Helen O'Hara of Empire Magazine scored the film 5/5 stars and stated "Terrifying and beautiful, believable and fantastical, this is one of the best children's films in years and Selick's finest - better even than The Nightmare Before Christmas". Sandie Angulo Chen of Common Sense Media scored the film 4/5 stars and said "Director Henry Selick, a stop-motion master best known for The Nightmare Before Christmas, creates a magical, colorful nether-world that's also dark and disturbing".