The nightmare before christmas frankenweenie corpse bride

I kid you not, this theory annoys me so much whenever I see this floating around. It’s one of the most biggest Burton theories out there, and it just doesn’t die off. I keep seeing it again and again and I keep hearing people agreeing with it even though there’s little to no proof provided when this photo is shared.

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE TNBC theories and ideas, but this one’s proof/support is only based on “what ifs?” and not actual, concrete evidence. There is very little to none that can be found in The Nightmare Before Christmas especially. There’s a follow-up rumor that Tim Burton himself denied/debunked this theory, but I have yet to see any sources.(If you guys have it, please show me!)

The first issue that comes with this theory would be the dates of the movies. As they’re provided in this image, The Nightmare Before Christmas came first(1993), Corpse Bride came second(2005), and Frankenweenie came last(2012). The reason these dates matter is because the original material often does not source its future references. TNBC was made before Corpse Bride(and I’d say some of CB’s elements come from TNBC), so it obviously isn’t going to refer to that movie nor Frankenweenie. It was made first, and there was absolutely no intention to make references to CB or FW because those two films didn’t exist yet. Therefore, any “proof” that comes from The Nightmare Before Christmas referring to CB and FW are pulled from thin air because they’re more than likely inspirations and not intentions.

Common sense, people.

The second issue: the names. While the main characters of The Corpse Bride and Frankenweenie share the same first name, they don’t share their last ones. Victor Frankenstein isn’t the same person as Victor van Dort. And Jack Skellington is a completely different name. And, obviously, Zero, Sparky, and Scraps are all different names, too. Not to mention that one’s a skeleton, one resembles Frankenstein’s Monster, and the other one is a ghost. Why would they be the same characters if they don’t share the same name?

When Emily died in Corpse Bride, her name didn’t change, and Scraps still clearly held the same one as he did while he was still alive. The corpses who visited their families in the Land of the Living were also the same people. So when Victor dies, his name wouldn’t even be changed to anything else. This rules out the whole “Victor becomes Jack Skellington after he dies” topic.

Annndd…third: the settings. While Frankenweenie’s time setting isn’t established, the suburban style of homes suggests that it takes place in an early modern period. Corpse Bride is set in the Victorian era, which went from 1837 to 1901(more than likely before Frankenweenie, judging by the attires and customs of the two movies). The Nightmare Before Christmas is a different world entirely that deviates from the human’s world, like CB and FW’s. It would be impossible to have Victor, a child in Frankenweenie, suddenly turn into an adult like in The Corpse Bride. That itself knocks the whole time correlation out of wack. It just isn’t possible.

The only thing I can really connect from these three characters is that they have the same body structure. Victor’s chest is circled like Jack’s, and goes down to a thin frame. Victor Frankenstein is skinny and has the same facial type as Victor van Dort’s. But those are only visible similarities; they are all clearly three different characters.

You can’t convince me that these movies are connected without using the “What if"s as evidence. As you can see, I based mine on what is already established in the movies and/or information about them. The only thing that I can’t back up right now is Burton’s quote debunking this theory. I’m hoping that it’s true, because I’ve seen a false quote of "his” spreading around whenever this blasted image is posted…

Yeah, people are entitled to believe this and have fun with this theory, but as for me? I absolutely hate it. None of the evidence for it is solid, and the people who usually agree with it are ones who haven’t watched the film closely and just go with it because the Victors and Jack look the same. I know a big portion of fellow TNBC fans who despise this theory as well. I’m definitely on that bandwagon.