Is “The Nightmare Before Christmas” a Christmas or a Halloween Movie?

*This article will contain spoilers for the 1993 Tim Burton film, “The Nightmare Before Christmas*

On October 13th, 1993, a stop motion movie was released. It followed the ruler of Halloween Land, Jack Skellington, “The Pumpkin King,” growing tired of what he did every year. While walking alone with his thoughts, he runs into a circle of trees with holiday symbols on them. Being drawn to a Christmas tree, he enters Christmas Land and grows fascinated. Believing this is what he longed for, he decided to “steal” this holiday by putting his own change on it. This soon results in kidnapping Santa on Christmas Eve. His companion Sally tries to stop him along the way, trying to tell him it is a bad idea. Ignoring her pleas, he did everything anyway, realizing he bit off more than he could chew; he goes to help save Christmas and does so successfully. 

One question that people have had for a while is, “Is the movie a Halloween or Christmas movie?” During both holiday seasons, holiday channels will play the movie. Many believe it is a Christmas movie since it mainly centers around Christmas, and even has the word “Christmas” in the title. Others think it’s a Halloween movie since it mostly takes place in Halloween Town and has an eerie feel to it. A lot of people think it’s a holiday movie that can get played during both holiday seasons. I’ve asked a few people what they thought. My question to them was: “Do you think The Nightmare Before Christmas is a Christmas or Halloween movie?” Here are some of the responses I got…

Father: “I believe it’s both”

Mom: “I’m not so sure, I’ve never seen it”

Sister: “Holiday Movie”

Friends: “Holiday Movie”

My BOCES teacher: “Both”

Almost everyone I asked believed that this movie fits both the Halloween and Christmas theme. I also personally believe that this could fit into both a Halloween and Christmas category. I believe this because they have that creepy, unsettling feel, but still have that holiday joy for 80% of the movie.

I will admit the movie takes a more direct turn to a ‘christmassy’ feel, considering that the overall plot is taking over Christmas. The movie starts off during Halloween but makes that very fast Christmas shift the moment after Halloween, much like how a lot of people today go straight to Christmas on November 1st.