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How the Wizard of Oz, The Exorcist, and Cab Calloway inspired The Nightmare Before Christmas' Oogie Boogie voice
Ken Page reveals the three celebrity impressions he mixed to create the voice for The Nightmare Before Christmas’ Oogie Boogie
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What would The Nightmare Before Christmas be like without Oogie Boogie? The sadistic burlap sack brings a sense of menace, mischief, and fun to the animated musical. Plus, ‘The Oogie Boogie’s Song’ is one of the film’s best musical sequences.
Ken Page, the talented actor who voiced Oogie Boogie, sadly passed away on September 30, 2024. Weeks before his death, Page attended GalaxyCon San Jose, where he participated in their Nightmare Before Christmas spotlight panel. During the panel, Page reflected on the legacy of Oogie Boogie and revealed the various celebrity impressions he melded to form the character’s voice.
“They actually showed me the storyboards, and they said, ‘What do you think he sounds like?’ I thought, ‘I don’t know. If you don’t know, how do I know?’ But I said after some more discussion, I said it’s a little more Bert Lahr, from The Wizard of Oz, you know, ‘[imitating Lahr] I do believe in ghosts, I do, I do believe in ghosts.’ And a little of Cab Calloway, who was a great jazz performer if you don’t know. ‘[sings like Calloway] Let me tell you about Minnie the Moocher, she was a lowdown hoochie coocher.’ I always love to say, the voice of the demon from The Exorcist. Mercedes McCambridge, the queen of voice work, who had my favorite line, ‘What a lovely day for an exorcism.’ It’s just too sick.”
Fused together, and Page had his Oogie Boogie voice. “Mix the three of them together, and I said, ‘If I go too far in any direction, tell me.’ And they said, ‘Oh, we love it!’ And Henry [Selick] and Danny [Elfman] were like, ‘Yeaaaaah!’ I thought, yeah, I’m as weird as you are, that’s good. We did it like that, and after a while it sort of settled into a specific, and of course, my own hot sauce that I put on it. But those were my inspirations for it.”
I can definitely hear the Cab Calloway influences in ‘The Oogie Boogie’s Song.’ Listening to that track again, you can’t deny that Page gave it his all. It’s been decades since the movie was released, and the film’s legacy lives on. Ken Page is a huge part of that, and thanks to him, The Nightmare Before Christmas will be a holiday classic for generations to come.
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