When I first started doing my Christmas Villains Profile many years ago, one of the first villains I covered was Oogie Boogie (R.I.P. Ken Page).
Today, we are returning to the world of Nightmare Before Christmas to look at a different villain. If you’re familiar with What If then you’ll understand what this series is. A Twisted Tale is Disney’s take on the what if scenario where one thing changes the events of the story.
In the case of this story, the What if asks what would happen if Sally found Christmas Town instead of Jack. This introduces a new villain named Mr. Jingles. Do not let the name fool you as he is a very harsh villain. He in many ways reminds of the main antagonist from a Tangled tie-in book about a hidden city where it’s his way or the highway.
This is a similar deal here as Mr. Jingles is Santa’s second in command and he is in charge of overseeing the naughty and nice list. However, he takes things too far. This is something I’ll go over when I look at his personality
First Appearance
We get our first look at Jingles before Sally ever leaves Halloween Town as she hears jingle bells in one of her visions and it scares her. Something about jingle bells being scary is so interesting to me as it flips something most people think of that as being joyous but the sounds are intense and frightening. Sally even refers to him as a jingle bell jerk and to be honest, that’s putting it nicely.
Personality
He is judge and jury of Christmas Town and he’ll let you know that. He rules Christmas Town with an iron fist while keeping Santa oblivious and busy readying for the holiday. As I’ve said before, he is in charge of the naughty and nice list but he takes things too far. Any minor infraction will get you on his naughty list. Which doesn’t exactly line up with Santa’s. He will put anyone who acts even slightly naughty will have you taken away from Christmas Town. This is where the comparison to the Tangled book I mentioned comes in as the villain in that book is similar as anyone that spoke out against the town was taken away. We have something similar here as Jingles believes he gets to determine what is naughty and what is nice.
A key moment that stands out in my brain is a young boy at one point playfully throws a snowball at Sally. And Sally finds it amusing and chuckles at it but one of Jingles’s tin soldiers (always tin soldiers) takes the young boy away in a red sack. The thing I noticed about Jingles all throughout listening to the book is how Jingles believed he was protecting Santa from distractions he was actually perverting what Santa is supposed to stand for. Think of this lyric from Here Comes Santa Claus.
He doesn’t care if you’re rich or poor, he loves you just the same
Jingles doesn’t understand that Santa loves unconditionally as that is his nature. He’s so focused on perfection that I have to imagine he’d consider being poor equal to being naughty. There’s a minor subplot in the book where Santa is saddened people don’t believe in him anymore and he admits it takes a toll. I can’t help but wonder if Jingles being so stringent with the naughty list played a part in people losing their belief in Santa. If so many people end up on the naughty list, then what is the point of believing in the person who put us on the list.
Grand Desire
To put it plainly, he desires perfection as perfection in his mind equals nicety. As I’ve said before, the smallest infraction will get you on his naughty list. For example a wife played a small prank on her husband by adding pink food coloring to his soup but one of her neighbors ratted her out. The thing that Jingles doesn’t understand is it’s impossible to be nice all the time and by forcing people to act in a way where they are forced to hide their true self, he is stifling them. He says it’s for the greater good of Christmas Town but in reality he is trying to shape Christmas Town into his perfect image.
No one is perfect and that is okay, we shouldn’t be expected to be perfect as it’s an impossibility. A perfect example of this is how Sally makes friends with a porcelain doll named Abigail who helps Sally escape from his soldiers and for the effort, Abigail has one of her legs cracked. She doesn’t believe any child will want a broken doll but Santa gives her a leg brace and gifts her to a little girl named Miranda who also uses leg braces and the first thing this little girl says is
Mommy, she’s like me
This is what Jingles doesn’t get, perfection is an unobtainable goal and we should instead celebrate people for who they are, flaws and all. This is something Abigail calls him out on how Jingles doesn’t understand the true spirit of Christmas being about togetherness and celebrating people for who they are. There’s a two word phrase Sally hears throughout her time in Christmas Town
Act Nice
And that’s just it, they are just acting and not actually being nice. They are just putting on an act as not to displease Jingles. Granted, one of the elves tried to stand up and let Santa know what Jingles was doing via a letter but he just rips it up.
Lackey
Soot Fang
Jingles uses a coal based monster who I kinda envisioned as a dragon made of coal to keep his prisoners in line in the coal cave. He acts as the warden and is very scary to the citizens of Christmas Town but once Sally stands up to him, we learn he’s not a bad monster. He’s just misunderstood in Christmas Town as he loves things like Hide and Scream that would make him more at home in Halloween Town and after Jack invites him to move there.
Most Evil Deed
His most evil deed imo goes back to what I’ve mentioned throughout. He tries to coerce people into perfection and any small misdeed will get you on his Naughty List and this is seen with how he sends people to the coal cave and tries to strip them of their Christmas spirit and make them miserable.
It doesn’t click for him what the holiday is truly about and instead wants to strip them of what makes them who they are
Demise
Once Sally stands up to Soot Fang, she is able to get him to free and leads them back to Christmas Town. This doesn’t sit well with Jingles as he tries to have them taken back by the soldiers but one by one, the citizens of Christmas Town stand up to him. And once Santa finds out what he’s done, he believes Jingles has gone too far and that perhaps it’s time to reevaluate the Naughty and Nice lists. Santa tells Jingles his actions have made him the naughtiest one of all smd banishes him from Christmas Town.
Is Mr. Jingles a Good Villain?
Honestly yes, I would say don’t go in expecting Oogie Boogie if you choose to read this book as that is not the type of villain we are dealing with here. He’s meant to be an adversary for Sally and how the realization hits that you are perfect just how you are. I really do adore this book and I hope that you take the time to check it out.
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