“The Nightmare Before Christmas” is a Christmas Movie

Kylie Preston-Mendoza, A&E Editor • December 7, 2020

A classic debate of the holiday season is whether or not the Nightmare Before Christmas is a Halloween movie or a Christmas movie. However, it is obviously a Christmas movie. From the whole meaning of Christmas theme to the fact that the title has ‘Christmas’ in it there are plenty of reasons as to why it is definitely a Christmas movie.

First of all, there are very few Halloween elements, just things that are creepy. Once the beginning of the movie is over, Christmas comes in and takes over. It’s Christmas, 24/7, in Halloween Town. Everyone is working to make presents and other Christmas-y things. Halloween is pushed out the back door.

Also, the movie has the whole underlying theme of the meaning of Christmas. There is a good chunk of the movie where Jack does experiments to find the meaning of Christmas. Then when he does, he gets excited and wants to celebrate Christmas. Sure, he ends up twisting it a bit, but it still has the basic elements of Christmas.

Jack Skellington is surrounded by traditional Christmas decorations. *Photo courtesy of Creative Commons*

“I do in fact think that the Nightmare Before Christmas is a Christmas movie because the main plot behind the movie is of the characters being done with Halloween and turning it into Christmas with their own special twist,” said junior Sydney Vargas.

Like Sydney said, Jack and company are tired of Halloween, they want something new and exciting. Jack has a whole song at the beginning of the movie that expresses his desire for a change and him and Sally bond over wanting a change.

The director and others who worked on the movie may say that it is a Halloween movie, but why make it so distinctly Christmas-y? The whole movie radiates the holiday spirit.

There is no doubt that the Nightmare Before Christmas is in fact a Christmas movie. It has all the elements that make it a Christmas movie and it’s something that many families watch every year during the Christmas season. Of course there are the other families who watch it during the Halloween season, so maybe it all boils down to opinion. In the end it doesn’t matter whether it’s a Christmas movie or a Halloween movie, it is still great to watch.

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