Casey Chan-Smutko: Halloween
News Editor
Just because “The Nightmare Before Christmas” has the word Christmas in it does not make it a Christmas movie. I’ve watched this movie a thousand times exclusively on Halloween because it is a Halloween movie.
You could argue that Jack Skellington goes to Christmas Land to become Santa Claus, but that’s only the setting of his mid-life crisis. The first song is “This is Halloween,” which is an absolute banger, telling the viewers that the movie is about Halloween.
Secondly, the only reason that Skellington goes to Christmas Land is because he thinks he needs to change his identity. He thinks that being part of Christmas is where he belongs. However, he’s a skeleton, which is a staple in Halloween lore. Therefore, “The Nightmare Before Christmas” is a Halloween movie.
Additionally, all of the other characters were trying to convince him that he needs to be in Halloween Town, not Christmas Land. In my opinion, Jack Skellington will always be the Pumpkin King, not Santa Claus. Pumpkins are for Halloween, not Christmas.
Aidan Cahill: Christmas
Photo Editor
Whether you argue for or against the “Nightmare Before Christmas” as a Halloween film, it is absolutely a Christmas movie.
What really defines a Christmas movie? Some people consider “Die Hard” a Christmas movie just because it occurs on Christmas. “Home Alone” is a Christmas movie, but it could have taken place at any point during the year and still made sense.
Many Christmas movies follow the premise where in the time leading up to Christmas, a character who doesn’t truly get the meaning of the holiday comes to understand what it’s truly about. Sure, “The Nightmare Before Christmas” has a spooky vibe throughout the film, and it relies on haunted imagery throughout, but at its core it is about Christmas. Jack Skellington spends the entire movie misunderstanding the holiday, before trying and failing to run it himself.
Christmas moves do not need to necessarily be wintery in aesthetic to still be a Christmas movie. In fact, they often do not even need to be directly about Christmas to be considered a Christmas movie. As such, why shouldn’t “The Nightmare Before Christmas” be considered a Christmas movie? The entire crux of the plot is discovering the meaning of Christmas.