Written by Adaley Heninger, Hadleigh Johnson, and Jaylene Trevino

As Halloween is around the corner one fundamental Tim Burton movie has been causing a spark of debate. Is The Nightmare Before Christmas a Christmas or Halloween movie? Interested in the opinions of ThunderRidge, we interviewed some of the students and staff to better understand TR’s outlook of the movie. To understand their opinions we posted a poll on our ThunderRidge Newspaper Instagram page. After posting the poll the numbers came back as 67% for Halloween and 33% for Christmas.  

Considering the people we interviewed, several argued that The Nightmare Before Christmas was more Christmas than Halloween. Neelanjana Komanduri (10) said,  “Its setting is during Christmas time and there’s a lot of movies that have like considered scary elements to them, but that doesn’t mean they're all Halloween movies… it kinda depends on their setting.” Not all horror movies could be considered Halloween movies. Some horror movies even take place during Christmas.

Another point to bring up would be the fixation on the idea of Christmas. Jack Skellington, the main character and lover of Christmas, constantly tries to steal the holiday and use it for himself. He even claims that it should be for everyone. The entirety of the movie is the months leading up to the special day. The movie ends once Jack Skellington realizes that Christmas is not for him and that he should focus on what he has, Halloween. Only about a third of the movie focuses on Halloween and the movie also comes on television during the Christmas season. It is easy to say that The Nightmare Before Christmas is a Christmas movie. 

Even though many people see this as a Christmas movie, some disagree standing by the idea that it is a Halloween movie. Mr. Cohen (Spanish teacher) said, “Clearly, The Nightmare Before Christmas is a Halloween movie: Jack Skelington lives in a place where Halloween is celebrated all day long. The movie does not take place in Santa Claus land, it takes place where Jack Skellington lives in Halloween Town.” Mr. Cohen brings up a strong argument. The movie does take place in Halloween Town where they celebrate all year, and once one Halloween ends they begin to prepare for the next. Christmas is not celebrated all year round like Halloween. As Mr. Rauh (English teacher) said, “Just because he hijacks Christmas for a little while and Santa eventually overcomes that and gets Christmas back, doesn’t mean it’s a Christmas movie. Halloween’s the center of his character at the beginning and at the end, through the middle as well.” At the end of the day many still believe the movie is set in Halloween Town and the characters emulate Halloween, not Christmas so the movie is in fact for Halloween.

The Nightmare Before Christmas is quite the movie to watch. Many people lean towards the side of Halloween, yet the Television industry believes it to be Christmas, playing it during the Christmas season. Overall, whether the world thinks it should be put to the tune of Jingle Bells or played for a spooky movie marathon, the majority of opinions of ThunderRidge believe The Nightmare Before Christmas is a Halloween movie.