Tim Burton's Christmas Chaos

Abject Transgression in Batman Returns, the Nightmare Before Christmas , and Edward Scissorhands

Bibliographic Data

ID12786223
AuthorsFran Pheasant‐Kelly (0000-0002-3647-5388, University of Wolverhampton, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume48
Issue4
Pages184-190
Publication date2025-11-26
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Journal of American Culture (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1542-7331 • E-ISSN: 1542-734X
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/jacc.70042
OpenAlexW4416770000
LanguageEN
References cited17

Tim Burton's Christmas trilogy, Batman Returns , The Nightmare Before Christmas and Edward Scissorhands are all characterized by his trademark features. These include characters with ambiguous identities, apparently “normal” worlds adjacent to spaces associated with difference and exclusion, and the inevitable intrusion of the latter into the former. Alongside this, the three films display distinct elements of bodily disgust and decay, corresponding to Julia Kristeva's notion of the abject. Together, these aspects resonate with concepts of abjection as relevant to incoherent identities, differentiated spaces and corporeality. In particular, there are scenes where parental figures attempt to steer their surrogate ‘children’ towards socially acceptable behavior and adulthood, also a key component of Kristeva's theory. Utilizing textual analysis of the films' key scenes and respective narrative trajectories, this article therefore argues that Burton's Christmas films are especially susceptible to Kristevan analysis through their qualities of abject space, parental influence and incoherent identity, as well as their elements of bodily disgust and boundary transgression

Disgust · Intrusion · Key (lock · Marine transgression · Narrative · Nightmare · Cinema and Media Studies · Comics and Graphic Narratives · Ethics, Aesthetics, and Art

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Open DOIOpen Access