Oogie Boogie

GENDER Male SPECIES Boogeyman FAMILY Lock (Henchman) Shock (Henchman) Barrel (Henchman)

PLAYED BY Ken Page OTHER NAMES The Boogie Man Mr. Oogie Boogie Oogie Boogie Man Mr Oogie Boogie Man Gambling Boogie Man

Oogie Boogie is the main antagonist of Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas. voiced by Ken Page, Oogie Boogie is boogeyman, a burlap sack filled with insects, spiders and a snake for a tongue. He is a legendary boogeyman, as suggested by the Boogie in his name, and how he even tells Santa "you better pay attention now because I'm the Boogeyman" in his song The Oogie Boogie Song.

He commands three not-so-loyal henchmen Lock, Shock, and Barrel. The three live in a Treehouse, above Oogie's Lair. They feed him bugs through a metal chute that leads to his underground lair, and at one point even Santa Claus went through it.

He is also apparently the "Shadow on the Moon at Night" as the shadow shown on the moon was an exact replica of him. He is also said to have been the king of his own holiday, Bug Day, which he ended up ruining somehow, resulting in him moving to Halloween Town, a plot detailed in "The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Pumpkin King" for the Gameboy Advance. Oogie Boogie did not appear in Tim Burton's original Poem, but Burton later sketched a portrait of what appeared to be a potato sack man with horrible things inside. In his autobiography Burton on Burton, Burton says that Oogie Boogie was loosely inspired by Cab Calloway's 1932 appearance in a Betty Boop cartoon. In addition to this, Danny Elfman ended up referencing the Betty Boop cartoon The Old Man of the Mountain (1933), also featuring Calloway. Santa Claus' line "Well, what are you going to do?" and Oogie Boogie's response of "I'm gonna do the best I can!" are direct quotes from this cartoon. An alternate idea for Oogie's identity was for him to be Dr. Finkelstein in disguise, gaining revenge on Jack and Sally, but it was not pursued past storyboards, this is visible on the Special Edition DVD. Oogie Boogie is a wicked and voraciously power hungry creature, resembling a large burlap sack shaped like a starfish. Inside of him are thousands of bugs (along with 2 spiders and a snake). His life revolves around gambling, and loves gambling with others' lives. Though, ironically, Oogie has no skills for gambling; on one occasion he rolls snake eyes, and confesses he has to resort to deceiving - he slams his fist upon the table to shake the dice, resulting in eleven. Gambling is really only for theatrics, as Oogie actually takes joy in orchestrating situations with his victims in order to empower himself.

He is also somewhat lecherous, as which is apparent when he is easily sidetracked by Sally's bare (and dismembered) leg.

Oogie Boogie's most dominant emotion of his personality is obviously fear. Whether it's scaring the daylights out of others, or being frightened himself, Oogie is always involved with fear. Despite his menacing appearance, Oogie can mostly be seen as a wimp. He also appears to fear Jack Skellington, as evidenced by their final confrontation when meeting face to face. This fear can also be comprehended as a result of their first meeting, depicted in the Gameboy Advance game: "The Pumpkin King", when Jack Skellington eliminated his bug minions after he attempted to transform Halloween Town into Bug Town.

It can also be argued that Oogie doesn't think Halloween should be a fun holiday like everybody else does; he thinks it should be wicked and harmful, even going as far as to actually harm humans, which all the other citizens are against and strictly forbid. Oogie has many interesting powers and abilities that somewhat vary from appearance to appearance. In his original appearance in the movie, he demonstrates very few to no special powers, but in the video games and other various forms of media he appears in, his powers and abilities are greatly expanded all around.

Oogie Boogie's home is an underground lair full of torture devices with a casino-like appearance, as he gambles on human (and in some possible cases, inhuman) lives and keeps the spirit of Bug Day alive. The lighting is done in the style of a cheap fun house, as seen during Oogie's song. It is located beneath the Treehouse of Lock, Shock and Barrel who send food (such as the insect caught during Kidnap The Sandy Claws) and sometimes even victims for Oogie Boogie down a chute.

A few torture devices shown in the movie include a roulette wheel; gun-toting robots; King of Spades playing-card soldiers and a gruesome variety of other demonic contraptions.