#jack's obsession

A Jack Shellington Christmas, Part 7 (Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6; Halloween pictures here)

This is mostly something you’ll catch if you’re playing real close attention to The Nightmare Before Christmas. Here’s my Thought of The Day:

Is Jack Skellington friends with the Grim Reaper?

I mean, everyone in Halloween Town is dead. Who exactly brought them to this world? A stork? Obviously not. The Grim Reaper, himself, carries bodies and souls to the Other Side. And it’s canon that Halloween Town actually has a Grim Reaper. He appears during the Town Meeting Song, if you keep your eye close enough in the crowds. He also appears in other quick shots, so it’s an easy miss. The Wiki gives us good images of Grim:

(He’s coming for your soul, Behemoth...)

But while it’s established that the Town HAS a Grim Reaper, what exactly is his affiliation with everyone? He’s involved with the Dead as a whole - he’s got to have a place somewhere. And he’s mostly a minor character who, obviously, has no dialogue or interaction. Hell, it may be possible that he’s just a fellow Halloween Town citizen. There’s no insight to him whatsoever.

But while watching Jack’s Obsession, I happened to notice that Jack Skellington has a hanging portrait in his Study. And I got a very clear shot of it during the movie in my class. That’s not Jack. That’s the Grim Reaper. Just look at the scythe and the long robe!

You can also see the same photo in a background shot during Jack’s Experiments. The same place, right next to the Grand Fireplace and his electric chair.

So, this begs the question: Why on Earth does Jack Skellington have a photo of Grim in his home? They’re not a thing, that’s obvious. And we don’t see them interact in the movie, but that’s probably because Jack was busy with Christmas and all. So here’s my theory: I think they’re old friends.

It would make sense, wouldn’t it? Jack’s the King of Halloween Town, and it’s clear that Grim hangs around there. He may possibly live in the Town, too, judging that he went to the Meeting and all, and he’s there to celebrate Halloween with everyone else. Since Grim is in charge of the (un)dead, I like to think that he brings them over to the Town from the Human World. And because he’s bringing in new plausible citizens, he does a great amount of work with Jack. And who doesn’t get along with Jack? Certainly Grim and him would be pretty good friends.

If you pay close attention, the Grim Reaper is a pretty quiet character as well. When Jack goes around during the Town Meeting and speaking of Santa Claus in a demonic tone, everyone cringes away in either fascination/fear. Grim doesn’t move at all during this. And when Jack leaves the crowd in a hearty applause, Grim is the only one not clapping. So perhaps he’s just apart of the Town by choice? Maybe Jack scared him once, and since it’s a very hard task to scare the Reaper himself, he just sticks around in admiration? Just my theory, though.