“Wow, you have a fantastic nose.” The more light I have, the better! Zero, you’re the team’s leader!”

Zero is a supporting character in Tim Burton’s 1993 stop-motion Disney film, The Nightmare Before Christmas. He is Jack Skellington’s pet ghost dog.

Personality

Zero is completely devoted to his owner. Despite his ghostly appearance, he behaves like a normal dog, with his favorite activity being retrieving the bones that have been taken from Jack’s skeletal corpse.

Despite Zero’s devotion, he (along with Sally) was the only Halloween Town resident who objected to Jack’s unhealthy Christmas preoccupation. Zero appears to be quite insightful since his fears were confirmed when Jack’s Christmas turned out to be a disaster.

Jack’s happiness is Zero’s main priority. Despite his worries about the Christmas tribulation, Zero assisted Jack in getting through it in the hopes of assisting him in realizing his dream. He did, however, make an attempt to guide Jack in the right direction by reminding him of his genuine mission (doing so by showing a portrait depicting Jack with a pumpkin). Zero’s attempts, like Sally’s, fell on deaf ears until the final act of the film.

Physical appearance

Zero is a ghostly dog who looks like he’s made of a white sheet, just like a conventional ghost. He, like Pluto, has floppy basset dog ears. His “eyes” are nothing more than blank holes in the sheet. Zero’s snout is long and slender, and the tip of his upper jaw curls upward. His nose, like Rudolph’s, is a miniature lighted jack-o-lantern, and his collar is a faded brown tint.

Appearances

When Jack summons Zero from his grave after the annual Halloween party has ended, he consoles his master as he expresses his dissatisfaction with Halloween’s diminishing excitement. Later, Zero joins Jack on his walk through the woods and begs him to play fetch with him. Later, the two discover a secret room with many doors leading to similar worlds themed around other holidays. Jack walks through the Christmas door, as Zero remains outside. When Jack reappears, Zero is by his side as the former enters the square of Halloween Town with different Christmas-related products. Jack makes it his duty to learn about Christmas traditions and implement them into Halloween Town.

When Christmas eventually arrives (and Jack is forced to take over as Santa Claus for the year), Zero is chosen to lead the sleigh so that his bright nose can direct the other reindeer into the human world. During the incident, the military shoots Jack and Zero out of the sky, but they both survive.