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skellington-things · 2 years

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“Long Live The Pumpkin Queen” Thoughts/Review

!SPOILERS AHEAD!

Hello, internet! As a hardcore “The Nightmare Before Christmas” fan since childhood I had some thoughts about the novel “Long Live The Pumpkin Queen” sequel in novel form. So, lets get into it shall we?

First of all, I had a very open mind when this book was announced. Despite me being a hardcore fan, I like to see what people have to create! I’m not going to be nit-picky or critical especially if it’s fan content. On the other hand though, this was touted to be a “sequel” to the movie and to be honest, I was disappointed. I had reasonable hopes but I’ll start off with the writing.

Now I’m no writer or author but the writing style was nice, I guess? I don’t really have much to say except the writing felt almost too detailed. It constantly focuses on Sally’s little detail that seem to repeat throughout the book such as when Sally picks at her seams in her hand or anything that has to do with her being a ragdoll. We know she’s a ragdoll. Speaking of Sally, I didn’t like the repetitive thoughts of insecurity she has that seems to repeat as well. I just wanted to say, “ok, I get that but let’s move on to other things”. I’ll get more into how Sally was written a little later in this post.

When it came to details when visiting the Holiday worlds, it was to be expected to be provided with detailed descriptions and I enjoyed learning about each holiday town. I just wish we had more time to explore them at a normal pace instead of rushing through each holiday town.

Moving on from the writing style, let’s go into the events! I’ll start off with what I expected which was the bare minimum, only to be fair to the author and leave room for an open mind. I expected more interaction with other holiday towns as I mentioned above but I also expected more character interaction. I understand that Sally is the main focus but I feel like we could have had her interact more with other characters, or at least Jack. I fully expected Jack to be more present in this book and focus more on Jack’s and Sally’s relationship together. Sure, did Sally need to find herself without her main purpose/description being married to Jack? Yes, but I also desired more interactions even if it wasn’t related to their relationship or Jack. The movie doesn’t touch on their chemistry as much and as a kid watching TNBC for the first time, I genuinely was confused about Sally’s feelings in the movie at first. I would’ve liked to see more development and even the Nintendo game “prequel” touched on their relationship when they met for the first time.

As for Sally herself? Oh boy, I have some thoughts. So, Sally in the movie seems to be an independent and free spirited character. She’s not afraid to stand up to Doctor Finklestein and continuously escapes his lab multiple times. In the movie (as well as my opinion) she doesn’t seem to be as insecure as she’s portrayed in the book. I fully expected Sally to need time to get used to being the new Pumpkin Queen but I feel like she would try her best to be herself, despite her insecurities. There’s just something about her in the movie that makes Sally seem like she knows who she is rather than be completely insecure. She did so many brave things in the movie like trying to help Jack despite Jack being oblivious, saving Santa, and standing up to Oogie Boogie when she was trapped. Her solutions to stop Jack from taking over Christmas (the fog scene) makes her come across as a ragdoll who’s confident in her decisions compared to the book. As for Sally’s heartbreak over Jack being cursed to sleep forever, I felt like she would have her moments of sadness and crying but she’s also the type of ragdoll to pick herself up and figure things out despite the obstacles in her way. There’s was just something about the “book Sally” that seemed a little off to me.

Alright, now it’s time to get into the “meat” of the book. I’ll start off by going in order of events.

When it came to the wedding I wish we could have more details such as Jack and Sally’s inner thoughts, the vows, and the townspeople’s reactions. That’s all I have to say about the wedding really.

Then we move onto their honeymoon in Valentine’s town. This played out as I expected and I thought it was cute. I enjoyed Ruby Valentine’s character although, for some reason I expected Cupid to reign over Valentine’s town but it also makes sense that the cupid’s are basically Valentine’s Town’s version of elves. I don't really have much to say about the honeymoon.

As for, when they get back and begin to prepare for Halloween, I also expected the townsfolk to be pushy about their new Queen and for some townsfolk to be a little jealous of Sally’s marriage to Jack. Although, I feel like overall most of the townsfolk would be supportive. When it came to the Vampire Prince and the witches giving Sally a new look, I also felt like it was in line with their characters despite them being background characters. The only thing I want to say is that I feel like the witches wouldn't be as mean about Sally’s appearance as they come across as witches who would be happy to design a new outfit for Sally. Maybe that’s just me though?

Now onto the sand man...he was somewhat boring and lackluster. Sure, he was creepy as he put everyone to sleep but I would have like more backstory to him instead of his backstory being quickly summed up later in the book. As for his physical description, I think it fits but something inside is telling me that the sand man would have been more creepy or at least, less human in appearance if we're trying to stick with a Burton styled character. I just wish we got more of his character development when compared to Oogie Boogie who seemed like a more fleshed out character despite him having little screen time if you know what I mean. Sand man was threatening but Oogie was super threatening.

The quick trips into other holiday worlds was..well…straightforward I guess? I don’t have much to say on that. It’s there and it’s cool I guess. When it came to Sally meeting the leprechaun I enjoyed the interaction and that event. It made sense but at the same time, it felt kind of pointless? My first reaction to Sally trying to figure out how to stop the sand man was that I would assume, Sally would go through the dream world first? Or would have a clue to visit there earlier. Speaking of how to defeat the sand man, I saw it coming from a mile away. Also, what was up with Zero just randomly grabbing Sally’s arm? Sure, he’s a dog but I felt like Sally finding the dream world door would’ve have played out much more intriguingly? Zero is pretty in character for most of the book, but at least Zero in the movie “asks Jack for consent” when Jack throws him one of ribs, haha. He’s a good boy.

Now for the dream world and the “plot twist” aka Sally’s parents. Before I get into Sally’s parents, I’ll talk about dream world first. Adding a dream world was an interesting plot point and I like the idea. It felt slightly out of place as the forest was originally about holiday’s and nothing else but dream world is a nice addition. I liked the development of dream world and everything about it. Yet, I have a question. There’s a dream world right? What about nightmares? Are they from dreamworld or does sand man have anything to do with nightmares? It was just a thought.

Now onto Sally’s parents…I have conflicted feelings. First of all, why did Sally need more backstory? The addition of Sally’s parents seemed like a cheap plot twist to me. I get that her parents are there as a story “aid” to help Sally discover who she really is but Sally’s backstory in the movie (simply being a creation) was fine enough. Speaking of her backstory, I need to rant about Doctor Finklestein before I get into Sally’s parents.

Now, don’t get me wrong Doctor Finklestein wasn’t the best, in fact he sucked at taking care of Sally, but the way I see it is that he created Sally to help take care of him as he aged. I don’t think he expected Sally to have a life of her own. That’s why he ended up letting Sally go and creating Jewel. Also, why did Finklestein desire the townspeople’s respect (as well as jack’s)? Like, Jack respected him from what I’ve seen in the movie? Ah, well, if you take into the unofficial game sequel to the movie, (Oogie’s revenge) Doctor Finklestein seems to be on good terms with Jack and the townsfolk. I don’t see Doctor Finklestein as an entirely bad character because he isn’t entirely good or bad. He’s a flawed character but the novel portrays Finklestein as a villain. It feels like it diminishes who Finklestein is. Even during the production of the movie, they deleted a scene where Oogie was originally Doctor Finklestein in disguise. Why? I can’t read the production team’s mind or even Burton’s but I like how Finklestein was neither a villain nor a hero. Also, let’s talk about how Finklestein knew about the dream world door but decided to tell no one. I get why he didn’t tell anyone in the novel but if Finklestein knew about the dream world, you think the movie would’ve touched on it a little? I’m going to take into account the unofficial game sequel to the movie for the play-station where after you deal with Finklestein as a boss fight and the St.Patrick day door shows up, he explicitly asks Jack what it is. As for Finklestein erasing Sally’s memory, it feels like the author decided to rewrite Sally’s backstory and character which is probably why I’m not a big fan of the plot twist in the book.

Alright, enough about the Doctor. I didn’t mind Sally’s parents as individual characters. I just thought it was a little strange that ragdolls took over to rule dream world. I get the concept of using dolls to help kids sleep better and for comfort but if these ragdolls are based off of Sally, wouldn’t it be a little out of place design wise? Ah well, anyways, by giving Sally parents her small development in the film is disregarded. By having Sally be a creation made to only serve Finklestein, Sally’s curiosity gets the better of her and she wants to see the world she was made in. She wants freedom and is an individual of her own and isn’t defined as simply being the Doctor’s creation/caretaker. Yet, I think the trope of Sally not remembering her true past is not a good trope to add. Like, using a cheap ol memory wipe trope wasn’t the best way to go about this in my opinion. When it came to Sally remembering her past and childhood, it felt out of character to be honest. The Sally her parents describe seems a little off. Other than that, her parents are cool I guess? I don’t have much to say about them as I’m happy they are loving and caring for her. I wish we could’ve gotten more time to know them in the book.

So, with Sally having a family and technically being the princess of dream world, I don’t mind that idea. I just didn’t like how the author went about the whole thing. To me, it makes Sally estranged from Halloween Town and Sally is now a random lost princess of dream world who just so happened to end up in Halloween Town and marry the Pumpkin King. It’s strange to me. I think it out of place and character because we already knew who Sally was in the movie. If anything, ever since I watched the movie I was more curious about Jack’s parents/family if he had any.

Moving onto the scene where Sally enters the human realm to find Queen Elizabeth 2….yeah, that was out of place and super weird. They could’ve added a different fictional Queen but when you add real life figures, that scene was just so weird to me because it was out of place. I didn’t really care for it.

In regards to defeating the sandman, I predicted the outcome when sandman first starting putting Halloween townsfolk to sleep. I was like “Sally! Make him fall asleep! You can’t wake up every townsfolk!”. Yeah, it was anticlimactic. But I’m not opposed to the idea of sandman needing sleep, I really like that idea. As for Finklestein’s punishment, I’m glad Jack was so defensive of Sally, which was expected but 100 years? I wish we knew how Halloween townsfolk aged. As for the addition of other doors, I have nothing critical to say. In fact, it makes sense. If we have Christmas town with iconic characters, why can’t there be more? You could add Krampus or even Jack Frost if you wanted into Christmas town. The addition of Father Time being briefly mentioned reminds me of that one Rankin Bass stop motion movie where Rudolph and other characters such as Frosty (and his family) go on an adventure with the New Year’s baby. It makes sense because If I remember correctly, Rankin Bass stop motion holiday films helped to somewhat inspire The Nightmare Before Christmas. I like the “crossover” of other characters and the potential for Jack and Sally to explore and go on new adventures. It develops the other Holiday worlds as well.

Overall, this book let me down. On one hand, I like the ideas the book presented but I didn’t like how everything played out. Including how Sally seemed to be a little out of character. It didn’t feel like Sally to me and it felt like I was reading bad fanfiction. Usually, I don’t mind badly written fanfiction’s of the Nightmare Before Christmas at all to be honest, but when it comes to an actual book, I feel like it’s different.

Speaking of fanfiction, I’m no writer but before this book came out for most of my life I wanted to write a fan sequel for fun. I still plan to do so but since I suck at writing, it’s more of a thing I’d like to do for fun. I’m not doing this to shoot down the novel at all. I just love the movie and since I’m older and have a better sense of writing as an adult compared to being younger, I feel more confident and clear about my ideas. I just wanted to mention this because I might post my own fanfiction/content sometime in the future. Anyways, I’ve concluded my thoughts and rants that I wanted to get out of my system! If you have any thoughts/general discussion don’t be afraid to voice them, good or bad! I want to hear what you all have to say about the book as well.

#the nightmare before christmas #nightmare before christmas #jack skellington #tnbc #sally skellington #jack and sally #oogie boogie #lock shock and barrel #doctor finklestein #long live the pumpkin queen #book #thoughts #spoilers

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