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Is The Nightmare Before Christmas a Christmas movie?

By Gabii Rayner

TIM BURTONÕS THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS Ð HalloweentownÕs bored Pumpkin King, Jack Skellington, attempts to take over the festive Christmas season for a change of pace. Against the advice of Sally, the lonely rag doll who has secret feelings for him, Jack enlists three trick-or-treaters Ð Lock, Shock, and Barrel Ð to help him kidnap Santa Claus. But even when Jack realizes his mistake, heÕll have to contend with the evil Oogie Boogie before he can turn things around and restore the holidayÕs cheer. ÒTim BurtonÕs The Nightmare Before ChristmasÓ airs on Freeform's 25 Days of Christmas. (DISNEY ENTERPRISES, INC./ABC)JACK SKELLINGTON (CHRIS SARANDON)
TIM BURTONÕS THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS Ð HalloweentownÕs bored Pumpkin King, Jack Skellington, attempts to take over the festive Christmas season for a change of pace. Against the advice of Sally, the lonely rag doll who has secret feelings for him, Jack enlists three trick-or-treaters Ð Lock, Shock, and Barrel Ð to help him kidnap Santa Claus. But even when Jack realizes his mistake, heÕll have to contend with the evil Oogie Boogie before he can turn things around and restore the holidayÕs cheer. ÒTim BurtonÕs The Nightmare Before ChristmasÓ airs on Freeform's 25 Days of Christmas. (DISNEY ENTERPRISES, INC./ABC)JACK SKELLINGTON (CHRIS SARANDON) /
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With a title like The Nightmare Before Christmas, a layman could easily be forgiven for concluding (without even watching the movie) that Tim Burton’s 1993 fantasy animation classic is of course counted as a Christmas movie.

When the heated discussions of what can be categorised as such arise, it tends to be the 1988 action picture Die Hard, starring Bruce Willis, that comes to the forefront. But The Nightmare Before Christmas is arguably just as complicated an issue, with debates around whether it should be classed as a Halloween film or a Christmas film seeming to stir up on an annual basis. And thus, keeping with tradition, here is this year’s exploration into the question; Is The Nightmare Before Christmas a Christmas movie?

What is The Nightmare Before Christmas about?

Whilst directed by Henry Selick, Tim Burton acted as the head writer and producer for The Nightmare Before Christmas, applying his signature spooky, kooky style and storytelling as seen in movies such as Sleepy Hollow (1999), Corpse Bride (2005), and Alice in Wonderland (2010).

The musical story of The Nightmare Before Christmas follows protagonist Jack Skellington, the ‘Pumpkin King’ of Halloween Town as he discovers and tries to recreate his own version of Christmas as a way of switching things up after years of monotonous Halloweens. As experts of scaring, Jack and the monstrous and supernatural citizens of Halloween Town struggle to grasp the true purpose of Christmas and things go wildly, gruesomely awry in their attempts to take over the holiday for the year.

(DISNEY ENTERPRISES, INC./ABC) JACK SKELLINGTON (CHRIS SARANDON)
(DISNEY ENTERPRISES, INC./ABC) JACK SKELLINGTON (CHRIS SARANDON) /

Is The Nightmare Before Christmas a Christmas movie or a Halloween movie?

The Nightmare Before Christmas can easily be dubbed a genre-bending piece, perfectly amalgamating the Halloween and Christmas categories with a mix of creepy characters and festive magic that arguably makes for a perfect November/early December watch in the middle of the two holidays. But can The Nightmare Before Christmas actually be classed as a definitive Christmas movie?

Whilst some viewers determine that the movie is weighted more heavily on the side of Halloween, and comparisons to Die Hard continuously spark debate, it is clear that The Nightmare Before Christmas is befitting of a Christmas movie. The plot itself centres around the entire idea of Christmas and what its meaning is for the human population (more specifically for young children), enchanting Jack so much so that he is desperate to do anything to experience it for himself in all its festive glory; this includes the capture of Santa Claus himself! The Halloween season passes very quickly into the film, shifting into the build-up to Christmas and making it the perfect film to watch in the window anywhere between October 31 and December 25.

However, with such a cult following the world over, and its incredibly creative style and cast of eclectic characters, The Nightmare Before Christmas need not be shoehorned into only the Christmas movie genre. It is suitable for Halloween, Christmas, and any other time of year deemed fit by those craving a repeat of Danny Elfman’s “What’s This?” or Ken Page’s “Oogie Boogie’s Song”.

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