How Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman inspired a classic 'Nightmare Before Christmas' character (exclusive excerpt)
"Beyond Halloween Town" reveals the feline origins of the Disney film's heroine, Sally.
Talk about a purr-fect inspiration for a Halloween icon.
After watching Michelle Pfeiffer suit up as Catwoman in 1992's Batman Returns, director Tim Burton gave their version of the DC Comics character another life in his 1993 stop motion favorite, The Nightmare Before Christmas. Sally — the rag doll heroine of that animated classic — deliberately sports the same stitched-together appearance of Selina Kyle's skintight catsuit.
Burton himself confirms the connection between Selina and Sally in Emily Zemler's new book, Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas: Beyond Halloween Town: The Story, the Characters and the Legacy. "I was into stitching from the Catwoman thing," the filmmaker remarks in this exclusive excerpt from the book, available on Aug. 22 at most major booksellers, including Amazon. "I was into that whole psychological thing of being pieced together."
Sally has some other notable things in common with her slinky soul sister beyond their fashionable taste in stitching. Both carry a torch for emotionally unavailable guys — Bruce Wayne and Jack Skellington, respectively — and are locked in a fierce battle of wills with their respective creators, Max Schreck and Doctor Finkelstein. Fortunately, Sally arrives at a much happier ending than Selina, embracing Jack in the light of the full moon instead of gazing up at a moon-shaped Bat signal.
But Catwoman wasn't the only touchstone for Sally. As Zemler reveals in her behind the scenes account, the Nightmare Before Christmas creative team — including Burton, director Henry Selick, screenwriter Caroline Thompson and actress Catherine O'Hara — were also inspired by the Bride of Frankenstein, the Patchwork Girl from L. Frank Baum's Oz books and vintage screen siren, Marlene Dietrich.
It's worth noting that Sally has become an influencer in her own right in the thirty years since Nightmare's release, especially among cosplayers. And that never fails to delight O'Hara.
"I didn't know Sally would affect people the way she has," the Emmy-winning Schitt's Creek star tells Zemler. "She's not quite finished and doesn't know who she is and I guess many of us feel the same way."
Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas: Beyond Halloween Town: The Story, the Characters and the Legacy is available Aug. 22 at most major booksellers, including Amazon.
