Tim Burton Responds To A Nightmare Before Christmas Sequel: 'Where's My Shotgun?'

While there is a long-running tradition of classic Christmas movies that goes back for decades, the passing years have proven that there's always room for more. With its delightfully macabre take on the biggest holiday of the year, "The Nightmare Before Christmas" was an unlikely hit upon its initial release, and has only grown more beloved in the 30 years since.

Yes, it's true; it's been three decades since the release of "The Nightmare Before Christmas," and we're sorry to remind you, once again, that you're getting old. Still, it's not all bad news. Tim Burton, who produced the movie and also wrote the story that eventually became the film, sat down with Empire to discuss the legacy of "The Nightmare Before Christmas" and what he thinks about the possibility of a sequel. In fact, he was crystal clear on what he thought of the idea of a second "Nightmare Before Christmas" tale.

"I feel like that old guy who owns a little piece of property and won't sell to the big power plant that wants to take my land," Burton explained. "Get off of my land! You pesky little... You ain't getting this property! I don't care what you want to build on it," he went on jokingly. "You come on my property... Where's my shotgun?"

In a more serious tone, Tim Burton explained why specifically he didn't want to see more stories set in the world of "The Nightmare Before Christmas." "To me, the movie is very important," he said. "I've done sequels, I've done other things, I've done reboots, I've done all that s***, right? I don't want that to happen to this," he continued. "It's nice that people are maybe interested, but I'm not."

Longtime fans of the filmmaker will be well aware that he did a sequel to "Batman" with "Batman Returns," as well as rebooting Disney's "Alice in Wonderland" with longtime staples like Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter. With this in mind, it looks like the shine of continuing one of his most beloved projects no longer appeals to him.

The filmmaker also offered further reasoning on why he wants "The Nightmare Before Christmas" to remain a standalone story, and it concerns its central character, Jack Skellington (Chris Sarandon/Danny Elfman). He compared the character to himself. "[Skellington is a] character that's perceived as dark but is really light," Burton noted. The director went on to add, "Those are the kinds of things that I love, whether it's [Edward] Scissorhands or Batman, characters that have that. It represented all those feelings that I had. I was perceived as this dark character when I didn't feel that way. So it was a very personal character"