If you’ve listened to the soundtrack album for The Nightmare Before Christmas, you’ve probably noticed that the opening narration sounds different from the movie. For one thing, it’s longer. There’s also a closing narration which isn’t in the movie. And most noticeable of all, the voice doing the narrating is different. That voice on the soundtrack is Sir Patrick Stewart.
In an early version of the script for The Nightmare Before Christmas (you can find it online), there were opening and closing narrations that were to be spoken by Santa. The film’s director, Henry Selick, explained that Vincent Price was the first choice to play the role. He recorded the narration, but Selick said Price “had just lost his wife, and he was despondent, and it just didn’t work.”
Don Ameche and James Earl Jones were also approached for the part, but neither worked out.
At some point during the process, Patrick Stewart recorded the full opening and closing narration as written in the script. I’ve searched for why Stewart’s voice wasn’t used in the movie, but the best I’ve been able to find are speculations at best. For whatever reason, Selick is quoted as saying that they “just went with a local actor from San Francisco.” That actor was Ed Ivory, who we can hear as Santa, and doing the narration at the beginning of the movie.
So, if you want to hear Sir Patrick Stewart doing an extended version of Santa’s narration, you’ll need to get the soundtrack. Or you could just look it up on YouTube, I guess.
source for most of these facts: Mental Floss – Oct. 17, 2026
