Of Scissors, Muppets and Nightmares
Rick Retro’s Realm, Project #4: 2025 Christmas Tour – Christmas films in the early 1990s give us three Pure Dark Whimsy classics.
Project #4: 2025 Christmas Tour – Christmas films in the early 1990s give us three Pure Dark Whimsy classics.
In the early 1980s stops on our 2025 Christmas Tour, we visited a couple of Pure Dark Whimsy feature films, A Christmas Story and Gremlins.
Everything changed in the late 1980s, where the focus was on big name stars.
Now, we find ourselves in the early 1990s and Pure Dark Whimsy is the name of the game. We visited three outstanding films with Christmas themes or settings, and every single one of them registered very high on our Dark Whimsy meter. Two of the three were from Dark Whimsy master Tim Burton, so it’s hardly surprising!
First up was Edward Scissorhands, probably my favorite Tim Burton film. It registered 😎😎12.0 | 🌚12 🌝12 on our Whimsy meter, just missing the top reading on both scales. It was on eight of the ten all-time best Christmas movies lists that I consulted.
Edward Scissorhands (1990)
Edward Scissorhands (1990) — Modern master of Dark Whimsy Tim Burton weaves a painfully beautiful tale of satire, fantasy and romance.
A+^
Family Suitability
+ ⚠️0️⃣ Problematic for teens and sensitive adults. | PG-13
Alignment with Judeo-Christian Values
+ ❎1️⃣ Fair/Slightly Favorable
Next we checked in on The Muppet Christmas Carol. At 😎😎11.9 | 🌚11 🌝13, it isn’t quite as Dark as Edward Scissorhands, but reaches the maximum reading for Whimsy. Not only that, but it’s a superb choice for the whole family to enjoy together, and it was a unanimous selection on all ten all-time best Christmas movies lists that I checked.
The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) — Kermit and friends deliver delightful Dickensian Dark Whimsy.
A+^
Family Suitability
+ ✅4️⃣ OK for younger kids. (Grades K+) | G
Alignment with Judeo-Christian Values
+ ❎2️⃣ Good/Moderately Favorable
After our look in on the Muppets delightful Christmas entry, we returned to Tim Burton Town, where we visited The Nightmare Before Christmas. Here Burton goes next level on both Dark and Whimsy, getting the maximum reading on both scales! 😎😎13.0 | 🌚13 🌝13 !!! This film also was a unanimous selection on all ten all-time best Christmas movies lists that I inventoried. All that said, while The Nightmare Before Christmas is a great film, and a double-holiday classic, I must admit a slight preference for Edward Scissorhands and The Muppet Christmas Carol. But whatever order you rank these three movies in, you can’t go wrong. Each one is fantastic.
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) — What’s This?! It’s Tim Burton’s glorious collision between Dark and Whimsy.
A+>
Family Suitability
+ ✅3️⃣ OK for older kids. (Grades 4+) | PGa
Alignment with Judeo-Christian Values
+ ❎0️⃣ Neutral (No clear values of any type or ⚠️ includes both negative messages and positive messages, which balance out.)
There are two more Christmas-themed Retro Reviews making their Substack debuts over the next two days, and then a special gift on Christmas morning, the Substack debut of the Retro Review for my favorite Christmas-themed television series episode.
Don't forget the popcorn!
⬅️Previous (all sections) | Next (all sections) ➡️