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Of all the wonders in Tim Burton’s brain, perhaps the best is the classic stop motion animation film that brings holidays together in a delightful, spooky, wonderland kind of way. The Nightmare Before Christmas is one of the best animated films of all time, and now it’s out in a special edition that combines the best of the previous release with a handful of new bonuses that make it utterly worthwhile.

Jack Skellington is the king of Halloween Town, where a motley assortment of monsters and ghouls create Halloween. But Jack is bored with his world, and as Halloween closes for yet another year, he is desperate for something new, different. Something like Christmas.

The wackiness that ensues is well known and loved. Jack takes over Christmas with funny but disastrous results, and only by the cleverness of a rag doll named Sally and Santa himself is the day saved. All of this is done to Henry Sellick’s groundbreaking stop motion skills (that would later bear fruit with Roald Dahl’s James and the Giant Peach and soon, Neil Gaimen’s Coraline). Another piece of what makes Nightmare the phenomenon that it has become is the music from Danny Elfman, who also sings the part of Jack Skellington.

The real story in this set, however, is the bonuses. The last DVD release had a good amount, including Frankenweenie, Vincent, some deleted storyboard sketches, and a little bit of behind the scenes material, all put to an utterly cool menu setup. The good news is, all of that is on this release as well, and the menu setup is even better. The great news is the additions to these bonuses. The original poem that birthed the Nightmare concept is here (it’s the same poem in the book release, for you collectors out there), put to an interesting and fun to look at cartoon (very reminiscent of the animanga that Tokyo Pop is doing) narrarated by Christopher Lee.

There’s a new commentary from Burton, Selick and Elfman. Though these three have a remarkably vast amount of cool info to dish out on the film, their commentaries were all done separately and pieced together. Though I’m sure all three men are too busy to be in the booth at the same time, it would have been cool to hear them together.

The behind the scenes footage is rampant. From “What’s This? Jack’s Haunted Mansion Holiday Tour” to “The Worlds of Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas” (which is broken into three segments – Halloween Town, Christmas Town and The Real World), there’s enough here to keep any rabid fan happy. Toss in the deleted scenes, storyboard-to-film comparison and original trailers and posters, and any fan will bliss out. Oh, and for you technogeeks, there’s a digital copy to carry on your ipods or zunes.

The two disc (three, if you count the digital copy) set is in a beautiful box, and if you’re really looking to blow some cash, you can always shell out for the set that comes in a bust of Jack himself. Either way, if you’re a fan, you’ll want this set – even if you already own the DVD.

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