival creature, complete with a carousel on top of his head. On top of the carousel is a skull that looks suspiciously like Jack’s head, even including a specific bat-shaped adornment that would later reappear inThe Nightmare Before Christmas.
ButBeetlejuiceis actually not Jack Skellington’s debut. He makes a very brief presence in another Tim Burton film about 6 years beforeBeetlejuice.This is also 11 years before his official debut as the Pumpkin King inThe Nightmare Before Christmas.
Updated June 23, 2025: This article has been updated with even more information about Jack Skellington’s first appearance, in addition to his potential return in aNightmare Before Christmassequel.
The Nightmare Before Christmas
Jack Skellington Appeared in Vincent (1982)
Tim Burton made plenty of short films before debuting his first feature-length production,Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, in 1985. Most, if not all of them, were made utilizing claymation, the same stop-motion animation technique utilized inThe Nightmare Before Christmas. In 1982, he made a black-and-white stop-motion short film calledVincent. It tells the story of a seven-year-old boy named Vincent Malloy, who is very different from most kids. While other kids enjoy colorful storybooks, Vincent prefers the creepy elegance of Edgar Allan Poe. He deludes himself into believing he is a mad scientist and a tortured artist, with prose-laden narration reminiscent of Poe’s famous poemThe Raven. The short’s narration was even provided by Vincent Price, who would later collaborate with Burton once more forEdward Scissorhandsin 1990, one ofTim Burton’s best movies according to Rotten Tomatoes.
Vincent performs experiments on his own dog, Abercrombie, to create a ravenous, zombified version of him. Vincent is then haunted by his own make-believe world when it is infested with ghosts and other monsters. By the end of the film, Vincent falls to the floor in frailty and believes himself to be dead. It’s a rather dark film, even for Tim Burton. Interestingly, the concept of experimenting on a beloved pet would later reappear in both of Burton’sFrankenweeniefilms.
It’s in the final minutes of the film that we spot the prototype of Jack Skellington. As the ghosts of Vincent’s make-believe world surround him, you can spot Jack just behind a monster that resembles a mix of Sally and the Bride of Frankenstein. The creature looks like a voodoo doll with stitches on the side of its tilted head. Three arrows are impaled through the top of the creature’s head, with the tips protruding from the right side of its face. The doll has black, sunken eyes and a broad frown. The face and structure of the head clearly resemble that of Jack Skellington long before he even became the skeletal Pumpkin King we all know and love. Though he looks far different from Jack’s final incarnation, you could consider it to be very much a prototype for his theatrical design.
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Jack Skellington’s Appearances Elsewhere
Jack has made all sorts of appearances and cameos throughout his still-growing popularity, even if he’s not so easy to spot. For example, you could say that the Mad Hatter’s tie in Burton’sAlice in Wonderlandfilm is patterned with Jack’s iconic visage. Burton’sSleepy Hollow,a surprisingly-adult adaptation of the classic short story, features a scarecrow that eerily resembles Jack’s original form as the Pumpkin King. In a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment, you can even spot a familiar skull-shaped egg yolk cracked by the Other Mother inCoraline.
Arguably the most blatant cameo from Jack has to be in Disney’sJames and the Giant Peach, which was released a few years afterNightmare Before Christmasin 1996. During a spectacular sequence involving an underwater pirate ship, a familiar-looking “skellington” gives chase to the film’s protagonists following the theft of its gold. Henry Selick, the director ofNightmare Before ChristmasandJames and the GiantPeach, collaborated with Burton on both films, likely allowing for this incredible cameo to happen.
Jack Skellington’s fame extends to other mediums, as well. He was in the popular Square Enix video game seriesKingdom Heartsas a supporting character alongside other famous Disney properties. Jack would also be a central fixture inThe Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie’s Revenge,a 2004 game that takes place one year after the events of the movie. In the game, Jack travels across Halloween Town to take down a revived Oogie Boogie and his monstrous allies.
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Will We See Jack in a New Nightmare Before Christmas?
It’s safe to say that Jack Skellington’s cultural influence can be felt everywhere. Though the character is ubiquitous nowadays, it’s intriguing to see where exactly he started, and how he gradually became the icon he is now. He is still a beloved character, not just during Halloween and Christmastime, but all throughout the year. He, and the film he made famous,are still worth watchingthree decades later.
In fact, his popularity begs the question: will we ever get anotherNightmare Before Christmasmovie? Though there’s certainly enough support for it from a loving fanbase, you may want to think otherwise. While Henry Selick is more than open to the idea, Tim Burton himselfsaid no to a sequel or reboot. He would later go on to state that while other people are “maybe interested” in a sequel, he explicitly isn’t. A non-traditional sequel does exist in the form of Shea Ernshaw’s 2022 novel,Long Live the Pumpkin Queen, which features Sally as the protagonist.
If you’re more interested in the talented voice actor behind Jack Skellington’s ghoulish exterior, or the rest ofTheNightmare Before Christmas' cast for that matter, feel free to check out our video on whatThe Nightmare Before Christmascast looks like in real life.
