Recognized as one of the most iconic holiday animated films and directed by Tim Burton, “The Nightmare Before Christmas” is often watched during Halloween, Christmas or somewhere in between. With this comes the debate on which holiday the movie leans towards as it can be argued for either holiday or even both.
From the opening credits, one might think this is obviously a Halloween movie with the recognizable “This is Halloween” playing as Halloweentown is introduced with your spooky characters. Even the characters have Halloween sounding names like Jack Skellington and Oogie Boogie, further echoing the Halloweenness of the movie. Furthermore, little time is actually spent in Christmastown when Jack first discovers it and towards the end when he delivers the gifts, while most of the movie is set in Halloweentown.
“I watch it during Halloween because I feel like the music is more Halloween centered. There are parts of it that are Christmas, but it is mostly a Halloween movie,” senior Sydney Pike said. “A lot of Halloween decorations are centered around ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’. You don’t see a whole lot of Christmas, ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ merch.”
By also looking at Tim Burton’s movie directing history, it is easy to link this one to the other gothic and horror movies like “Beetlejuice” and “Corpse Bride”, which are overwhelmingly Halloween movies. Speaking of other Halloween movies, “The Nightmare Before Christmas” can often be found at the top of the list for classic Halloween movies to watch, but is often buried down the list for Christmas movies.
On the flip side, the plot and lesson is commonly seen in Christmas movies. Early on, Skellington has a problem that is often seen in Christmas movies: a lack of purpose or joy where the main character feels that something is missing from their lives and is tired of the same old routine. Skellington has grown bored of Halloween and the Pumpkin King title, which is similar to how a character might have given up on Christmas or the holiday spirit. By the end of the movie though, Skellington learns to appreciate and value the community he has and becomes renewed in the Halloween spirit.
“I think it’s a Christmas movie because it starts off in a Halloween setting and then when Christmas is discovered, it’s just kind of the main focus,” sophomore Ben Lujan said. “Say if you’re shooting up a vlog and you’re just starting in your town…and then you go to another country, the vlog is going to be more about the country that you’re visiting.”
Another lesson that this movie shares with Christmas movies is that it’s never too late to make things right and do the right thing. After messing up Christmas, Skellington redeems himself in the end. These morals are explored more in Christmas movies than Halloween movies which often cater towards jumpscares and adrenaline pumping plots, with few obvious lessons that Christmas movies excel at.
For my final verdict, I deem “The Nightmare Before Christmas” as a Yuleaween movie. A hybrid of the word Yule and Halloween and a perfect descriptor of the movie. I think this movie leans more into the Halloween spirit but has the Christmas morals that balance out the movie to both. But regardless of what holiday you think the movie is, it’s safe to say that “The Nightmare Before Christmas” can be enjoyed and watched at any time of the year.
