Panic! At The Disco - "This is Halloween"
You better get ready because it’s coming whether you like it or not!
The Nightmare Before Christmas (also known as Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas) is a 1993 American stop-motion animated musical dark fantasy film directed by Henry Selick and produced and conceived by Tim Burton. It tells the story of Jack Skellington, the King of "Halloween Town" who stumbles through a portal to "Christmas Town" and becomes obsessed with celebrating the holiday. Danny Elfman wrote the songs and score, and provided the singing voice of Jack.[8] The principal voice cast also includes Chris Sarandon, Catherine O'Hara, William Hickey, Ken Page, Paul Reubens, Glenn Shadix, and Ed Ivory.
The Nightmare Before Christmas originated in a poem written by Burton in 1982 while he was working as an animator at Walt Disney Productions. With the success of Vincent in the same year, Burton began to consider developing The Nightmare Before Christmas as either a short film or 30-minute television special to no avail. Over the years, Burton's thoughts regularly returned to the project and in 1990, he made a development deal with Walt Disney Studios. Production started in July 1991 in San Francisco; Disney initially released the film through Touchstone Pictures because the studio believed the film would be "too dark and scary for kids".[9]
The film met with both critical and financial success, grossing $90 million since its initial release and garnering a cult following. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, a first for an animated film. The film has since been reissued by Walt Disney Pictures, and was re-released annually in Disney Digital 3-D from 2006 until 2009, making it the first stop-motion animated feature to be entirely converted to 3D.
Daniel Robert Elfman (born May 29, 1953) is an American composer, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. He first became well known as the singer-songwriter for the new wave band Oingo Boingo in the early 1980s,[4] and has since garnered international recognition for writing over 100 feature film scores,[5] as well as compositions for television, stage productions, and the concert hall.
Elfman has frequently worked with directors Tim Burton, Sam Raimi, and Gus Van Sant, with notable achievements the scores for 16 Burton-directed films including Batman, Edward Scissorhands, Alice in Wonderland, and Dumbo;[6] Raimi's Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2, and Oz the Great and Powerful;[7] and Van Sant's Academy Award-nominated films Good Will Hunting and Milk.[8] He wrote music for all of the Men in Black and Fifty Shades of Grey franchise films, the songs and score for the Burton-produced animated musical The Nightmare Before Christmas, and the themes for the popular television series Desperate Housewives and The Simpsons.[9]
Among his honors are four Oscar nominations, two Emmy Awards,[10] a Grammy,[11] six Saturn Awards for Best Music, the 2002 Richard Kirk Award, the 2015 Disney Legend Award,[13] and the Max Steiner Film Music Achievement Award in 2017.
Panic! at the Disco is the solo project of American musician Brendon Urie. It was originally a pop rock band from Las Vegas, Nevada, formed in 2004 by childhood friends Brendon Urie, Ryan Ross, Spencer Smith and Brent Wilson. They recorded their first demos while they were in high school. Shortly after, the band recorded and released their debut studio album, A Fever You Can't Sweat Out (2005). Popularized by the second single, "I Write Sins Not Tragedies", the album was certified triple platinum in the US. In 2006, founding bassist Brent Wilson was fired from the band during an extensive world tour and subsequently replaced by Jon Walker. The band's second album, Pretty. Odd. (2008), was preceded by the single "Nine in the Afternoon". That album marked a significant departure from the sound of the band's debut. Ross and Walker, who favored the band's new direction, departed because Urie and Smith wanted to make further changes to the band's style. Ross and Walker subsequently formed a new band, the Young Veins, leaving Urie and Smith as the sole remaining members of Panic! at the Disco.
Continuing as a duo, Urie and Smith released a new single, "New Perspective", for the movie Jennifer's Body, and recruited bassist Dallon Weekes and guitarist Ian Crawford as touring musicians for live performances. Weekes was later inducted into the band's lineup as a full-time member in 2010. The band's third studio album, Vices & Virtues (2011), was recorded solely by Urie and Smith in 2010, produced by John Feldmann and Butch Walker. Crawford departed once the tour cycle for Vices & Virtues ended in 2012.
As a three-piece, Urie, Smith, and Weekes recorded and released the band's fourth studio album, Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die!, in 2013. Prior to the release of the album, Smith unofficially left the band due to health and drug-related issues, leaving Urie and Weekes as the remaining members. The duo recruited guitarist Kenneth Harris and drummer Dan Pawlovich as touring musicians for live performances.
In 2015, Smith officially left the band after not performing live with the band since his departure in 2013. Shortly thereafter, Weekes reverted to being a touring member once again, resulting in Panic! transitioning to a solo project presented by Urie. In April 2015, "Hallelujah" was released as the first single from Panic! at the Disco's fifth studio album, Death of a Bachelor (2016). In December 2017, Weekes officially announced his departure from the band. In March 2018, Panic! at the Disco released "Say Amen (Saturday Night)", the lead single from its sixth studio album, Pray for the Wicked (2018), which was released in June.
With Halloween so close we can taste it, it’s time to start celebrating every spooky aspect of it, even the ones we don’t always love. The creepy crawlies are a darker part that we have to love. You need the tricks to get the treats.
So today, a chill wind at our backs, we choose Panic! At the Disco’s version of Danny Elfman’s “This Is Halloween” from The Nightmare Before Christmas" as my, haunts & hollows, spooks & spirits, devils & darlings, song for a, walk on the wicked side, a darker shade of magic, one spell over the line, Thursday.