CORRECTION: I misspoke regarding the movie's original screenplay. The writer was Michael McDowell, not Malcom McDowell (the actor).

R.I.P Ken Page 1954-2024., the voice of Oogie Boogie.
He's with Robin Williams, Gilbert Gottfried, James Earl Jones, Vincent Price and all the other greats.
Edit : RIP Catherine O'Hara, voice of Sally and Shock.

According to Tim Burton he said directly that he doesn't think that Oogie Boogie is actually a villain instead he's like the worst neighbor you ever had.

Fun fact from the italian Version of the movie: Oogie Boogie is called "Bau Bau", the Babau is a monster of the italian folklore that we use to scare the children, is pretty much an italian boogeyman! And Lock, Shock, and Barrel in the italian Version are called Vado (I go) , Vedo (I see) and Prendo (I take)! Just a fun fact from italy!

that's kind of how i always interpreted lock, shock, and barrel, too. they're the embodiment of "trick or treak," emphasis on "trick."

R.I.P. Catherine O'Hara, the voice of Shock and Sally (1954 - 2026)

I always found it interesting how it’s heavily implied that between KH 1 and 2 a version of the movie’s events happened without oggie himself being a factor (likely more akin the original poem in a way) due to oggie being taken out before Jack finds Christmas town.

I always found it eerie when Oogie's bugs separate and his voice becomes higher-pitched after he gets stripped of his burlap sack cover.  Although it's very impressive how each bug moved independently during that moment, especially for stop-motion.

Not about the villains, but watching Nightmare Before Christmas two Canadian Thanksgivings ago made me realize that the movie is actually a Lovecraftian horror story. As a creature of Halloween, Jack isn't supposed to know that Christmas exists, let alone understand it, and predictably it drives Jack mad the same way any of the "things man was not meant to know" would drive a human character mad in a Lovecraft story.

According to the commentary the reason those scenes with the trio were cut was because it made them look too evil. They are just kids after all and so it was decided to cut it. Also according to an interview the trio were actually abused by Oogie hense why they fear him and that perhaps he had more servents that he ate with the masks on the wall (but not the trio) being the faces of those he ate. It also said that Lock took the most of the abuse, inculding to protect his two best friends. There are also two storyboards that make one wonder if we were supposed to see a sympathetic side. One had them strap a dog to a table preparing to electrocute it, but then another shows them in the same positions with devisated looks on their faces. Either they accidentally took it too far and killed it or maybe they were going to do a Frankinweinie and help it but it failed. That would've been interesting to find out.

Also there are few storyboards showing a physical paet of the final battle with Jack and Oogie swinging maces that wasn't used.

There is also more information about them in it. Here is the link for the interview in question.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kBXdQtA7Xn8&t=1930s&pp=2AGKD5ACAQ%3D%3D

When I attended D23 Expo back in 2024, during the Disney Character Voices panel on Sunday, I got the opportunity to witness Ken Page not only demonstrate his voice acting for Oogie Boogie, but also perform "Poor Unfortunate Souls" as Oogie as well. I still have the video of the performance since it happened a month before his passing, so it was a huge memory for me personally.

Well well well. What have we here!

R.I.P. Ken Page (1954-2024)

2:53 The word 'bug' likely originated in the Middle Ages as another word for these sorts of folkloric monsters (Middle English: Bugge), before it came to refer to insects, and is likely etymologically related to such words as 'bogey', 'bogle', 'boogey', and 'boggart'. For a good example, the polemicist Reginald Scot, in his Discovery of Witchcraft, gives an extensive list of folkloric fairies and monsters (all of which, being a Calvinist fanatic in the 1500s, he associated with demons), which he caps off with the summary 'and other such bugs, that we are afraid of our own shadows'. For more etymological examples, the bogeyman synonyms 'bugbear' and 'bugaboo' also come to mind.

In this sense, Oogie Boogie is the ultimate pun-- he is a bogeyman made of bugs, whose skin is a giant sack (referring back to the Sack Man), and whose dancing and jazz music background plays off both 'boogie' and 'boogey'. His appearance as the 'shadow on the moon at night' is also fitting, as many examples of the bogeyman archetype are associated with shadows-- one of the many German bogeyman figures, for instance, is called 'Der Schwarze Mann', or, 'The Black Man', in English, because he dwells within the blackness of shadows under beds and behind doors.

Oh yeah, he’s one of my favorite villains!  Even though the original voice actor is not around anymore, but I can still appreciate the character embodiment for a Halloween and Christmas.  By the way, there is a new Nightmare before Christmas comic miniseries called The Shiver of Christmas town, which is available in comic book stores

A bit from Oogie I love is what sounds like a voice crack when he says “pay attention now” cause it’s so extra in the best way

Also his neon green look being used in merchandise reminds me of Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed always being depicted as dark gray while in broad daylight (notably in the stampede scene) they’re a shade of brown

My interpretation of Lock, Shock, and Barrel at the end of the film has always been that they're essentially hedging their bets. Now that they know Jack is back they're going to bring the townsfolk to him so they can say "see, we're good guys now" but if they arrived and Oogie Boogie had defeated Jack they'd be like "oogie boogie beat jack, so now he's king of halloweentown!" basically choosing the winning side upon their arrival.

RIP Ken Page. They should've made a statue for him.

3:37 OINGO BOINGO MENTIONED YIPPPPEEE!

Nebby K. Nezzer owes his existence to this guy.