The ghoulish, stop-motion animated sights in Halloween Town have never looked sharper than they do in "Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas: 2-Disc Collector's Edition," released Tuesday on DVD.

The delightfully macabre tale, whose style can best be described as Rankin-Bass meets "Beetlejuice," has become a holiday classic in the 15 years since its theatrical release. And by "holiday," I mean both Christmas and Halloween, which might explain why Disney is pushing the DVD so early in the season. With many kids already back at school, apparently it's time, at least from a marketing perspective, to start thinking jack-o'-lanterns and goblins.

"Nightmare" — the off-kilter story of Pumpkin King Jack Skellington and his attempt to give Halloween Town a yuletide makeover — has reappeared in theaters in 3-D for the past two years. (According to www.boxofficemojo.com, the 3-D version will again hit multiplexes in October.) While the version found on the new DVD is not in 3-D, it has been digitally remastered, achieving a visual depth as close to multiple dimensions as a movie can get without forcing people to wear those goofy glasses. Viewers will justifiably marvel at the sparkling flecks in the Christmas Town snow and the moody grays that cast creepy-fun shadows throughout Halloween Town. And that's just on the regular disc; one assumes the picture is even brighter on the Blu-ray DVD, also out Tuesday.

The DVD contains some fresh supplemental material, including an often engaging commentary by Burton, composer Danny Elfman and director Henry Selick; and an unnecessarily lengthy look at how Disneyland's Haunted Mansion attraction gets revamped, "Nightmare"-style, during the holidays.

Also available this week: Filmmaker David Mamet takes on martial arts (yeah, you heard me) in "Redbelt."