This is probably not going to be a shocker to you, the reader, but Disney has some strong ideas about what you can or cannot do when it comes to their properties. And when Comic Book Club caught up with writer Torunn Grønbekk at Baltimore Comic Con this past weekend, we discovered just how challenging it can become.
Specifically, when the subject of Dynamite’s upcoming miniseries Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Shiver of Christmas Town cropped up, Grønbekk called out the tricky nature of trying to add onto the mythology of the classic stop-motion animated movie.
“It’s been interesting, because we’ve been working with Disney, who have a lot of thoughts about what you can do or not,” Grønbekk said. “And so, whatever you read on the pages, just imagine the script. It was 10 times worse, [and] somewhat funnier.”
To be clear, Grønbekk calls herself a fan of the movie and projects it “on the barn” every year for friends and family. And as a fan, she appreciates the opportunity to work her way into the world of Jack Skellington and friends. “It’s a fantastic movie,” Grønbekk continued. “One of the things that I’ve been thinking about a lot lately, is that we seem to have reached a point where… No one’s making your new favorite movie. You know what I mean? And this was a movie that immediately became a lot of people’s favorite movie. It became a thing, right? And it’s always fun when you get to play in that sandbox.”
But while playing in that sandbox, Grønbekk found that there were strict regulations on how to use the toys.
“One of the things that I found surprising was they weren’t really as interested in expanding on anything,” Grønbekk explained, “and to the point where, like, I assume, that in a little city there might be a little apothecary or something… ‘No, no, that’s not in the in the movie, so we can’t have it.’ And I did a bunch of really cool jokes that were, I would say, objectively funny. They were not allowed. It’s been interesting to see the Disney-ness of it all.”
Regardless of Disney, Grønbekk does seem pleased with the final product, noting she recently read through the first issue and it “turned out pretty good. Despite all of the things that [got] ripped away in the process, I do hope that people enjoy it. But I do also hope that they’re kids that will read it because… I wouldn’t say it’s a kid’s comic, but they made sure that the kids can read it. And my thought is always, you don’t do that. You just write a nice comic, and the kids will read it anyway, and then they’ll be fine. That’s usually what I think. And that’s usually the case, right? But they did it the proper way. The Disney way.”
Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Shiver of Christmas Town features art by Edu Menna and will hit stores in January of 2026. You can listen to the full interview with Grønbekk below:
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