Dreamland Tim Burton Exhibition Marks Film's 30th Anniversary

The Dreamland | Tim Burton’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas” exhibition is coming to the McNay Art Museum in San Antonio this August to mark the film’s 30th anniversary as Burton’s 1993 stage models and more will go on public display.

Tim Burton, Cat House from The Nightmare Before Christmas, 1993. Painted Styrofoam and plaster, with electrical components. Collection of the McNay Art Museum, Gift of Robert L. B. Tobin, TL1994.4.1.2. © Disney © Tim Burton

The McNay to exhibit Burton’s 1993 stage models and more from the Museum’s renowned Tobin Collection of Theatre Arts and permanent collection.

Celebrating the anniversary of this wonderful stop-motion animated film the exhibition presents maquettes, small-scale working models, used to make the iconic 1993 film and accessioned into the McNay’s Tobin Collection of Theatre Arts in 1994.

Visitors will be guided through the world of Burton and given an open invitation to conjure fantasy narratives of their own using surreal imagery from the McNay’s collection on display throughout the gallery.

With a different slant on a Tim Burton exhibition compared to the Tim Burton Labyrinth experience in Paris the other month, this particular display seems more generic as opposed to the immersive one put on with labyrinth.

Tim Burton, Jack Skellington and his dog, Zero, in Jack’s Tower from The Nightmare Before Christmas, 1993. Painted wood, metal, plastic, glass, paper, and Styrofoam, with fabric and found objects. Collection of the McNay Art Museum, Gift of Robert L. B. Tobin, TL1994.4.1.3. © Disney © Tim Burton

The exhibition spotlights Burton’s genius as seen through the presentation of original models of beloved characters like Oogie Boogie Exposed, Bone Crusher and the story’s hero Jack Skellington. Also included from the Academy Award-nominated film is a full set model of “Jack Skellington and his dog, Zero, in Jack’s Tower” from “The Nightmare Before Christmas” made of painted wood, metal, plastic, fabric, found objects and more.

With a nod to Burton’s creative roots at Walt Disney, the exhibition features a “hall of peculiar portraits” filled with quirky subjects by artists José Clemente Orozco Farías, Pablo Picasso, Julie Heffernan, Eugene Berman, Marilyn Lanfear, Willem de Kooning, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Julie Speed, among others. Large-scale paintings and photographs by artists Paul Maxwell, Claudia Rogge, Robin Utterback and Sandy S

Tim Burton, Oogie Boogie Exposed from The Nightmare Before Christmas, 1993. Painted foam, rubber, and wire. Collection of the McNay Art Museum, Gift of Robert L. B. Tobin, TL1994.4.1.5.1. © Disney © Tim Burton

koglund also welcome visitors into colorful and arresting worlds.

“The Tobin Collection of Theatre Arts makes the McNay unique among art museums across the country,” said Matthew McLendon, director of the McNay. “This monumental anniversary of the treasured film ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ is the perfect opportunity not only to share Burton’s fascinating set and character models but also illuminate equally fascinating McNay artworks available to San Antonians throughout the year.”

The renowned Tobin Collection of Theatre Arts holds more than 12,000 objects and 2,000 rare books documenting more than 500 years of excellence in global theatre arts, representing the most significant collection of performing arts ephemera in the country. The collection’s namesake, San Antonio native and philanthropist Robert L. B. Tobin, believed preserving original theatre designs and sharing them in both educational and art museum settings is essential to the future of innovation in theatre design.

Tim Burton, Bed from The Nightmare Before Christmas, 1993. Painted metal, wood, and fabric, with Styrofoam and polymer clay. Collection of the McNay Art Museum, Gift of Robert L. B. Tobin, TL1994.4.1.1. © Disney © Tim Burton

Tim Burton’s Dreamland exhibition will run through spring 2024 with a second maquette exhibition and is organized for the McNay Art Museum by R. Scott Blackshire, Ph.D., curator of the Tobin Collection of Theatre Arts, and Kim Neptune, the Tobin Theatre Arts Fund assistant curator of the Tobin Collection of Theatre Arts.

Major support for “Dreamland” is provided by The Tobin Endowment. Additional funding is most generously provided by The Tobin Theatre Arts Fund, the Semmes Foundation, Inc. and the McNay’s Exhibition Host Committee chaired by Mr. and Mrs. J. Bruce Bugg Jr.