Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas is being dusted off, spruced up, and sent back to theaters. Walt Disney plans to remaster the film, converting it into digital 3-D for an October 20 run through cinemas.

Don’t worry, Disney’s imaginers aren’t running off with Burton’s 1993 stop-motion animated film and having their way with it. The Hollywood Reporter says that both Burton and director Henry Selick are involved in the process that will turn the Pumpkin King and Halloween Town into beautiful digital renders. Selick in particular seems excited about the project. He says, “When visitors came to visit the set of 'Nightmare Before Christmas,' they were always amazed by the intricate sets and beautiful puppets -- that they actually existed in miniature. It was disappointing to see this effect lost on film. By remastering for 3-D, I hope that some of this magic can be captured and shown to the audience in a way they've never seen before.”

Actually, Selick makes a good point. Nightmare could be the type of film that will really benefit from this process. It’s a fantastic film, an absolute classic. Seeing it in theaters in any form is a treat, seeing it in 3-D could make it an even more special experience.

So what’s in it for Disney? Money of course. Last October they released Chicken Little in digital 3-D at 81 locations, and it did well. Of course Chicken Little was as new movie, but Disney is hoping to recapture at least a little of that same audience and perhaps at the same time help Nightmare stake a claim as a seminal Halloween classic. Personally I’ve always thought of it more as a Christmas classic, but then I’m also sort of cynical when it comes to the big Jesus’s birthday. Why not celebrate it with severed heads?

Nightmare Before Christmas is reportedly still in the early stages of conversion. The work’s being done by Industrial Light + Magic, so expect nothing but the absolute best for Jack Skellington and his friends. Don’t expect those lousy, headache inducing, cardboard red and blue 3D glasses of Spy Kids 3D.