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Reindeer with Tea

One of the reindeer as it appears within the graveyard sequence.

The Skeletal Reindeer are three animate reindeer skeletons which originate from the Nightmare Before Christmas and appear in the Haunted Mansion Holiday seasonal overlay.

Origins[]

The reindeer first appeared in Tim Burton's 1982 poem the Nightmare Before Christmas of-which the film was based. In it they served as the flying reindeer which pulled Jack Skellington's coffin-sleigh through the sky when he tried to serve as Sandy Claws. The sleigh however gets shot out of the sky by a military-missile when the horrified mortal populace realizes what Jack has done to Christmas.

In the 1993 film adaptation, the three reindeer are shown to be the creations of the mad-scientist Dr. Finkelstein (who also created Sally). Finkelstein creates the flying skeleton reindeer for Jack using electricity for the same reasons as in the book, and to the same effect.

Appearances[]

The reindeer are first seen in the attraction in portrait form in the Stretching Room. One of the portraits reveals Jack in his sleigh being headed by Zero and pulled by his skeleton deer.

Another portrait shows the reindeer within the portrait gallery. A changing portrait shows a painting of Santa Claus flying with his reindeer only for it to change to show Jack in his coffin-sleigh being pulled by his own.

During the graveyard scene, skeletal reindeer can be seen in-person. One plays tug-of-war with the Hellhound. Another appears by the tea-party vignette, hovering in the air with a tea-tray in its mouth as to assist the ghosts attending it. Other reindeer can be seen racing in the background in the space typically taken up by the bicycle ghosts.

In the exit crypt, the silhouettes of the reindeer can be seen against the moon as Jack and Zero fly through the air.

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