Nightmare Before Christmas
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113 free Nightmare Before Christmas trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
75 free Nightmare Before Christmas trivia questions with answers. Are you a true fan of Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas? This comprehensive 113-question trivia quiz will test your knowledge of Halloween Town, Christmas Town, and all the magical characters in between. From Jack Skellington to Oogie Boogie, see how well you know this beloved stop-motion classic!
30 of 113 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01When Burton first showed him the concept art and storyboards, what was Henry Selick's job?
A Disney animator
Selick was a Disney animator, like Burton, when he first saw the artwork in the early 1980s; he later turned down an MTV series based on his short Slow Bob in the Lower Dimensions to direct the feature.
Q 02How long was Burton's original 1982 poem that became the film?
Three pages
Burton's 1982 poem was three pages long; Disney first considered making it a short or a half-hour TV special, and the poem was reissued in hardcover for the film's 20th anniversary.
Q 03How many individual frames were photographed to make the film?
109,440
109,440 individual frames were photographed; at 24 frames a second that adds up to the film's 76-minute running time.
Q 04Which actor provided the speaking voice for Jack Skellington?
Chris Sarandon
He was cast after the songs were recorded so his speech would match the singing, and in 2019 he said he would happily return for a sequel.
Q 05Whose Threepenny Opera did Elfman name as a source for the score's deliberately old-fashioned sound?
Kurt Weill
Kurt Weill's The Threepenny Opera was Elfman's model for the songs' deliberately old-fashioned sound; the score went on to earn a Golden Globe nomination.
Q 06How many different types of face did Sally's puppet have, each with eleven expressions?
Ten
Sally had ten types of face, each with eleven expressions; only her face mask was swapped during animation so her long red hair stayed in place. Catherine O'Hara voiced her.
Q 07Which actor voiced the villainous, gambling-addicted Oogie Boogie?
Ken Page
Ken Page based the gambling-addicted villain's voice on Bert Lahr's Cowardly Lion crossed with the demon from The Exorcist, and still reprises the role at Hollywood Bowl concerts.
Q 08Roughly how many heads were made for Jack Skellington's puppet to allow different expressions?
Around 400
Around 400 heads were sculpted for Jack so every expression could be swapped in; the Jack puppet itself was later reused as Captain Jack in Selick's James and the Giant Peach.
Q 09Under which Disney label was "The Nightmare Before Christmas" originally released?
Touchstone Pictures
Touchstone Pictures got the film because the studio thought its Gothic tone would be too dark and scary for kids under the main Walt Disney Pictures brand.
Q 10What is Jack Skellington's primary title in Halloween Town?
The Pumpkin King
A 2022 young adult novel, Long Live the Pumpkin Queen, hands the crown to Sally and picks up after the film.
Q 11Sally's detachable limbs are stuffed with what?
Fall leaves
Sally is a rag doll stuffed with fall leaves; she carries needle and thread to sew herself back together, as after she throws herself from Dr. Finkelstein's tower window to escape.
Q 12Zero's glowing nose is shaped like what?
A jack-o'-lantern
Zero's nose is a tiny glowing jack-o'-lantern; like Rudolph's red nose it lights the way when he leads Jack's sleigh on Christmas Eve.
Q 13What are the costumes worn by the trick-or-treating trio Lock, Shock, and Barrel?
Devil, Witch, Skeleton
Lock wears a devil costume, Shock a witch's and Barrel a skeleton's; Paul Reubens, Catherine O'Hara and Danny Elfman voice the three, who answer to Oogie Boogie.
Q 21What kind of creature is Zero, Jack Skellington's loyal pet?
A ghost dog
Zero is Jack's ghost dog, a translucent pup who floats and passes through walls; Tokyopop's manga Zero's Journey follows him after he is separated from Jack in Christmas Town.
Q 22How does Sally learn that the Christmas takeover will end in disaster?
She has a vision
Sally has a vision: a flower in her hand becomes a tiny Christmas tree that bursts into flames, which Jack waves off as a good omen when she warns him.
Q 23What is the Mayor of Halloween Town's unique physical characteristic regarding his head?
It has two faces, happy and sad
Q 14What is the title of the song Jack Skellington sings when he first discovers Christmas Town?
"What's This?"
'What's This?' is Jack's breathless tour of Christmas Town; Fall Out Boy covered it for the 2006 special-edition soundtrack.
Q 15Elfman wrote the songs, in consultation with Burton, before the film had what?
A script
Elfman wrote ten of the songs with Burton before any script existed; Caroline Thompson's screenplay was then written around them.
Q 16In The Nightmare Before Christmas, what name do Jack Skellington and Halloween Town give Santa Claus after mishearing it?
Sandy Claws
Jack dubs him Sandy Claws after mishearing the name; the residents picture a lobster-clawed monster, and Lock, Shock and Barrel are sent to fetch him.
Q 17Production began in July 1991 in which city?
San Francisco
Burton, busy with Batman Returns and Ed Wood, visited only about five times over two years, spending no more than eight or ten days in total.
Q 18Roughly how many puppets did the filmmakers build for the cast?
227
The crew built 227 puppets for the cast, with foam-latex skins over steel armatures that held each pose between frames.
Q 19Why did Tim Burton hand the director's chair to someone else rather than take it himself?
He was tied up with Batman Returns
He also had no appetite for the painstakingly slow process, and by his own account was in San Francisco for no more than eight or ten days of production.
Q 20Oogie's Revenge (2004) launched first in which country, where the film was more popular than in North America?
Japan
Capcom's developers consulted Burton and worked with the film's art director, Deane Taylor, and the game is set a year after the film.
The peach face has a permanent smile and a spiral eye; the white one a permanent frown with pointed teeth. Glenn Shadix voiced him.
Q 24In The Nightmare Before Christmas, Jack's coffin-shaped sleigh is pulled on Christmas Eve by what creatures?
Skeletal reindeer
Skeletal reindeer, brought to life by the mad scientist, haul the coffin sleigh after Jack assigns Halloween Town Christmas jobs like carolling and making presents.
Q 25What is Oogie Boogie made of?
Bugs and insects
Bugs and insects spill out when Jack unravels his thread into the lava, and Santa squashes the lead bug that acts as his brain.
Q 26What happens to Jack Skellington's sleigh after the military attacks him?
It crashes in a cemetery
Halloween Town believes him dead until he sits up in the arms of a stone angel and finds his love of Halloween rekindled.
Q 27Which crestfallen ballad does the rag doll sing after her warning is brushed aside?
"Sally's Song"
O'Hara was nervous about singing it; Fiona Apple covered it in 2006 and Amy Lee for Nightmare Revisited.
Q 28Selick compared the film's production design to what?
A pop-up book
Halloween Town is German Expressionism, Christmas Town is Dr. Seuss, and the real world is deliberately plain and perfectly aligned.
Q 29In what year was "The Nightmare Before Christmas" originally released?
1993
The stop-motion classic "The Nightmare Before Christmas" made its theatrical debut on October 29, 1993.
Q 30Which Beetlejuice collaborator did Burton first ask to adapt the poem, before it became a musical?
Michael McDowell
Burton first asked Michael McDowell, co-writer of Beetlejuice, to adapt the poem; after they fell out he built the film around Elfman's songs, and Caroline Thompson wrote the screenplay afterwards.