With her hand-stitched dress and visible seams, there’s no doubt that Sally is one of Dr. Finkelstein’s creations. Gathered scraps of fabric are sewn together like a patchwork quilt to create her iconic dress. Consistency is necessary in most films, but in Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, it was key for the film’s overall look. Art Director Deane Taylor says, “Technical considerations are major. You have to think about getting lights where you need them to be, about access for the animator. It’s easy to draw a beautifully lit character, but if you can’t get into the set to put the light there, you’ve lost your look.” Eight different camera crews worked on various parts of the film at the same time, with all of the track, boom, and pan actions preprogrammed via computer in the camera ahead of time. On average, it took three days of prep before an animator could get on the set with the puppets and begin.

Stop-motion animation requires 24 frames per second, with Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas racking up over 113,000 frames total. Animators had the goal of shooting one second of film per week per camera, requiring over three years to complete the film. Creator Tim Burton said about stop-motion animators, “It requires, in my opinion, quite an artist and technician, and that’s a hard combination to find.” Although the sets were smaller in scale than a live action production, the sets were similarly lit, often requiring between 20 and 30 lights to create dramatic effects. Further delays and reshoots could happen if a light was knocked over accidentally, or if a puppet fell while filming; mistakes often not noticed until the footage was reviewed.

Be a clever fashionista like Sally with these stunning mismatched knee socks! Inspired by Sally’s patchwork dress, these top-down socks have varying stranded colorwork motifs climbing their way up the leg in Sally’s colors. Topped with different cabled cuffs and finished with a wide wedge toe, the heel is worked as a reinforced heel flap and gusset. To ensure a proper fit, be mindful not to knit the colorwork too tightly, or you might get yelled at by Dr. Finkelstein!