Nightmare before Christmas or Halloween?

Mariana Hernandez and Sophie Holland

October 31, 2023

One of the biggest controversies in the movie universe is whether The Nightmare Before Christmas is a Halloween or Christmas movie. Green Wave Student Media staff members Mariana Hernandez and Sophie Holland will be debating this disputed issue.

Mariana: Christmas

Many may think that The Nightmare Before Christmas is a Halloween movie just because the opening song is “This is Halloween”, but this does not prove that the movie is overall about Halloween. A large portion of this movie takes place leading up to and on Christmas Eve, which for many people makes this a Christmas movie, as shown by the consistent Die Hard controversy.

If this is not enough to prove that this is a Christmas movie, there is plenty more to show this. “I think it is a Christmas movie because it mentions Christmas in the name,” Charlotte Mina, ’26, shared. The title of the movie also makes it clear that Christmas is the main focus of this movie. Many will say that because it contains spooky elements and starts in the town Halloween, it is enough to make it a Halloween movie. If one were to look at the plot of the movie, it is clear that it is about Christmas. The movie revolves around The Pumpkin King, Jack Skellington, planning to steal Santa Claus and control Christmas. It shows how Jack Skellington is bored of Halloween and wishes to leave it behind. This shows that The Nightmare Before Christmas is a Christmas movie and that is criticizing Halloween.

Sophie: Halloween

There is only one correct answer to the disputed subject concerning the well-known film The Nightmare Before Christmas, directed by Henry Selick. This spooky movie is undoubtedly a Halloween movie. The first site of evidence is the music. This evidence is made clear at the very beginning of the film with the opening song entitled “This is Halloween”. Music plays a big part to set the mood and theme of a movie; almost every Christmas-themed movie has at least one Christmas song. The opening song is one of the multiple Halloween themed songs in the film, yet there is only one song that could be arguably Christmas-themed. The songs, along with the setting, provide a spooky, creepy ambiance that is very fitting for the Halloween season.

The next site of evidence are the characters. Every single one of the characters has given some child nightmares. From the Oogie Boogie Man to Dr. Finkelstein, they all have a scary, somewhat gory, feature about them. Another point is the fact that the main character, Sally, does not want Jack Skellington to celebrate Christmas in their town. She tries to stop him from pretending to be Santa Claus because she wants Halloween to stay because that is what they are used to in Halloweentown. When Jack does take Santa’s place, he makes Christmas scary and ends up frightening children. That is for sure not demonstrating the cheery Christmas spirit that is in so many actual Christmas movies. According to Good Housekeeping, both the composer Danny Elfman and the director Henry Selick sided with the fact that The Nightmare Before Christmas is a Halloween movie. If the director and composer agree that it’s a Halloween movie, no other evidence is really needed to confirm the fact that The Nightmare Before Christmas is in fact a Halloween movie.

What’s your opinion? Leave your thoughts in the comments!

About the Contributors

Mariana Hernandez, Editor-in-Chief

Mari Hernandez is looking forward to improving her skills in photography and graphic design this year.  She would like to continue exploring her interest in journalism during her third year working for The Edge. Mari was the Editor-in-Chief of the yearbook, so she hopes to bring her knowledge of leadership to the newsroom.  Mari loves to be involved in her school community, which is shown by the many extra-curricular activities she is a part of. She anticipates that her involvement in St. Edward Cheer Team, school productions, Yearbook Club, and Spanish Club will help her make connections with many new and interesting people. In addition to coaching youth cheer,  Mari has recently found an interest in cross-stitching which she practices in her free time. Her favorite TV series is Gilmore Girls; she has seen it so many times she lost count (she estimates a little over 25 times). Mari loves to watch the series with her mom because she feels their relationship is similar to the main characters’ mother-daughter relationship. Her favorite thing to do when she is home is to hang out with her two dogs, Buddy and Snickers.

Sophie Holland, Copy Editor

Sophie Holland is looking forward to improving her skills as a staff reporter this year. Having taken this class last year, she has established the basics of writing, photography, and yearbook design and is ready to reach her full potential. She believes that her yearbook design techniques and polished editing skills will be beneficial to the progress of the yearbook and newspaper. Sophie loves being involved with various extracurricular activities at school. She demonstrates her school pride through participating in cross country, track, math team, and stage crew for theatre. Outside of school, Sophie likes watching movies, baking, listening to music, and exercising. She also enjoys reading, but she buys too many books before she reads the ones she already has. Sophie Holland lives in Elgin with her parents and two dogs.