Editor’s Note: Please welcome guest author Matt Feige to The Disney Blog.

Last night was opening night for The Nightmare Before Christmas 3D at the El Capitan. The El Capitan runs The Nightmare Before Christmas for Halloween as part of an annual tradition. The line outside the theater was an eclectic mix of fans, not usually seen at Disney’s films, but a given for this film, now a too popular to call a cult classic.

As you file in, passing an authentic box office and beautifully decorated ceiling, you enter a completely different era, the golden age of Hollywood. The beautifully painted and sculpted interior is almost as welcoming as Rob Richards’ wonderful organ playing. Rob, who recently won the American Theater Organ Society’s Organist of the Year award, began with selections from Danny Elfman’s stunning Nightmare before Christmas score before moving on to more classic Disney fare and then finished with Hooray for Hollywood.

For opening night, we started with a panel discussion.

Don Hahn, a Disney figure in his own right, interviewed Director Henry Selick for about 15 minutes about the making of The Nightmare Before Christmas, the difficulty of making stop-motion films, and the exclusive use of in-camera effects. When Hahn referred to stop-motion as “painfully” built, Selick quickly interjected “Wonderfully.”

While explaining the subtle adjustments the animators make in order to make a character seem fluid and real Selick said the to be a great stop-animator must “Feel that Character in your whole body.”

After Ken Page, the voice of Oogie Boogie, appeared in a clip Don brought out Ken Page to perform “Oogie Boogie’s Song.” His onstage performance made clear the energy he brought to the role.

After Selick and Page left the stage Kahn acted as if the movie were about to begin, but the stage began to fill with fog and a candelabra floated across the stage. The Disneyland Dapper Dans then launched into a stirring rendition of “Grim Grinning Ghosts.”

While the performances and appearances were amazing and set the stage for this wonderful film, as always Disney’s details sold the show. It was the Christmas wreaths and pine garlands strung on the walls of the theater that got me in the mood to experience a film that has achieved Disney Classic Status. I highly recommend that you check out The Nightmare Before Christmas 3D at the El Capitan before November 1st when it is gone for another year.

When not busy turning Christmas into Halloween, Matt Feige can be found chattering on twitter.

It’s Pixar week at The House Next Door, a blog which features writing about the art of movie craft from some of the industries leading artists and critics. The week kicked off with a masterpiece article by Todd VanDerWerff that attempts to weave the cinematic threads linking each Pixar animated feature into a tapestry of beauty unmatched by any modern movie studio.

The whole week of essays is being collected here.  A much deserved focus of attention for Pixar Studios which has a real chance at winning a Best Oscar picture for ‘UP’ this year.

Tron Legacy (aka Tron 2.0) is still more than a year away from it’s theatrical release. Primary shooting just wrapped and now the intensive post-production process begins. Olvia Wilde (whom you may know from her role on “House”) sat down with ComingSoon.net for an interview where they talked about Tron Legacy.

We shot some 20-hour days, we were wearing the suits, which are not easy to wear. I was doing a lot of my own stunts and training a lot of the time. Really pushing myself physically as well as mentally. It was an epic undertaking. It was a HUGE film to shoot in those few days. I was so proud to be a part of it. The morning that we wrapped it was an unbelievable feeling. We all just lost it. It was sunrise and we couldn’t believe we were actually done.

So when do we start camping in line?

Disney is rolling out the big guns to promote its next animated musical feature, “The Princess And The Frog”. To help bring families out, they’re offering a free child’s ticket to see “The Princess And The Frog” if you visit a Disney World theme parks. The promotion runs Monday, Oct. 5, through Nov. 22

The offer is for guests 10 or older. You have to show your valid WDW admission media at a specific shop and you’ll receive a voucher worth up to $8. The child must be accompanied by a paying adult and it must be used between Dec. 11 and 31.

Here’s a list of participating locations:

Magic Kingdom: The Emporium, Main Street Confectionery, Main Street Cinema, Town Square Exposition Hall, Uptown Jewelers, Cornelius Coot’s County Bounty

Epcot: Mouse Gear, Gateway Gifts, Epcot Camera Center, World Traveler, Port of Entry, Disney Traders

Disney’s Animal Kingdom Park: Island Mercantile, Outpost, Garden Gate Gifts

Disney’s Hollywood Studios: Mickey’s of Hollywood, Keystone Clothiers, The Darkroom, Celebrity 5&10, LA Prop Warehouse, In Character, Disney Studio Store, Animation Gallery

(via the Orlando Sentinel)

The world of custom car mods can be quite expensive when you’re working on the full size real thing. But if your thing is toy cars, then all that’s holding you back is imagination and talent. That’s why these modified toys from the Pixar movie Cars are so cool.

Plenty more to see over at Take5ADay and a contest. With a Cars 2 movie coming out I hope we’ll be seeing even more great stuff.

There are few of my favorite childhood movies that hold as special a place as BedKnobs And Broomsticks. Although it was produced after Walt Disney’s death, it continued the Mary Poppins tradition of combining live action with animation, brought on wonderful actors like Angela Lansbury and David Tomlinson, and was chockful of musical tunes to boot. What more could a budding Disney fan want?

How about the new Enchanted Musical Edition DVD? It’s restored and remastered and ready to occupy that empty spot on your shelf.

We have the Sherman Brothers to thank for the songs for the film, including The Age of Not Believing, Portobello Road, and The Beautiful Briny Sea. If that strikes your memory bone, then you’ll want to make sure you watch the best special feature — Music Magic: The Sherman Brothers. Inside Angela Lansbury narrates the history of the development of the songs and you’ll enjoy a rare listen at a song never before heard.

Also knew is the “Wizard of Special Effects” feature that walks viewers through the special effects of the movie and compares them with Disney’s current wizard TV show, The Wizards of Waverly Place.

Bedknobs and Broomsticks is a must have for any Disney fan. The Enchanted Musical Edition DVD captures the family entertainment value you expect from the team at Walt Disney Pictures.

More details of the DVD below the jump:

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If you’re a fan of Disney animation and live in Los Angeles or New York, count yourself lucky. You get a chance to see Disney’s triumphant (we hope) return to hand drawn animation, The Princess & The Frog, prior to most anyone else. Tickets are for sale now on Disney.com for limited advanced screenings in those two cities. But if you’re on Facebook, login to get a ’special fan rate’.

For more details and ticket purchases: http://www.facebook.com/ThePrincessAndTheFrog and click the exclusives tab. Dates are around  November 25-29th and are going fast. The Los Angeles screening is right on the Burbank Walt Disney Studios lot too. That’s pretty cool.

Very said to hear that Patrick Swayze has died. He was 57 years old.

Although he was not involved in a lot of Disney projects, Swayze got his start at Disney and and did find a few wonderful movies to participate in. He began his career as a dancer for “Disney On Parade” a touring ice show. In addition to playing Prince Charming in Disney On Parade, Swayze provided the voice of Cash in The Fox and the Hound II and played Pecos Bill in Disney’s Tall Tale movie.

Our thoughts are with Patrick Swayze’s friends and family. Another talent snuffed out too soon in this summer of Celebrity deaths.