Dr. Finkelstein

Hero Overview

Dr. Finkelstein is a supporting character in Disney's The Nightmare Before Christmas franchise.

In the original film, he was voiced by the late William Hickey. In the rest of the franchise, he is voiced by Jess Harnell.

Personality[]

Finkelstein is a grouchy, uptight, and smart mad scientist, and he likes to make creations. He is antagonistic to Sally because he tried to keep her under his spell but, then it backfired. He is, however, friendly and polite to Jack Skellington and will help him whenever he needs it.

Biography[]

The Nightmare Before Christmas[]

Doctor Finkelstein lives in a large observatory with his living rag doll creation Sally and his hunchbacked assistant Igor. James Whale's Frankenstein is quoted in Finkelstein's line "I made you with my own hands" which is ironic as Finklestein's body appears to be largely if not entirely artificial.

Unlike Frankenstein who takes no responsibility for his creations and disowns them almost as soon as they are completed (much like the original Dr. Frankenstein), Finklestein takes full responsibility over Sally and acts as an over-protective father and in some ways an overbearing 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.

In addition to being an overbearing and antagonistic father figure for Sally to overcome, 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. Near end of the film, Finkelstein, deciding that Sally is too much of a handful, creates a wife for himself using a portion of his own brain, which he finishes at the end of the movie.

The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge[]

Dr. Finkelstein is featured in The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge. When Jack is tired of doing the same thing on Halloween, Dr. Finkelstein helps him by giving him the Soul Robber, a weapon that allows Jack to change his shape. Jack also says Dr. Finkelstein to keep an eye on the town while he was gone.

After Oogie Boogie's revival, Dr. Finkelstein under Oogie's control by switching his brain and creating monsters that obey Oogie Boogie's every command. Fortunately, Jack managed to return the original brain of Dr. Finkelstein back in place, making Dr. Finkelstein broke free from Oogie's control.

In the spin-offs, Finkelstein's name is pronounced "steen" instead of "stein". For some reason, his wife's "Jewel" creation is not present in the game, and it appears that Sally is still living with him, even though she appeared to be free at the end of the movie. Sally even says, "He insists on keeping me under lock and key" as she stands next to the Hanging Tree in the graveyard.

Other Appearances[]

Kingdom Hearts[]

In the Kingdom Hearts video game series, Finkelstein appears as a mad scientist in his home town of Halloween.

In Kingdom Hearts, the heartless arrive in Halloween Town; Fortunately, Finkelstein finds a book with information about them. He creates a homing system that pacifies the Heartless and renders them harmless enough for Jack to use for Halloween that year. Unfortunately, the explosion damages the guidance system, and their attempts to upgrade and repair it with an artificial heart cause the Heartless to go insane. Although Finkelstein tries to improve the artificial heart, he has Lock, Shock and Barrel steal it from him; they give it to Oogie, who swallows it to control the Heartless. Unfortunately, the heart turned out to be defective and Oogie disappeared into the darkness. Finally, Finkelstein had to accept that he had no idea what made up a heart.

He appears in Chain of Memories as an outgrowth of Sora's memories. This time his invention is a potion made from Forget-Me-Nots; however, his simple sniff of the potion caused the Heartless to appear. The reason for his invention is to prove that what we remember is not actually true; in other words, he wished to retrieve "real memories". The potion was stolen by Sally, who was afraid of what else might happen if someone actually drank the potion. Oogie grabs it and swallows it whole; unfortunately he was overcome by the memory of his demise. The bottle was returned to Finkelstein, who bemoaned the few remaining drops; Sora refused the offer to finish the potion because he promised someone that he would find his true memories on his own.

In 358/2 days, Finkelstein helps Jack with his new Halloween ideas during Roxas's second visit to Halloween Town, where he examines Jack's Heartless-filled balloons; also creates pumpkin bombs that explode into chilling blasts. He compliments Jack on accepting new ideas from the world around him, as this is a key skill any researcher needs. He eventually appears when Jack performs a scarecrow modeled after Roxas, which is intended to be the centerpiece of Halloween.

In Kingdom Hearts II, Dr. Finkelstein on the robot creature with the help of Lock, Shock and Barrel. Eventually, however, their mischievous ways annoy him, as the trio soon throw the robotic arm onto a table, causing it to explode, and angrily call them "imbeciles". Later, Finkelstein completes his experiment and tries to bring it to life, but fails. Finkelstein believes that the Experiment was a failure and decides to find "better helpers". However, just as he turns to begin new designs, the creature comes to life and attacks the Doctor, leaving him unconscious in his lab. After regaining consciousness, Dr. Finkelstein pleads for help that his experiment is missing. As he tells Jack and friends the whole story, Sora believes that the Heartless may have performed an experiment, in which the doctor tells him that it was nothing like the Heartless. After defeating the Experiment, they return to Halloween Town and tell the Doctor that the experiment was not stolen, much to his surprise, concluding that it was a "resounding success". Sora then says that Santa Claus theorizes that the machine left because it was probably looking for a heart, in which Dr. Finkelstein agrees, stating that he didn't give the creature its own heart like he did to Sally, and returns to his lab.

During the closing credits, Dr. Finkelstein, along with everyone else in the lab, listened to Jack discuss plans for next Halloween.

Trivia[]

Dr. Finkelstein's overbearing behavior had him appear as the main antagonist, but he was not a true villain. The true main antagonist was Oogie Boogie. However, Finklestein was originally planned to be Oogie Boogie in disguise attempting to get back at Jack and Sally in earlier drafts, but Tim Burton hated the idea (and allegedly kicked a hole in the wall when he heard about it), so this idea was scrapped.

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Dr. Finkelstein

Contents

Personality[]

Biography[]

The Nightmare Before Christmas[]

The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge[]

Other Appearances[]

Kingdom Hearts[]

Trivia[]

Navigation[]