9 Movies With Surprising Jack Skellington Cameos

Halloween might only come around once a year, but that doesn’t mean that the Pumpkin King has to stay stapled to his throne. While Jack Skellington is most famously known for branching out into Christmas Town, he’s had his bony fingers in a lot of pies over the years.

Not only is he perhaps one of Tim Burton’s most famous and recognizable characters, but he’s also perhaps the only one with his own filmography. Whether it’s by a full-body appearance as a featured character or a simple cameo of his smiling skeletal face, Jack has had more than a few film appearances outside his spooky realm.

Beetlejuice (1998)

Technically, Jack’s first on-screen appearance wasn’t in The Nightmare Before Christmas, but in 1988’s Beetlejuice. Seeing how the film weighs heavily with Tim Burton’s distinctive style featuring skeletons, snakes, and other spooky things, it’s not unlikely that a familiarly freaky face would make an appearance in the director’s aesthetic.

As Beetlejuice is summoned in the third act of the film, Jack’s head can be seen on top of his circus-inspired attire. Of course, the character is already equipped with spiders, bats, bugs, rats, and all sorts of other creepy-crawly things, so Jack’s face certainly makes a fitting accent to his appearance.

Vincent (1982)

Based on Burton’s poem of the same name, Vincent tells the tale of a young boy with a vivid imagination and an affinity for the gruesome and grim. As the short film states: “While other kids read books like Go, Jane, Go!, Vincent’s favorite author is Edgar Allan Poe,” a sentiment that is made visually clear by some fearsome fantasies towards the end.

One of these gruesome ghouls that appear in the boy’s dreamscape bears a striking resemblance to the Pumpkin King. Seen with the ghost of a dead wife and a zombified version of Vincent’s dog, a skeletal figure can be seen at the left side of the shot, ready to terrorize the frightened Vincent-Price-wannabe.

Edward Scissorhands (1990)

This one might take a few moments to properly recognize, but seeing as how the character is so terribly familiar, as well as featured in another Tim Burton movie, it’s certainly worth a mention. The cookie factory flashback in Edward Scissorhands absolutely drips with Burtonesque imagery, but pay close attention to that mixing machine.

From the shape of its head to the wide eyes and toothy grin created by its bolts, there’s no mistaking that it’s Jack’s face and figure working those mechanical whisks. Perhaps Edward wasn’t the only creature to be given a life of his own.

James And The Giant Peach (1996)

While Burton might have created Jack Skellington, Henry Selick was the one that brought him to life on the big screen. However, that wasn’t the only stop-motion project the two worked on together, and not the only time Jack made a fully-fleshed-out appearance.

When Centepide dives into the icy waters to explore the sunken pirate ship below, he is soon set upon by a load of skeletal pirates. When he discovers the captain clutching the compass, played by Jack, he even refers to him as a “Skellington” before being grabbed by the creepy crew.

Sleepy Hollow (1999)

If it wasn’t already apparent, Tim Burton loves, adores, and cherishes all things Halloween, and that affection is clearly demonstrated in the dark fantasy movie, Sleepy Hollow. But the Headless Horseman isn’t the only holiday icon that shows up in the film, as Jack’s Pumpkin King form can be seen during the opening chase of the movie.

While it might look like a standard-issue creepy scarecrow to some, those who have seen The Nightmare Before Christmas will instantly recognize this design choice as the same one that awaited visitors at the entrance to Halloween Town. Jack might have been trying to get a jump on his decapitated competitor.

Finding Nemo (2003)

While it’s definitely not a Tim Burton project, it’s certainly one of those blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameos that only a certain few Disney fans can see. Pixar might not seem the studio one would find Jack mingling about, but he did make an appearance in Finding Nemo.

While Nemo is brought to the top of the bubbling volcano to be initiated into the fish tank, Jack’s skull can be seen floating in one of the bubbles just by Gill’s head. It’s very subtle, but there’s no denying that’s the face of the Pumpkin King himself.

The Princess And The Frog

Disney is no stranger to having their characters mix and mingle in other movies, and not even Mickey Mouse is immune, with many hidden Mickey’s throughout Disney movies. But it’s very interesting to see Jack make a shadowy appearance amongst Dr. Faclier’s Friends on the Other Side in the back of his Voodoo Imporium in The Princess and the Frog.

After the Shadowman consults with his creepy companions and summons a series of shadowy minions to help search for Prince Naveen, Jack Skellington’s silhouette can be seen amongst the various fiendish forms on the wall. With that in mind, he doesn’t look too happy about playing for the villainous side.

Alice In Wonderland (2010)

Once again, Jack finds himself on yet another costume detail for one of Tim Burton’s characters. Johnny Depp’s interpretation of the Mad Hatter is definitely one of the most unique, but there’s something worth mentioning about his creepy and colorful bowtie.

At first glance, it looks like the typical polka-dotted tie seen in other variations before, but remember, this is a Burton film. Many of his dots are actually tiny Jack heads grinning back at the viewers. Jack’s influence seems to span dimensions and realms, it would seem.

Coraline (2009)

As one of the pioneers of the stop-motion movie genre, Henry Selick certainly didn’t stop with The Nightmare Before Christmas, and it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that both Jack and Coraline exist in the same universe, especially considering both of their movies share a similar design and a theme of other worlds.

It’s an Easter egg that takes the term literally, as Jack’s yellowed skull appears in an egg yolk that the Other Mother cracks over a frying pan while making “dinner-breakfast-food.” It might have been foreshadowing the deadly deeds behind the scenes, but there’s no denying the familiarity of that smiling skull.

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