Dr. Finkelstein

Dr. Finkelstein
Biological Information
Gender	Male
Species	Humanoid
Other Information
Family	Sally (creation/daughter) Jewel (creation/wife) Igor (assistant)
Played by	William Hickey (film) Jess Harnell (video games)
Other Names	Mad Scientist Doctor

Dr. Finkelstein is a resident of Halloween Town, the wheelchair-bound mad scientist and the creator of Sally. He was voiced by the late William Hickey in the film and by Jess Harnell in the video game spin-offs.

Finkelstein is a pale-as-a-sheet mad scientist with a duckbill-like mouth and a hinged skullcap that he can open up to reveal his brain. For unknown reasons, he uses a motorized wheelchair. Finkelstein is only referred to as the 'Evil Scientist' in the credits. His true name is only mentioned in the movie when the Mayor calls him up to the front of the line for his Christmas assignment.

Dr. Finkelstein lives in a large science laboratory with his living ragdoll creation, Sally, and his hunchbacked assistant, as many mad scientists have, Igor. James Whale's Frankenstein is quoted in Finklestein's line "I made you with my own hands".

Finklestein also has a hand in helping Jack Skellington (of whom he seems to be very fond) with his plan to take over Christmas by bringing to life several skeletal reindeer to pull Jack's sleigh. He also refers to Jack as "my boy" in both the movie and The Pumpkin King Game.

At the end of the film, Finklestein, deciding that Sally is too much of a handful, creates a wife for himself using a portion of his own brain which he names Jewel.

Personality

Finklestein is a bossy and antagonistic father figure for Sally to overcome. He takes full responsibility over her and acts as an over-protective father, and in some ways a pushy husband (thus explaining Sally's attempts to run away) by keeping her under lock and key under the pretext of sheltering her from the world. He insists she is not ready for the Halloween celebrations yet and locks her in her room in the Tower using a gigantic piece of wood that can only be released from the outside, thus resulting Sally to depart through the window. He only releases her once she "promises to be behave", and remarks her being unwise and wretched, as well as her owing her life to him. He seems careless in the film, showing how he treats his creation, Sally.

Despite being very unfriendly with Sally, he also appears understanding and somewhat sympathetic with her while stitching her back up in his Lab. He insists her restlessness is a phase and that it’ll pass, saying that they both need to patient. It is possible that he only craved companionship when creating Sally, as when he is seen replacing her with Jewel, he remarks that they will have "conversations worth having". He might also have wanted somebody to share his similarities with, as he uses part of his own brain for Jewel.

The Nightmare Before Christmas

The Doctor is first seen trying to tear away Sally from the Halloween celebrations, referring to her slipping him Deadly Nightshade, and trying to take her back to the Tower. When she fights back, he insists she's coming with him before she breaks away and sends the Doctor onto the ground. He angrily calls after her before her hand starts punching his head, to which he painfully groans.

He finds Sally back in the Tower where she fills back the deadly nightshade up, coming down the ramps before he notices her stocking the deadly nightshade in a cabinet.

Doctor Finklestein looking at X-Rays.

He shows her the dismembered arm she left him with and leads her back into the laboratory to sew it back on. While fixing her up, he remarks it's the second time she's poisoned him in the month, and gets angry when she corrects him. He compliments himself for creating her but gets offended when she says he can make others. He assures her while fixing her up, sending her off from the lab.

He is later seen observing X-Rays in his Lab while opening the hatch to his head and scratching at his brain. He's interrupted when Sally comes in with lunch, and happily goes for the soup. He becomes very skeptical of it after smelling Frog's Breath in the Worm's Wart (which Sally had used to cover up the Deadly Nightshade's less-foul odor). He insists Sally to try it first in order for him to eat it, only to get the spoon knocked out of his hand. While Sally goes to "retrieve" it, he attempts to guilt trip her insisting that a poor old man like him barely has any strength. Sally pretends to drink it, fooling the Doctor to chug the rest. He is soon passed out on the table afterwards, and is draped over by a blanket while he sleeps.

He soon awakens with a Deadly Nightshade hangover, and declares that Sally has poisoned him for the last time and locks her in her bedroom. After hearing the doorbell ring, he moans and calls to the visitor that the door is open. After seeing that it is Jack Skellington, his demeanor changes as he is very welcoming and insists for him to come up. After Jack informs him of his plans of experimenting, he remarks "curiosity killed the cat, you know!" and brings him back into his Lab to get him all "fixed up", lending him his scientific supplies, such as microscopes and tools. After he recovers from his hangover, he decides to unlock Sally's bedroom, only to see that she escaped.

Finklestein is later called into the Town Hall to retrieve his Christmas task. While coming inside, he angrily searches for Sally, who hides behind the town's fountain. After coming inside, he approaches Jack, who quickly asks for him to construct some reindeer for his sleigh. The Doctor comments that their structure should be "exceedingly simple", and gets to work on it after constructing Jewel's body. Igor comes and gives him the plans and Finklestein awards him with a Bone Biscuit. He is later seen bringing the skeletal reindeer to life with electricity, watching with joy as they move. He falls on the table and goes to polishing a small replica of a human skull.

The Doctor is last seen coming into Town with his new creation, Jewel (becoming his wife), by his side. He calls her his "precious jewel" and joins the rest of the town celebrating the snow.

Long Live the Pumpkin Queen

In the sequel novel, Long Live the Pumpkin Queen, it is revealed that Doctor Finkelstein visited the Hinterlands in the past and stumbled upon Dream Town. There, he first saw Sally as a ragdoll child. Wanting to have a daughter of his own but failing to create any at the time, he kidnapped her from Albert and Greta during the night and fled back into the forest, hiding the town's door with a thicket of branches and successfully making it a forgotten realm. He was unknowingly spotted by the family's butler, Edwin, and confesses this story at the end of the novel. Once he was back in Halloween Town, he replaced Sally's cotton stuffing with leaves. Jack Skellington sentences him to community service for many years to pay for what he did.

Video games

The Pumpkin King

The Doctor is first mentioned when Jack goes to check on him in his lab, where he finds the bat boomerang that the doctor had just invented, with a note saying this invention would win him the "ghastly gadget" award again. He is found not a moment later in the game being held hostage by a giant snake. Jack at first thinks the reptile is the doctor's new pet, but the doctor tells him otherwise and Jack quickly defeats it. Afterwards, he explains that he was doing some research until a snake appeared and held him hostage. He tells him to use the bat boomerang to save Sally, who has been abducted by Oogie's henchmen. He also informs him that he Corpse Kid ran off when the snake came and wagers he went to the Pumpkin Patch. He then leaves to do some more research.   

Doctor Finklestein with Jack and Sally in The Pumpkin King.

Later, when Jack returns to his lab, He tells Jack that his security system has gone haywire, and Igor is trapped inside. To help him get in, The Doctor upgrades his frog gun so it can be fired continuously. After Igor is freed, Jack goes back to the Doctor and lets him back in the lab. He reappears at the end as Jack returns with Sally, expressing his worry but getting agitated that she's paying more attention to Jack.   

Oogie's Revenge

In Oogie's Revenge, when Jack longs for a more frightening Halloween, Finkelstein helps him by giving him the Soul Robber, a gooey, shape-changing weapon. Jack leaves both the Doctor and the newly appointed Pumpkin Queen Sally in charge of Halloween Town while he's gone, hoping the two of them would put their differences aside and work together on the same task he provided them with. This might imply that Jack has forgiven Finkelstein for kidnapping Sally from her real parents in Dream Town, and allowed him to continue working at Halloween Town so long as he pulls double-duty for his century-long community service punishment at Dream Town. After Oogie Boogie's revival, Finkelstein was then put under Oogie's control by switching his brain for a corrupted one, and started creating monsters for Oogie to control while also overthrowing Sally and taking over the town for himself. Fortunately, Jack was able to put Finkelstein's original brain back in place, breaking Finkelstein from Oogie's sway.

Finklestein can be met at the end of the game before Oogie Boogie's final fight, where he says he's counting on Jack and encourages him to defeat Oogie.

Kingdom Hearts

Dr. Finkelstein, as he appears in the Kingdom Hearts series

Finkelstein also appears in the Kingdom Hearts. When the Heartless appear in Halloween Town, Jack thinks of adding them to the Halloween celebrations and asks Finklestein for advice. Realizing that the Heartless need a heart, the two find the ingredients for one: pulse and emotion (terror, fear, hope, and despair). Their initial experiment fails, and Finklestein sends Jack off with Sora and the gang to retrieve two more ingredients, memory and surprise, thus completing the heart. However, the heart is stolen by Oogie Boogie. In Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, created from Sora's memories, Finklestein creates a potion that allows people to see their true memory. The only problem is that once he sniffed the potion, Heartless appeared. In Kingdom Hearts II, aided by Lock, Shock, and Barrel, Finklestein creates an experiment. As the Experiment has no heart, it goes on a rampage to steal gifts, in an attempt to understand the emotions behind giving and gain a heart of its own. Sadly, Sora and the gang have no choice but to destroy the Experiment.

Disney Parks

In October 2003, Doctor Finklestein optionally accompanied the rest of

Doctor Finkelstein and Sally.

the cast singing Broadway Songs to celebrate the third celebration of the Haunted Mansion Holiday. His segment was to sing "If I had a Brain" from the Wizard of Oz with Sally, and joined the rest of the cast for other songs. His character never made another appearance, as well as the other Halloween Town Citizens. He may not have been present for other performances, given the difficulties of the wheelchair for the actors.

Zero's Journey

Dr. Finkelstein makes small appearances in the sequel comic book, Zero's Journey, seen with his new creation, Jewel, inside his Tower. Jack comes to ask him if he has seen Zero, which he unfortunately hasn't. He is shown later on within the crowds of Halloween Town.

Gallery

Click here to view the gallery for Dr. Finkelstein.

Trivia

• It is implied that he was not always intended to be bound to a wheelchair, as early drawings of Finkelstein depict him standing freely, as well as his original action figure.
• In the game spin-offs, Finkelstein's name is pronounced "steen" instead of "stein".
• In a deleted scene, it was revealed that Finkelstein was originally supposed to be Oogie Boogie in disguise, who planned to get revenge on Jack after Sally fell in love with him. This idea was scrapped due to the outrage from Tim Burton.
• While being Halloween-Town's stock-mad scientist, Finkelstein's name and habit of creating the dead from pieces of corpse is taken from the gothic character of Dr. Victor Frankenstein.