The Nightmare Before Christmas
The film initially received positive reviews from critics; it has since gone on to receive widespread critical acclaim. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a rating of 95%, based on 88 reviews, with an average rating of 8.2/10. The site's consensus reads, ""The Nightmare Before Christmas" is a stunningly original and visually delightful work of stop-motion animation." On Metacritic the film has a score of 82 out of 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".
History of British animation
Though much of the animated work screened by Channel 4 during this time proved too experimental for mainstream tastes, some of it would indeed yield global commercial successes. The television animated special "The Snowman", an adaptation of Raymond Briggs children's graphic novel, again produced by TVC Animation, was a substantial popular and financial success that remains a perennial Christmas favourite. Along similar lines, it is during this time that Aardman would break through to the mainstream as well, thanks in large part to the shorts Creature Comforts (1989) and the "Wallace and Gromit" films, all of which were directed by Nick Park. Stop-motion would likewise continue to have a strong presence in children's TV, with Postman Pat (1981, 1996, 2004) proving a successful franchise with multiple iterations. On a related note, mechanised puppetry mixed with limited stop-motion animation would similarly continue to be used in a few very successful shows created during this time, such as "Thomas the Tank Engine" (1984-).