Get a jump on WinterFest — and the holiday season — with a FREE showing of Tim Burton’s wondrous The Nightmare Before Christmas, a stop-motion animated musical about the Pumpkin King’s attempt to kidnap “Sandy Claws” and take over Christmas.

It will be shown on the Plaza Theatre’s BIG screen at 7 tonight (Thursday, November 17), the first of nine movies included in our FREE Holiday Movies at the Plaza Theatre, sponsored by GECU and in partnership with El Paso Live. Seating begins at 6:30 pm, with Rick Garven playing the Wyler Mighty Wurlitzer Pipe Organ. WinterFest opens November 19.

The 1993 Disney release — it’s hard to believe that it will be 30 years old next year! — features a voice cast including Chris Sarandon as Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King, Catherine O’Hara (Kevin’s mom in Home Alone) as Sally, the object of his affections, William Hickey as the evil Dr. Finkelstein, and Patrick Stewart as the narrator. The film’s luminous songs were written by Oingo Boingo’s Danny Elfman, who sings Jack’s role.

The Holiday Movies are FREE, meaning there are no tickets needed. Seating is first-come, first-served in the historic, 2,044-seat Plaza Theatre, which opened in 1930 and was restored by the El Paso Community Foundation and the City of El Paso in 2006.

The series continues with double features on Sundays, November 27 through December 18.

November 27
1 pm: A Christmas Story (PG, 1983)
3:30 pm: Home Alone (PG, 1990)

December 4
1 pm: Disney’s A Christmas Carol (2009, PG)
3:30 pm: How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000, PG)

December 11
1 pm: Elf (2003, PG)
3:30 pm: The Polar Express (2004, PG)

December 18
1 pm: Four Christmases (2008, PG-13)
3:30 pm: National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989, PG-13)

For more on WinterFest, go to epwinterfest.com.

For more on the Holiday Movies and the Plaza Classic, go to plazaclassic.com.