Every year, when the Halloween and Christmas movie marathons begin, one film continues to spark the same debate. Is “The Nightmare Before Christmas” considered a Halloween or Christmas movie? With two different seasons in the title of the movie and some even considering it as a Thanksgiving film, it is ultimately up to the audience’s interpretation.
Released on Oct. 29, 1993 and directed by Tim Burton — who is known for his gothic and peculiar style. The film follows Halloween Town’s adored pumpkin king, Jack Skellington, who is tired of scaring people annually on Halloween. Creating the conflict of Skellington accidentally stepping foot into Christmas Town and coming up with the genius idea to kidnap Santa Claus. He attempts to take over Santa’s role, but his plan goes terribly wrong as he spreads terror instead of joy.
THE HAUNTED HALLOWEEN HIGHLIGHTS
I think “The Nightmare Before Christmas” is considered a Halloween movie because of the iconic opening soundtrack of “This is Halloween.” Not to mention the creepy gothic animation style and that the story is almost entirely set in Halloween Town. It stands out to be a Halloween movie from the twist alone, featuring Christmas festivities in the film. Burton does not mute the grotesque factor when we are introduced to Christmas Town.
The main setting of the movie takes place in Halloween Town, where the characters featured within the film already have peculiar names, such as Jack Skellington, Oogie Boogie, Dr. Finkelstein, Zero and Sally. Although Sally may sound like a normal name, her appearance is quite the opposite as she is stitched together. The film already carries a dark, grotesque animation style that features disturbing visuals. When Skellington went to Christmas Town, it still carried that animation style but was covered up with traditional Christmas colors.
Danny Elfman — who both composed the soundtrack and sings for Jack Skellington — sets an unsettling tone across every song. Even the Christmas tracks skip the usual bells and chimes, with “What’s This?” being the only one that feels truly cheerful.
Oogie Boogie’s appearance can be described as a large burlap sack and he is feared among Halloween Town based on his cannibalistic appetite. When Boogie interacts with Santa, there is that unsettling theme of what he plans to do with Santa. As Boogie performs an entire song dedicated to torturing Santa, we later see bugs crawling beneath his burlap sack, and he frantically repeats “My bugs!” as they fall into the fire.
THE FESTIVE CHRISTMAS HIGHLIGHTS
Regarding the Christmas scenes within the movie, when Skellington sang “What’s This?” it was clear that he provided more emotion and happiness into this song versus when he sang “This Is Halloween.” He cannot help but question what makes this place so different, saying, “There’s children throwing snowballs instead of throwing heads,” Christmas Town could not be more different from Halloween Town.
Jack Skellington’s ghost dog, Zero, glows with a tiny jack-o-lantern nose — an analogy of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Like Rudolph, Zero ends up guiding Santa’s sleigh through the fog, though in this case, the fog is not natural. Sally creates it herself, pouring fog juice into the fountain in a desperate attempt to stop Jack’s misguided Christmas plans.
When Skellington brings Christmas items to Halloween Town, they ultimately try to copy the magic from Christmas Town. It almost works, but every item still has that grotesque and scariness to it. Regarding the scenes in the movie, Christmas Town has the traditional festive look: reindeers, jack-in-the-boxes and stockings with presents. However, Halloween Town puts a peculiar spin to it: skeletal reindeers, cats/pumpkins-in-the-boxes and stockings with skulls.
THE BIG REVEAL
Toward the end of the movie, an iconic moment occurs when Santa Claus and Jack Skellington trade holiday greetings — Santa wishes Jack a “Happy Halloween,” and Jack answers back warmly with “Merry Christmas.” Creating a satisfying ending so that Christmas Town and Halloween Town are on good terms.
Ultimately, I still believe that “The Nightmare Before Christmas” is considered a Halloween movie purely based on twisted animation each character displays. Regarding the conflict of Christmas Town being introduced, it is not a contributing factor as the town carries the grotesque feel.
Regardless of how each person interprets when the movie should be watched, it is the perfect movie to watch when it comes to either season or in between, just in time for Thanksgiving.