Is Now the Time of Year for The Nightmare Before Christmas? (With an actual answer!)

The Nightmare Before Christmas is widely beloved, but the question rages on as it always has: is it a Halloween movie or a Christmas movie? There are arguments either side, so let's take a look at the movie and these arguments to decide what's what. To begin with, let's check out the Halloween evidence.

IS THIS HALLOWEEN?

One of the most common arguments that this is indeed a Halloween movie actually comes straight from the director of the movie. In perfectly simple terms, Henry Selick has officially stated that "it's a Halloween movie." Coming from the director of the film, this bears a lot of weight, and surely implies that the direction of this Nightmare was made to be focused on Halloween. Many who see this movie as a Halloween movie do mention this. It's an appeal to authority, but not necessarily a fallacious one since it's the director of the movie we're talking about.

The aesthetic of the movie is also primarily a Halloween aesthetic, with monsters and ghouls around every corner in Halloweentown, where the bulk of the movie takes place. Yes, they do see Christmastown, but only briefly out of the entire runtime.

In regards to the plot, it is also arguably focused around this balance, because Jack is stealing Christmas from ol' Sandy Claws. Christmas is a part of the movie, but looking at it this way, it's more like a plot device being stolen and then returned at the end of the story. Many argue that a movie full of monsters in Halloweentown who steal Christmas makes it very much a Halloween movie, especially given the director's own opinion, but what about the other side?

IS THIS CHRISTMAS?

To begin with, the movie does have the word "Christmas" in its title, and sets itself as a movie leading up to Christmas. The movie does start on Halloween, but it quickly gets away from it. The entire plot of the movie except for the very first couple minutes of singing is leading up to Christmas and away from Halloween. The plot is about the characters learning the Christmas spirit, which is not something I've ever seen tackled in a Halloween movie and have seen in virtually every single Christmas movie, and it culminates with Christmas.

A common theme among those who see it as a Halloween movie is that the aesthetic is Halloweeny, which is absolutely true. The characters in Christmastown don't look so creepy, but a majority of the characters in the movie do. Why bring this up? Well, because...it's Tim Burton. Every movie he makes looks creepy, but that doesn't mean they're all Halloween movies. While aesthetically they fit with Halloween, the Halloween aesthetic isn't all there is to the season. Halloween for many is about genuine scares and often axe murderers, hauntings, even for some it can be about the gore. It's about things that are horrifying in some capacity, and this movie just isn't that. While it is likely capable of scaring children, its target audience, it's not made for that purpose or even really with that in mind. The monsters sing and dance and have silly voices, for many children who like creepy things, once again the target audience, this movie is simply not even trying to scare them. In a similar way to Star Wars being a fantasy story focused on magic and knights with swords that is simply placed in a sci-fi aesthetic, this is a Christmas movie with a Halloween aesthetic, embodying almost none of what makes a Halloween movie a Halloween movie.

To touch back on Tim Burton's involvement, it's worth pointing out that this is a Tim Burton movie just to emphasize that Henry Selick's opinion on the movie isn't quite as much of a deciding factor as it may seem. The story was by Tim Burton, meaning he's the one who really gets to say whether this is a Christmas or Halloween movie, but it doesn't appear that he ever has, publicly. Henry Selick's position is much closer to as valid as any viewer, because he viewed Tim Burton's work, just from a closer perspective than most.

THIS IS...?

It is hard to see a world in which this is not a Christmas movie. Sure, it might be something of a November Christmas movie, because it's not exclusively about Christmas, but the plot is about somebody who is sick of Halloween and is learning about Christmas. For those who would argue that the plot is about Christmas being stolen which mean's it's not a Christmas movie, I would direct you to How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and all of its iterations. The story is actually fairly similar, although the character motivations are different with Jack Skellington actually loving Christmas from the get-go, even if he didn't understand it quite right.

The movie has a Halloween aesthetic but that's largely because of Tim Burton, but something being made by Tim Burton doesn't make it a Halloween movie at all. It also features characters from Halloweentown as well as the town itself quite heavily, but a setting doesn't determine what it's about more than the story, which in this case is very similar to just about every Christmas movie out there. It seems that for those who like Christmas and not Halloween, this movie is often considered too Halloweeny, but for the audience Tim Burton was aiming for, those who like both, it's perfectly Christmassy, and if the target audience sees it as such, I would argue that that's the authority that matters the most.

However, you are of course welcome to think I'm wrong! I don't, but that's only natural. You are also more than welcome to let everyone have their own opinion. I believe that this presents the logical evidence for why it should not be considered a Halloween movie, but in writing this I did sway myself closer to the middle of this debate because I wanted to present both sides with good arguments. If you disagree, go ahead and watch this as a Halloween movie! It's a great movie regardless, and everyone is allowed to make their own decisions based on the evidence they have. See you next time!