Was Jack Skellington Jack Pumpkinhead in a previous life?

Answer 1

The Nightmare Before Christmas director, Henry Selick, had been a storyboard artist on the 1985 Disney film Return to Oz, which featured the Jack Pumpkinhead character. Selick certainly did not invent the character, as Jack Pumpkinhead featured prominently in the books of L. Frank Baum in the early 20th century (which were the basis of the Oz film). In 1985, while Selick was working on Return to Oz, Tim Burton (who famously produced Nightmare) also worked in Disney's art department, working on The Black Cauldron. How exactly the character of Jack Pumpkinhead influenced the creation of Jack Skellington has not been publicly discussed by Selick or Burton, but the fact that both the writer and the producer of The Nightmare Before Christmas worked in the studio that produced Return to Oz in 1985 is telling.

Answer 2

No, Jack Skellington and Jack Pumpkinhead are two different fictional characters created by different creators. Jack Skellington is from "The Nightmare Before Christmas" by Tim Burton, while Jack Pumpkinhead is from "The Marvelous Land of Oz" by L. Frank Baum.