Why 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' Is Actually A Halloween Movie
By
Michael Avery in
Holidays
On 12th October 2016
The Nightmare Before Christmas is one of the best Christmas movies ever. Every year around Christmas, people watch this classic. But here is the other thing... The Nightmare Before Christmas is also one of the best Halloween movies ever. Every year, like clockwork people watch all of the skeletons, ghouls and monsters sing and scare in this Tim Burton masterpiece.This topic has been debated for many, many years, and it usually ends with people deciding that the movie is BOTH a Christmas and a Halloween movie.
Christmas is about joy and Santa and bright, pretty lights, and things wrapped in pretty paper and bows and being merry and jolly. Halloween is about monsters, and scary creatures, and horror and frightening people... and candy. How can these two opposite holidays co-exist as THE holiday that one movie represents? Well, we are about to put the whole debate to rest and definitively decide that The Nightmare Before Christmas is, in fact, a Halloween movie.
Does this mean stop watching it at Christmas?
Absolutely NOT! Christmas is in the title and it features Santa, so even if it's a little dark this movie should still be enjoyed at Christmas.
HOWEVER, we need to accept the fact that although it can be enjoyed during Christmas, this is a Halloween movie at it's core.
Let's proceed with all the evidence....
1. It's about Jack accepting that he is the leader of Halloween Town.
Jack goes through something that everyone will face in their lifetime asking himself "who am I?" and "what am I doing with my life?" In the end, he embraces his role in the town and his love for Halloween.
2. It's a scary movie for little kids. Severed heads, Oogie Boogie, Sally's limbs fall off...
This movie is meant to be dark, unsettling and scary.
3. The film was considered too dark for Disney, so they produced it through their Touchstone Pictures branch.
4. It's about a town that is dedicated to Halloween and even has a theme song called "This Is Halloween."
5. He royally screws up Christmas.
Jack loves Christmas and decides that Halloween Town will take over Christmas duties. But they mess up Christmas. Instead of getting the warm and fuzzy feeling like we do in Christmas movies, we're seeing hilarious terrifying things done to these poor unsuspecting families.
6. Restoring Christmas isn't the focus of the ending.
In all movies where something happens to Christmas, the focus of the movie is on how you can't kill the spirit of Christmas, and restoring Christmas is the focus. In this movie, however, it's placing Jack Skellington in his rightful role as Pumpkin King that is the focus (along with his romance with Sally, of course).
The next and final argument for this being a Halloween movie, you CANNOT dispute....
7. A little girl asked the director the question we all have wondered, "Is this a Christmas movie or a Halloween movie?"
He was surprised and said "oh boy," but he did give a definitive response.
"It's a Halloween movie." His reasoning is that this is a movie about the people of Halloween and how they would react to something like Christmas.
So there you have it. Do you agree with the director? COMMENT and let us know your thoughts!
