Sally is the deuteragonist of Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas.
She is a humanoid ragdoll created by Dr. Finkelstein. She is made of various pieces stitched together, with dead leaves used as stuffing. Head creation of the doctor, she is always under lock and key. Thus, when she wants to go out, she poisons the doctor with deadly nightshade (covered up with worm's wart and frog's breath) and sneaks out.
Sally is in love with Jack Skellington, but is unsuccessful in showing her affections to Jack. However, by the end of the movie, she manages to let him know how much she loves him and he reveals that he loves her in return. They share a passionate kiss on top of Spiral Hill.
The official film soundtrack contains an epilogue not in the film, stating that "many years later" Santa Claus returned to Halloween Town to visit Jack. He discovered that Jack had "four or five skeleton children at hand, who play together in a xylophone band." Given the ending of the movie, it can be assumed that these children are Jack and Sally's. It is unknown why they are skeletons instead of some sort of skeleton rag doll hybrid.
Sally is voiced by Catherine O'Hara in the original film and by Kath Soucie in the Kingdom Hearts series and Oogie's Revenge.
The Pumpkin King
In his attempts to turn Halloween into New Bug Day, Oogie Boogie sends Lock, Shock, and Barrel to kidnap Jack, but Sally is kidnapped by mistake. Oogie Boogie decides to hold her hostage until Jack comes to save her and the town from his terror, and after being rescued by Jack, Sally instantly falls in love with him.
Sally meeting Jack Skellington for the first time.
The Nightmare Before Christmas
In the movie, Sally barely has any freedom, although she frequently runs away from Dr. Finkelstein, her creator. After the Halloween celebration, the Doctor catches her and tries to drag her back to the lab. To escape, she pulls the thread on her arm and leaves it behind dismembered, as she runs off. She then follows Jack all the way to Spiral Hill, listening to his song. Sally then goes back to Dr. Finkelstein to get her arm reattached. She hears about the town meeting after Jack returns to town and poisons the doctor again before leaving to go to the town meeting where Jack tells about his experiences in the land of Christmas.
She goes back home to the lab again and the Doctor locks Sally in her bedroom. Unable to remain in captivity any longer, Sally puts some food and drink in a basket and lowers it onto the ground, and jumps out after it. Sally gives the basket to Jack, but runs away due to her immense bashfulness. Afterwards, Sally plucks the petals off a forget-me-not, which then transforms before her eyes into a miniature Christmas tree and suddenly bursts into flames: a premonition of things to come. When she tells of this to Jack, he fails to take the warning seriously. On Christmas Eve as Jack is about to set off, Sally pours fog juice into the town square fountain, creating a thick-as-jellied-brains fog all around, grounding Jack. Yet, Sally's plan doesn't work, because of Zero's glowing nose.
Later, when Jack has left, Sally hears the news of the military being called in to stop Jack, and she resolves to go and find Santa Claus, discovering him in Oogie's Lair. Sally tries to liberate Santa, using her sexy leg as bait but fails and gets captured herself. Jack later finds them after he's come to his senses, fights Oogie Boogie and defeats him. After Santa leaves, Sally and Jack talk. Jack is about to tell her how he feels about her, when the Mayor, Lock, Shock and Barrel suddenly burst in to rescue them. They all return to Halloween Town, it starts to snow and Sally walks to the top of Spiral Hill. Jack follows her, having realized he's loved her all along. He sings to and tells her how he feels about her. Sally responds and shows that she feels the same about him. They embrace and share true love's first kiss.
Personality
Sally is sweet and caring, as she repeatedly demonstrates how much she cares for Jack Skellington. Despite having a bad feeling about his Christmas plans, Sally still helps him by creating his Santa Claus outfit. She isn't afraid to voice her concerns to him, even if her warnings fall on deaf ears. She takes precautions when she feels things aren't right, such as trying to fog up the town. She is very forgiving and holds no grudge against Jack for not listening to her.
Sally is also strong-willed, as she poisons the Doctor and leaps from her window. She threatens Oogie Boogie in the belief that Jack would come and save her and comes all the way to try and rescue Santa herself. She even corrects the Doctor when telling her how many times she has poisoned him. She can also be very shy, as she has a hard time revealing her feelings for Jack, and plays with her hands when confronting him. She runs off before he can thank her for the gift she gives him.
Sally is sad with the way she is treated at home, as she is visibly upset when she gets locked up and attempts to escape the tower. She claims she is restless and doesn't want to be patient. She relates to Jack's sadness and says that she understands how he feels. Despite feeling that he does not reciprocate her feelings, she still worries about his well-being.
Abilities
It is unlikely that she feels any physical pain. This is demonstrated in the movie when she leaps from her upstairs bed chamber in Finklestein's Lab. After some of her limbs become detached upon impact, she sews them back together. It is possible that her limbs act on their own will, as they covered Santa Claus' mouth in Oogie's Lair and one of her arms hits Dr. Finkelstein's head while she escaped. She also may have some sort of visions, as she has a recurring amount of premonitions in the movie and video games.
Oogie's Revenge
After Jack returns to Halloween Town from his travels, Sally is one of the only citizens of Halloween Town who has not been deceived by Oogie Boogie, and remains loyal to Jack. Unfortunately, she is captured by
Sally in Oogie's Revenge.
Oogie's baddies and Jack has to save her from a giant spider. Later on, she helps out in an optional mission to make sleeping soup and returns to bring Jack his Sandy Claws suit. After Santa is rescued in Christmas Town, she arrives with Halloween Town's sleigh so Santa can still deliver the gifts on time. At the end, she and Jack once again kiss on Spiral hill.
Zero's Journey
Sally in Zero's Journey.
Sally appears as a supporting character in the sequel comic book, Zero's Journey. She makes later appearances on the covers of Editions, and even the graphic novels.
She is first seen approaching Jack when he is sitting alone on the Spiral Hill, thinking about Zero's disappearance. She assures him that they'll find his beloved ghost pup. After the town agrees to help throw a search party for Zero in order to help Jack, Sally participates and checks in the Graveyard, where she sadly touches Zero's grave. However, she travels as far as the Hinterlands and worries if she is lost. She soon finds the trees of the Holiday Doors, and peeks into Christmas Town's. When she opens the tree door, she recognizes Zero's barks from below as he gets sucked into the snowflake abyss.
She runs all the way back to Halloween Town and tells Jack that she found him in the abyss to Christmas Town. Sally soon looks lovingly at Jack after he insists he's learned his lesson from taking over Christmas, and that he respects it's their holiday. Some time passes, and Sally soon finds Jack lamenting over Zero again, looking at a picture of him and crying. She comes to his side and asks if he can count on lock, Shock, and Barrel, while holding his picture as he tells her 'no'. She insists it's not too late, getting Jack determined to find Zero once and for all.
Sally later joins the search party sent after Zero in Christmas Town, coming up with the idea to use Igor's lighter while The One Hiding Under the Stairs sneezes, effectively clearing their way through a snow storm. She is last seen standing proudly with Jack as they watch Zero lead the reindeer for Christmas that year, as he holds her side.
Kingdom Hearts series
Sally in the Kingdom Hearts series
Sally appears in all 3 installments of the Kingdom Hearts video game series. She is voiced by Kath Soucie in English. Her Japanese voice in these games is done by Yuko Doi.
Kingdom Hearts
Sally's role in the first game is relatively minor. Jack and Sora find her in the graveyard and she gives them one of the ingredients for the heart Doctor Finkelstein is making, memory (Forget-Me-Not). She expresses her worries about Jack's plan of adding the Heartless swarming the town to the Halloween festivities, though Jack tells her not to worry. Her gut feeling proves to be right, as Oogie Boogie steals the heart and attempts to use it to summon Heartless to defeat Jack. Oogie's plan fails, and Jack admits his mistake.
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
"Created" from Sora's memories of Halloween Town, Sally is in possession of a potion Finkelstein made that can bring "true memories". She hesitates to give the potion to Jack, as Heartless appeared when Finkelstein did so much as sniff the potion. However, Oogie Boogie pops up and steals the potion from her. When Oogie drinks the whole potion, he is overwhelmed with fear, and she concludes that this means the potion was a failure, though whether she is right or not never becomes clear.
Kingdom Hearts II
Sally plays a bigger part in this game, in which the events in Halloween Town are loosely based on the events of the film. Jack is determined to take Santa Claus's place this year, and even convinced Sora and the gang to join him as Santa's bodyguards. Sally has a terrible feeling about this, but Jack and Sora do not adhere to her warnings, too excited by the concept of making Christmas. When Santa goes to Halloween Town to find Jack, Sally comes to him and asks him to avoid speaking with the Pumpkin King. She becomes the only witness to the resurrected Oogie Boogie kidnapping Santa, and runs off to warn Jack and the others. They all return to Christmas Town, where Oogie Boogie is about to throw Santa into one of his own gift-making machines, but Sally distracts Oogie using her leg to save Santa. In the end, she gives Jack a Santa suit she sewed on his request. In the second trip to Halloween Town, Jack still wears the Santa suit, feeling that it would be rude not to wear the suit she worked so hard on. By the end of the visit, Jack learns the meaning of Christmas by understanding the act of giving, and understands that he felt so strongly about wearing the suit because it was a gift from Sally. He dances with Sally in the end, finally realizing all of the gifts she had given to him were all from the heart and wishes to give her something in return. She tells him that the nicest present she could ever ask for is just to be with Jack. Jack responds telling her that she does not even have to ask for that, meaning he feels the same way for her.
Other Appearances
Disney Magic Kingdoms
Sally in Disney Magical Kingdoms.
Sally appears apart of the Halloween event in Disney Magic Kingdoms. She helps Jack come up with plans to defeat Oogie Boogie from overrunning the Kingdom with bugs. She helps execute his plan by accompanying him on the Spiral Hill and aids him when battling Oogie Boogie. She spends a considerable amount of time in the game worrying about her friends back in Halloween Town and missing them, but gets assured with Jack and Zero's company.
Disney Magical Dice: The Enchanted Board Game
Sally in Disney Magical Dice.
Sally also makes an appearance in the mobile game, Disney Magical Dice: The Enchanted Board Game. Her game figure accompanies Jack and offers the player 160 luckiness and 195 thriftiness at maximum level. Her quest is to help create Jack his Santa Claus costume, and in turn, Jack's quest is to rescue her from Doctor Finkelstein. She is ranked as a "good" specialty who is available in Arena 2 chests.
Her advantages are to receive 100% lap bonus when landing on a lockdown square and having a 50% chance to be exempt from the Sleeping Beauty castle on the Fantasyland Board.
Disney Heroes: Battle Mode
Sally in Disney Heroes: Battle Mode.
Additionally, Sally makes an appearance in the mobile and desktop game, Disney Heroes: Battle Mode. She plays as a front-line tank hero that can be obtained through the online-shop or through the Coliseum Shop or a Diamond Crate. She has 4 attacks that can be unlocked: Deadly Nightshade, Frog's Breath, Something In the Wind, and Stronger Than She Seems.
Gallery
Click here to view the gallery for Sally.
Trivia
- Sally, and her creator, Dr. Finkelstein, seem to be based off the tale "Frankenstein", as Dr. Finkelstein's name is written in a similar way to Frankenstein, while Sally's story counterpart would be Dr. Frankenstein's creation.
- Sally is voiced by Catherine O'Hara, who also sung "Sally's Song," the character's solo song in the movie. The song has since been covered by Amy Lee, the singer of Evanescence.
- She does not laugh when Oogie tickles her foot. This could be because she is either more ticklish barefoot or not at all.
- When Oogie captures Sally and ties her up, her leg is reattached with her shoe back on. If she and Santa have successfully escaped, she would have been shoved down the chute tied by Lock, Shock and Barrel like they've done to torture Santa which he'd also be through it as well and then Oogie sends them to the lava pit both as soon as they fall.
- In the video game Oogie's Revenge, "Sally's Song" is used as a battle soundtrack, has modified lyrics and is sung as a duet between herself and Jack.
- Catherine O’Hara also voices shock