Vincent is a short stop-motion animated black-and-white film created by Tim Burton, one of the earliest films he made before he was famous. It tells the tale of Vincent Malloy, a seven-year-old boy who wants to be just like Vincent Price. The short is narrated by Price himself, and has no dialogue other than the narration, the reported speech of Vincent's mother notwithstanding.
Frequently included on home video releases of The Nightmare Before Christmas (beginning with the Limited Special Collector's Ultimate Edition Laserdisc).
Vincent contains examples of:
- Actor/Role Confusion: When Vincent says he wants to be like Vincent Price, he really means he wants to be like the characters Vincent Price plays in his horror movies. Justified by Vincent being seven years old, and likely unable to distinguish between Vincent Price and his characters. Obviously, the real Vincent Price was most likely just another ordinary person when not acting.
- Artificial Zombie: Vincent tries to make Abercrombie, his dog, into one of these.
- Author Avatar: Vincent looks a lot like Tim Burton, especially when in Vincent Price mode.
- Buried Alive: Happens to "Vincent Price"'s wife. He tries to dig out her grave, but in reality, Vincent is actually digging up his mother's flower bed.
- Chuunibyou: Vincent is a Western, younger example.
- Creepy Child: Vincent, at least when he's in Vincent Price mode; otherwise, he's a nice kid (for a boy his age). Then again, the fact that he wants to be like Vincent Price in the first place is pretty creepy anyway.
- The Faceless: Vincent's aunt and mother, of the "only shown from the neck down" variety.
- Larynx Dissonance: When Vincent Price is narrating Vincent's mother's dialogue, he basically just continues using his normal voice. His voice does increase in pitch very slightly, but it's almost imperceptible.
- No Name Given: Vincent and his dog Abercrombie are the only named characters in the short. Vincent's sister, aunt and mother also appear or are mentioned, as well as "Vincent Price's" wife, but are never given actual names.
- Sanity Slippage: Vincent starts going through this around the second half of the film. It's implied he's deluded himself into thinking he really is Vincent Price, or at least his interpretation of him.
- Shout-Out:
- Vincent's favorite author is Edgar Allan Poe. The last lines of the short are him quoting the last lines of The Raven.
- Go Jane Go is a reference to the children's book Go, Dog. Go! by P. D. Eastman, as well as the Dick and Jane series.
- Vincent making his dog into an Artificial Zombie is a reference to Frankenstein, as well as Foreshadowing to Tim Burton's next short film, Frankenweenie.
- Wax Museum Morgue: Vincent has one of these (in his imagination, at least) and imagines putting his aunt in it.
