We’re very interested in the emerging class of ‘second screen’ apps, designed to be used by people while watching TV shows or films, to provide extra information and features. Disney clearly is too.

We’ve already written about the company’s plans to show its The Little Mermaid film in US cinemas with a companion app so kids could play along during the movie. Now The Nightmare Before Christmas is getting the same treatment.

Disney Second Screen Live: The Nightmare Before Christmas was released in the US for iPad this weekend, promising kids the chance to “become part of the story” when they go to watch the film in cinemas.

“Interact with Jack and Oogie as you compete with the audience to see who is the Master of Fright in Halloween Town,” explains its App Store listing. “Play games, sing-alongs and other fun challenges that test your knowledge of the movie as you try to get the highest score and win prizes.”

Disney will be holding special screenings of the app, encouraging parents and children to bring along their iPads and “be loud and play together”. Which sounds fun. No news yet on whether us Brits will get the chance to try it though: for now it seems like it’s US-only.

Second-screen apps for films sound fun, and what Disney’s doing clearly involves a big live element: kids are playing the app’s games against one another to win prizes. But we hope the company is also thinking about transferring this to the home, bringing some of its elements to kids watching The Nightmare Before Christmas on DVD or Blu-ray.

That’s what would open this out to a much wider audience of children and parents. But we’ll be intrigued to see how this and the previous Little Mermaid experiment goes down with young US cinemagoers.

If your child is one of them, find out more at the official Second Screen Live website.