Disney Press has been attempting to break into the manga world for a while by novelizing the plot to the wildly popular video game Kingdom Hearts, which Disney produces with SquareEnix. Yet, it seems that Disney Press has hit a new low in the attempt to chase the marketing dollar that is rising in the world of graphic novels with the release of a manga version of The Nightmare Before Christmas. Shameful, contrite, and derivative are the nicest things this editor has to say about this book that is the most recent pony added to the Disney Press stable.

One would think that the whimsy, imagination, and magic that Tim Burton’s characters brought to the screen would be even better on paper when the imagination of the reader can take over. Unfortunately, what we get is just a carbon copy: faded, dull, and without the original colors to brighten the entire thing. What Disney Press has done is basically recreated the movie word for word, scene for scene, without adding any of the emotion or courage that made Jack Skellington and Sally the Rag Doll beloved to those who enjoyed the movie.

Gone of course, are the songs that helped Jack and Sally emote their sadness, their yearning for something more, while in its place are pointless thought bubbles that sum up an entire dialogue in a few words. This manga reads more like a children’s book than something for the serious manga reader, and frankly, is an insult to the original work. The art style is loose and flowing, more akin to a job that was hurried than to the clean, slick lines of the movie characters. Yes, while there is a difference between stop-motion animation and the world of manga art, the pages still miss that eerie feeling.

The story is crammed all into one volume, which leaves the pictures small and confusing, sloppy and hard to recognize with massive thought bubbles stuffed in that only contain one word. In all, Disney Press’s The Nightmare Before Christmas is one nightmare that thankfully ends by the last page. No additional volumes should be produced, unless Disney is moving into the crimes against literature business.

The only recommendation for this particular manga is that Nightmare Before Christmas fans may want to pick up a copy simply to have it in their collection, because I can guarantee any real fan is going to be insulted by Disney Press’s slap-dash attempt to cash in.