By: Ava Noce'26
Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) has been a long-standing holiday classic for decades. For over thirty years, the Pumpkin King of Halloweentown has entered homes across the World, spreading the joy of both Halloween and Christmas to its audience. Since the stop-motion picture’s premiere, there has been a pervasive question among households: is this a Halloween film or a Christmas tale? Is it neither? Is it both? How does the theme of the movie exemplify the values of either holiday? This article will examine such wonderings and determine how we fans should classify one of Burton’s many beloved films.
Photo Courtesy of The Samford Crimson
For those unfamiliar with the tale, the film follows Jack Skellington’s story of self-discovery as the Pumpkin King of Halloweentown. The story begins with another successful Halloween by the residents of Halloweentown. As the town is celebrating, Jack sneaks off as he is unfulfilled with his duties as the town’s leader. He wanders into the forest and finds a Christmas tree-shaped door, opens it, and falls into Christmas Town. This alternative universe sparks joy and wonderment for Jack, and he quickly obtains a new motivation. With a new sense of purpose, Jack returns to share his findings with the rest of Halloweentown. Sally is the deuteragonist and love interest of the film. A rag doll brought to life by Doctor Finkelstein, she is kept under his constant control. Sally can see visions of the future, in which she realizes that Jack’s Christmas idea is going to lead to terrible consequences.
As Sally has this realization, Jack is preparing his Christmas scheme with full force, inviting all the Halloweentown residents to assist in his master plan. He assigns Lock, Shock, and Barrel, three mischievous children who work for the Oogie Boogie Man, to go kidnap Santa Claus so Jack can take his place. Fulfilling their mischievous title, they give Santa Claus to the Oogie Boogie Man instead, the villain of the film. Christmas ends up being a complete defeat and Jack Skellington realizes that he has spread more chaos than the spirit of Christmas. He turns back to Halloweentown to bring Santa Claus back, not soon realizing that the Oogie Boogie Man has him and now Sally too. He rescues both of them and Santa saves Christmas. The film ends with Jack embracing his Pumpkin King position and him falling in love with Sally.
Photo courtesy of Geek Girl Authority and Melis Noah Amber
As it is known, Burton’s vision has conflated themes of both Halloween and Christmas. A film that is applicable for most of the -ber months, its categorization has been widely discussed across its vast audience. So why do so many fans consider it a Halloween movie? For starters, Tim Burton’s films contain gothic, whimsical, and dark themes. This unique vision includes no right angles and color tones that support Burton's creepy energy. With these intentions, Burton has been known to create a series of movies that reflect paralleling themes to Halloween. Particularly with The Nightmare Before Christmas, the main setting is Halloweentown. As most of the movie is centered around the town and its residents, it's arguably depicted as a Halloween film. Even as the film begins, the opening song is titled, “This Is Halloween,” positioning the viewer in the setting of the spooky holiday. Not only is the film centered around Halloween, but all its main characters are also inspired by Halloween, further proving it to be a Halloween movie.
Photo courtesy of Jonathan D. Svendsen
In comparison, how come this story has also been considered a Christmas movie? Initially, we see that Jack Skellington has had a successful Halloween, meaning the holiday has just come to a close. Based on this knowledge, we know that it is now technically November 1st and no longer the month of October. Due to the holiday passing, it is technically the time when many people begin preparing for Christmas. Even though the movie revolves around Halloweentown, the theme of the movie is set around Jack being enchanted by the spirit of Christmas. When Jack stumbles upon Christmas Town, we get a sneak peek into the world of Christmas too, just as we did with Halloweentown. Being completely overwhelmed by this town, his desires grow so much that it leads him to become completely infatuated with the holiday. Christmas drives all the decisions Jack makes for the rest of the movie. With this in mind, we can consider this movie a Christmas tale.
Photo courtesy of The Samford Crimson and Cineluxe
As a longtime fan of Burton’s movie, I have continuously questioned his intentions for The Nightmare Before Christmas. Based on these arguments, and my own opinion, I have further determined that the film is a Halloween tale that encompasses the spirit of Christmas. It is inherently a dark-toned movie that encompasses Halloween and all its traditions while celebrating the joys of Christmas. Many will argue the film is both a Halloween and Christmas movie, some will argue it is neither. The most important thing to note is that this movie has been welcomed into homes around the World, bringing the spirit of both holidays with it. No matter if you’re a Halloween fan or a Christmas lover: you will enjoy this film for its story and connection to its characters.
*Note: The article was republished due to site maintenance. The original publication date is September 30th, 2024.
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