Is Nightmare before Christmas a Halloween movie or a Christmas movie?

Courtesy+of+IMDb+

Courtesy of IMDb

Courtesy of IMDb

This is Halloween, this is Halloween. Halloween, Halloween.”  

These famous lyrics from The Nightmare Before Christmas” are fun reminders of the sweet innocence that was my childhood. They’re also a reminder of one essential fact: Halloween is here. There’s a round-the-clock controversy over the movie’s seasonal genre: Christmas or Halloween?

This animated stop-motion film is the joy and pleasure of children, teenagers, and adults around the world. This movie is without a doubt a Halloween movie. You wouldn’t watch a skeleton try to turn Christmas into Halloween during the Holiday season. 

The movie’s theme fits the Halloween essence. Sure, it has Christmas elements, but it is mostly Halloween based. 20 out of 22 students here at H-F stated that “The Nightmare Before Christmas” is a Halloween movie. 

Nightmare Before Christmas has always had some controversy surrounding it whether it had to do with the movie genre, illiberal characters, and the true meaning of the movie. The movie has always caused conversation when people hear the movie’s name. Nightmare Before Christmas is a favorite when it comes down to the Halloween season. 

The background and meaning of the movie aren’t what you would expect. The Nightmare Before Christmas” was based on a poem written by Tim Burton when he was an animator for Disney. Henry Selik told the Daily Beast in 2013, “Tim [Burton] rewrote the classic poem, ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas,’ along with designs for Jack Skellington, his dog, Zero, and Santa Claus.

It is a very popular film that cannot be judged based on the cover. It is truly a movie that you have to watch for yourself.  

Adults often bicker about whether the engrossing movie is child friendly or not. I believe that the movie is okay for children to watch. The movie is rated PG and still delivers a good message. The movie is not inappropriate for children in any way. Things that adults catch in movies and cartoons children aren’t even worried about nor do they understand what it means. At the end of the day let kids be kids and have a good childhood. Taking away things that are fun for children because of your personal worries can and will affect how their adolescence is played out.  

The Nightmare Before Christmas storyline is mostly based on Halloweentown which is the town that all the monsters live in. Throughout the movie, Jack Skellington is trying to convert Christmas into Halloween. The film director even states that it is a Halloween movie. It has human-like ragdolls, ghost puppies, and skeletons. This is most certainly a Halloween movie.