I’ve Finally Settled Whether ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ Belongs To Halloween Or Christmas
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Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas is a much-beloved musical masterpiece that pays tribute to the charms of both Halloween and Christmas. But is it a Halloween movie or a Christmas movie? To answer this question, I weighed the movie’s Halloween-ness against its Christmas-ness, and came to what I feel is the definitive answer to this age-old debate.
From the start, The Nightmare Before Christmas certainly seems like a Halloween movie. The first song is literally called “This Is Halloween,” which is a pretty strong indicator that this film’s allegiance is to autumn, ghosts, and all things spooky season.
The opening number is definitely a big reason why the Halloween movie argument holds weight. Admittedly, watching “This Is Halloween” near or on Christmas almost feels a bit like opening Halloween candy on Christmas Eve, or wearing your skeleton onesie to church — something about it is just a bit off.
Another win for the Halloween camp: Jack Skellington is the protagonist, and he’s a Halloween character no matter how you swing it.
The movie also did premiere on October 29, right before Halloween.
The soundtrack is also pretty distinctly Halloween-y.
On the other hand, most of the movie does revolve around Christmas.
The director himself has said that The Nightmare Before Christmas is a Christmas film. “Thirty years after I directed the film, beneath its candy corn coating, skeletons and vampires, corpse child and witches, I know ‘Nightmare’ at its heart is a Christmas movie,” Henry Selick told The New York Post in 2024.
One thing is clear: Many people online have strong opinions about this question.
Many insist it’s a Halloween movie, with some saying that Jack never learns the true meaning of Christmas.
Some people insist that it’s a Christmas movie.
Some argue that the film follows a classic Christmas-movie trajectory, citing Jack’s transformation.
Most people seem to say the film is simply both, with some calling it a Thanksgiving movie, perfect for watching in between holidays.
The debate raises the fundamental question: what is a Halloween movie, and what is a Christmas movie?
In short, Your Honor, The Nightmare Before Christmas is a Christmas movie, because of its overall mood and charming atmosphere, and because it spends so much of its time focusing on Christmas and gearing up for Christmas Eve.
What do you think? Can we finally lay this age-old debate to rest?
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