In “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” Chris Sarandon provided the speaking voice for Jack Skellington.
Jack Skellington is Halloween Town’s Pumpkin King and the film’s central character. Sarandon supplies Jack’s spoken dialogue, giving him a theatrical but conversational voice as he grows bored with repeating Halloween and becomes fascinated by Christmas Town. Jack’s attempt to take over Christmas drives the film’s story and creates its central conflict.
Danny Elfman provided Jack’s singing voice and wrote the film’s songs and score. This division is the source of the most common mix-up: Elfman is strongly associated with Jack because he performs memorable numbers such as “Jack’s Lament” and “What’s This?” However, Sarandon is the actor heard in Jack’s non-singing scenes.
The 1993 stop-motion film was directed by Henry Selick and produced by Tim Burton, whose earlier poem and character concepts inspired the project. Paul Reubens and other listed alternatives contributed voices elsewhere in Burton-related productions, but they did not provide Jack’s speaking voice.