Igor was the secondary antagonist in an early draft of Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas. Like his final version, he would have been the loyal assistant to Dr. Finkelstein, and in this version aided the doctor in trying to get revenge on Sally and Jack as Oogie Boogie.
Like his final version counterpart, he was voiced by the late Joe Ranft.
Biography[]
In an original version of the script, the film played out much like it did in the final version, with Dr. Finkelstein being Sally's creator that tries to secure her loyalty to him. Though he is overprotective, he seemingly cares for her until she betrays him one too many times in her pursuit of the love of Jack Skellington. He works with Igor to help Jack, but plans to teach Sally a lesson for abandoning him.
After realizing the error of his ways, Jack goes to rescue Santa Claus and Sally from Oogie Boogie. He scares away Lock, Shock, and Barrel, then confronts Oogie. The two duel each other with a pair of maces, but Jack beats Oogie. Oogie attempts to escape, but Jack unravels the thread to reveal that it was Dr. Finkelstein in disguise all long, using prosthetic machines to walk and a voice changer to alter his voice. He explains that he hates Jack for being a "twit" and wanted to teach Sally a lesson for choosing Jack over him. He then swears that he is through with both of them, and vows to create a perfect creation to replace Sally. A panel on the floor opens to reveal Igor, who uses a mechanical arm to grab the doctor and pull him to his escape.
However, the producers and writers did not like the reveal because it had little to no lead up and seemingly came out of nowhere. The scene made Tim Burton so angry that he allegedly kicked a hole in a wall. The script was rewritten with Dr. Finkelstein remaining a heroic character, and Igor remaining his neutral assistant.
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