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".
Aaahh!!! Real Monsters
"The Plain Dealer" writer Tom Feran called the show "good fun" and favorably compared the series' premise to that of the animated film "The Nightmare Before Christmas". "Boston Herald" writer Frances Katz wrote, "If there was ever a great title for a cartoon, it has to be Nickelodeon's "Aaahh!!! Real Monsters"'." Not all reviews were positive. The November 1994 issue of "Parenting" magazine listed "Aaahh!!! Real Monsters" as #1 in its top ten list of the worst new shows of the television season, describing it as "Graphic and scatological; it's just plain gross." Some media outlets pointed out similarities between "Aaahh!!! Real Monsters" and "The Brothers Grunt", an MTV animated television series about a group of grotesque humanoid characters. Gábor Csupó rejected these comparisons and claims his show was more story- and character-driven with a different visual style, while Danny Antonucci's show was idea-driven.