Jack Skellington is the pumpkin-headed protagonist of Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Jack is the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town, where he leads the annual Halloween celebrations. Although he is highly respected, he becomes dissatisfied with repeating the same holiday traditions and discovers Christmas Town after wandering through a forest of magical holiday doors.
Jack’s attempt to organize Christmas forms the central story. He misunderstands parts of the holiday, including Santa Claus and gift-giving, but eventually recognizes the consequences of trying to replace a celebration he does not understand.
The film was produced and conceived by Tim Burton and directed by Henry Selick. Jack is often mistakenly described as Burton’s directorial creation in the film itself; Burton wrote the story and produced the movie, while Selick directed the stop-motion production.