Sandy Claws

Just for fun, here are two interesting facts I found out about The Nightmare Before Christmas from Henry Selick, the director, himself would later on confirm:

1). Selick confirmed that in the entire opening "This Is Halloween", the narrator is indeed actually Santa Claus, the Pumpkin Scarecrow is indeed Jack Skellington and the Shadow of the Moon at night is indeed Oogie Boogie as this was a way to foreshadow their roles later on.

2). Now this is the big one -

According to Henry Selick as how he sees it, Santa had and still has no idea that Jack told Lock Shock and Barrel to "leave Oogie Boogie out of this!" so he thinks Skellington sent him to Oogie so the former could become the new Claus permanently.

But Oogie had no plan on killing Santa.

See for Selick, Oogie thought just simply killing Santa would be too easy and no fun at all so therefore, Oogie thought it would be way more fun if he played and toyed around with Santa instead hence "The Oogie Boogie Song" and taunting him with dice. If Sally hadn't shown up to try and rescue Santa, Oogie would've most likely let him go and told Santa to "keep in touch".

Oogie Boogie-“ Well, well, well, what have we here? Sandy Claws, huh?… You’re jokin’, you’re jokin’ I can’t believe my eyes You’re jokin’ me, you gotta be This can’t be the right guy He’s ancient, he’s ugly I don’t know which is worse I might just split a seam now If I don’t die laughing first …. Well if I’m feelin’ antsy* And there’s nothin’ much to do… And don’t ya know the one thing That would make it work so nice? A roly-poly Sandy Claws to add a little spice…”

Santa- “ Release me now Or you must face the dire consequences The children are expecting me So please, come to your senses “

Oogie Boogie- “ You’re jokin’, you’re jokin’ I can’t believe my ears Would someone shut this fella up I’m drownin’ in my tears It’s funny, I’m laughing You really are too much And now, with your permission I’m going to do my stuff”

Santa- “ What are you going to do?”

Oogie Boogie- “ I’m gonna do the best I can…

Santa- “ Release me fast or you will have to Answer for this heinous act “

(As always??? Keep ‘em coming, Anon! I love these! I’ll have to keep an eye on the Anonymous asks now….)

From what I’ve summarized in this post, Oogie Boogie uses torturing devices for his victims. So what I really can assume from this is that they either suffer a long, painful death whilst IN the machines…Or Oogie tortures them and kills them. We don’t know which option is correct. Maybe he kills them a different way and places their skeletons in the machines afterwards? Again, I don’t really know…if anything, those could be headcanons.

But I feel it’s important to note that there is a section in the movie where we see Oogie offering Santa “to play”, rolling dice in his….hand. And this, itself, could rather be demented - seeing as the fact that Santa is tied up and has no way of participating in whatever Boogie had planned. So there was possibly a time where he was supposed to either torture Santa or do something really sadistic…but Sally came in and stopped him before he could.

I think Oogie decided to kill both of them afterwards because he was angry that Sally found a way to outsmart him. And from what I’ve gathered of his character, Boogie enjoys his credibility. He probably got so angry to the point where he decided to speed up his game and just bet last-second before their deaths. (To which he obviously cheats. He sings he doesn’t “play fair”, and offering a game to a tied-up Santa is good evidence of THAT.)

Lock, Shock, and Barrel are really hardcore. You get a slight impression from the literal weapons they carry and use, but listening to the Kidnap the Sandy Claws lyrics – I’m surprised their end result was just stuffing him in a bag. These little miscreants had a lot of ideas. D:

Oogie and Sandy Claws

Alright, I’ve played the Favorite game long enough. I’ll start moving onto other characters. And it’s about time I tackled Lock, Shock, and Barrel - I haven’t mentioned them enough. But there is something I want to discuss about them. And I’m interested to see if anyone thinks the same..

It’s a sensitive topic…(especially for me hhh), but were Lock, Shock, and Barrel abused by Oogie Boogie?

We all know Oogie is a bad person. He’s the villain, and the only one we see Jack Skellington actually hate. There’s evidence that he kills people for the sake of gambling on lives(I will make a post about it sometime), so his nature is possibly murderous. And it’s shown that he has a short temper when things don’t go in his luck/favor. But would he actually take this out on his henchmen?

What I should first address is that Lock, Shock, and Barrel worship Oogie Boogie. They have a shrine dedicated to him. Barrel and Lock are seen, in the movie, bowing down to the entrance of his Lair. They talk highly of him and say that they want to please Oogie, and to not let him down, as it is their job to keep him happy. They feed him bugs and even offer him Santa Claus later on in the movie.

Now, we all know that the Boogeyman is a figure who scares children to correct their behavior. Children, as a whole, fear him. And Oogie even outright calls himself the “Boogeyman”. It makes sense that he has children working for him, as it is his job to make sure they behave well. This certainly doesn’t work on Lock, Shock, and Barrel - they’re pranksters who play tricks and don’t behave like the other children in Town. It’s clear this his intentions with them aren’t to correct them, but to carry out his demands and do whatever he can’t do.

If you follow me, it’s likely that you know that Boogie has been banished to his Lair as shown in The Pumpkin King game. He cannot leave it under any circumstances, under Jack Skellington’s orders. So it’s only reasonable that Lock, Shock, and Barrel are there to give him anything he wants. Food, candy, bugs…even victims. They view it as harmless fun, but are they actually doing this out of fear?

Take a look at the image above closely. We see different masks hanging around Oogie’s lair entrance. They’re small, so they’d fit children’s faces. And what do Lock, Shock, and Barrel have? Trick-or-Treating Masks. Is it possible that Oogie Boogie has killed the previous owners to them? That, maybe, they didn’t follow through with an order of his, or they upset him greatly to the point where he ate/killed them? Is that why they are morbidly hanging there? As a reminder to Boogie’s Boys that, if they failed, they’d end up the same way?

Taking this into consideration, is it possible that Lock, Shock, and Barrel are only obeying to his demands so he won’t kill them? That they are secretly afraid of Oogie, but can’t do anything about it? We don’t get much insight to their relationship with Oogie in the movie. We only know that they worship him and not Jack. And they imply that Oogie has a “good side”, which damn well hints to him having a “bad side”. Just listen to how they mention him in their song:

Because Mr. Oogie Boogie Is the meanest guy around 

We’re his little henchmen and We take our job with pride We do our best to please him And stay on his good side

It’s possible that Lock, Shock, and Barrel’s mischievous behavior only comes from being neglected by Oogie Boogie. They don’t appear to be living healthily either, as they indulge in junk food/candy and live with torn furniture/walls and weapons. They think in destructive ways and don’t even acknowledge their chance of redemption(working for Jack) - as they know that Oogie would be furious if they disobeyed him in any way.

Not to mention their interaction with Oogie in the games. He yells at them and they cower in fear. And Barrel is the only one who shows signs of disloyalty to him when carrying out his orders, as he accidentally blurts out his plans to Jack. Boogie refers to Barrel as his “star pupil” as well, which may just mean that Oogie is trying to win his loyalty over because Lock and Shock don’t question his authority. They keep resurrecting him despite his abusive nature to them, which may imply that they have been manipulated to the point where, without him, they have no one to rely on.

Let’s take another look at the ending of the movie. They’re grinning quite a lot when they come and fetch the Mayor to get Jack. They don’t appear to be angry at all that he killed Boogie.They’re visibly relieved that he’s dead, and Lock, Shock, and Barrel actually have innocent fun out in the Town with the snow. Judging by their behavior, they seem really happy that Oogie is gone. This helps back up the theory of him treating them horribly while he was still around.

So, you all may have heard me mention this in various other posts. And I never go into detail about it when I mention it. You’re probably thinking, “What!? Oogie Boogie from The Nightmare Before Christmas KILLS people? What kind of nonsense IS this? Where is your proof, tnbc-thoughtsandheadcanons!?”

Well, here it is.

If you pay very close attention to the details of Oogie Boogie’s Lair/Casino during Oogie Boogie’s Song, you can spot very subliminal themes of murder and death. For example, there are hanging skeletons attached to chains and there are various torture devices scattered around his Casino, in which we get a few closeups of some as well as the victims.

Now, you may be thinking: “But those are props! They’re skeletons! Skeletons can be props!” This actually isn’t true. The beings in Halloween Town are all dead, hence they are sentient. And we get insight that these skeletons are all actually alive, as they sing “Ooh” along when Oogie comes to them, and they move their torsos/heads when they do so.

You also may be wondering, “If they’re dead, then how come they don’t look like the other skeletons in the movie?”  Well, that’s a tricky one that doesn’t really have an answer. Jack Skellington is a skeleton, but he looks awfully different than the Hanging Men. Taking that into account, the skeletons in Halloween Town may all be diverse and/or modified after their death. So these skeletons are legitimate. And they’re real.

As for Oogie Boogie killing? He mentions and confesses it in his own song. He admits to gambling on people’s lives and cheating so he can kill them. He doesn’t ever bet on his own because he puts himself at risk, but he finds satisfaction on betting on other’s for his own sadistic game.

Oh, the sound of rollin’ dice To me is music in the air ‘Cause I’m a gamblin’ Boogie Man Although I don’t play fair

It’s much more fun, I must confess When lives are on the line Not mine, of course, but yours, old boy Now that’d be just fine

We see, later on in the movie, that he offers Santa Claus a betting game(most likely for his life). And his threats with Santa don’t fall empty because Oogie actually tries to kill him. He puts Santa and Sally on a platform that’ll fall right into a pit of stew that was hidden in his Lair. Right before he dives them in, Oogie plays a little bet himself to see if the odds go in his favor. And, spoiler, they don’t, so he cheats so he can fairly kill them in his own game.

Not to mention that those shooting robots have real guns? With actual bullets? They aren’t blanks and pose as real threats, as Santa is pulled from them briefly and Jack Skellington dodges them instantly. This, as well as the various torture machines, may have been the methods Oogie used to kill his victims. Should I also mention that big fire pit he has? And that platform/lever specifically designed to dump victims in??? And the swords/knives????

Oh, and, uh…HE HAS LITERAL BODY BAGS HANGING AROUND IN HIS CASINO???? My guess is that he keeps the bodies of his victims in these bags until they decompose down to skeletons, and that’s when he arranges them around his place. But that’s my own theory - I can’t back that up with anything. But he does have body bags, and body bags are used for dead bodies. And these are in the shape of humans.

Oogie Boogie wasn’t just a villain for trying to kill Santa Claus and Sally. He had a record going far before the movie shows. This guy legitimately murders people, and he finds it fun because we see him laugh when he thought Santa and Sally were going to be dumped into the stew. Not to mention how genuine he acts with killing them(”bye-bye”).