Nightmare Before Christmas Decorations: Ornaments, Trees and Toppers

Official Nightmare Before Christmas decorations come from Disney licensees. Hallmark makes Keepsake and lower-priced ornaments, Department 56 makes a lighted Halloweentown village, and Kurt Adler makes nutcrackers and stockings. Check for a Disney copyright line and a named maker, then build a black, white and orange tree around a few character pieces.

Goth Christmas is not affiliated with or endorsed by Disney. The Nightmare Before Christmas and its characters are trademarks of Disney, named here only to describe licensed products.

What is The Nightmare Before Christmas?

It is a stop-motion animated film about Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King of Halloweentown, who stumbles into Christmastown and decides to take over the holiday. Henry Selick directed it, and Tim Burton created the story and characters. Burton also produced it, with Denise DiNovi.

The film opened in New York on October 13, 1993, and went into general release on October 29, 1993, as a Touchstone film from The Walt Disney Company. D23 notes it was made in a San Francisco studio with more than 227 animated characters.

It picked up a Best Visual Effects nomination, which the Academy describes as the first ever for an animated film. Disney rereleased it in Disney Digital 3D on October 20, 2006, and it has returned to theaters around Halloween since. From the 2001 holiday season, Disneyland has dressed its Haunted Mansion in Nightmare Before Christmas scenes.

That Halloween-meets-Christmas story is why it fits a goth tree so well. The same decor works from October through December.

Who makes official Nightmare Before Christmas decorations?

These are the licensed makers whose own pages we checked. Each lists the product as Disney licensed.

Hallmark

Hallmark’s Nightmare Before Christmas page covers Keepsake Ornaments, Hallmark Ornaments, figurines, nutcrackers and tabletop decorations with light and sound. Keepsake pieces are dated. The 2025 “This Is Halloween” ornament, for example, shows Jack in the Halloween Town fountain and glows green at the press of a button.

The Hallmark Ornaments line is simpler. One example is a Jack and Zero ornament on a yellow blown glass disc, 3.5 by 3.75 inches, with a “© Disney” line on the product page.

Department 56

Department 56 sells a Nightmare Before Christmas Village it describes as officially licensed. It includes lighted Halloweentown buildings, character figures and scene accessories. The company’s retired-products site lists past pieces with dates: Jack Skellington’s House was introduced in January 2017 and retired in November 2019.

Kurt Adler

Kurt Adler’s licensed Disney range includes a 7 inch Mayor nutcracker in resin and plastic, and a polyester Nightmare Before Christmas stocking. Both product pages carry the line “Officially licensed Disney© design.”

How do you decorate a Jack Skellington Christmas tree?

Start with a black or white tree. Black makes orange and white ornaments pop; white echoes Christmastown snow. Our black Christmas ornaments guide covers glass, velvet and bat designs that fill the gaps between character pieces.

Build the palette from the film: black and white stripes, pumpkin orange, pale moon yellow and a little Christmas red. Then pick a small number of licensed character ornaments as focal points and hang them at eye level. Too many characters crowd each other; a few big pieces with plain ornaments around them read better.

Finish with a themed topper and skirt. A crescent moon topper keeps the Halloween-night mood without needing a character at all.

Tree toppers, skirts, stockings and snow globes

Beyond ornaments, licensed decor covers the whole room. Tree toppers, tree skirts, stockings and snow globes are the pieces people add after the tree. A Department 56 village piece on a mantel or side table extends the theme away from the tree.

Can you keep the tree up from Halloween to Christmas?

Yes, and this film makes it easier than most themes. Put the tree up in October with the Halloween Town side forward: pumpkins, orange lights, bats and Jack in his pinstripe suit.

In November, turn it toward Christmastown. Swap orange lights for white, add Santa Jack and snowy pieces, and move the pumpkins to the lower branches or a shelf. The black tree, the moon topper and the striped ornaments stay put, so the change takes an evening rather than a weekend. A village on the mantel can make the same switch with a layer of faux snow and a few small Christmas trees around the buildings.

Are light-up ornaments safe around kids?

Many light and sound ornaments run on button batteries. Hallmark’s “This Is Halloween” ornament, for example, uses three LR44 button batteries. The CPSC warns that a swallowed button battery can burn through a child’s throat or esophagus in as little as two hours.

Hang battery ornaments high, check that compartments are closed, and store spare batteries out of reach. If you think a child has swallowed one, the CPSC says to call Poison Help at 800-222-1222 and get emergency care right away.

Buying older and retired pieces

Hallmark Keepsake ornaments carry their year, so match the year on the piece and box to the listing. For Department 56, the retired-products site shows when a piece was introduced and retired, which helps confirm what you are buying. Ask for photos of the copyright line and the underside of figures.

More dark and cult Christmas decor

Fans of Gremlins and Beetlejuice will find licensed pieces in our horror movie Christmas ornaments guide. Shopping for a Jack and Sally fan? Our goth gifts guide sorts presents by personality and moment. For the full dark-season look, start at goth Christmas decor.