“The Nightmare Before Christmas” is renowned for its inventive plot. The plot and concepts used within it combine two popular holidays, Halloween and Christmas, in an eerie but lighthearted way. However, this has caused some debate among movie watchers: is “The Nightmare Before Christmas” a Halloween or Christmas movie?

It’s Halloween – enough with Christmas

Nakul Subramani ’24 had a very strong opinion about the debate, saying, “‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ is a Halloween movie. The protagonists are all Halloween-themed characters. It just so happens to take place around Christmas. Besides, Christmas has enough movies. We don’t need another one.”

It’s Christmas: timing is everything

While Esha Acharya ’25 is a fan of Halloween, she had to admit that “the whole point of ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ is Christmas, but with Halloween characters.” Acharya referred to the plot’s climax taking place during Christmas: “Even though there’s the theme of Halloween, technically, if I [wear a Halloween costume] during Christmas, it’s still Christmas time … Plus, everyone watches it during Christmas time.”

It’s … dishonest?

Despite never watching the movie, Allan Wang ’26 had some things to say about this debate. Wang originally claimed that the movie was based around Halloween because the title implies the movie takes place “before Christmas.” After being told that important plot points take place on Christmas day, Wang retorted, “The title lies … I think we should be less concerned with which holiday it is and more concerned with how honest the movie [title] is.” 

It’s Halloween: released in October

Parker Colestock ’25 said he firmly believes that the movie is strictly Halloween-themed. He did not come to the debate unprepared; he recalled that the movie’s “whole setting has a dark and grim style. It was also released on a date near Halloween in October.” As it turns out, Colestock is right – “The Nightmare Before Christmas” was released to the United States just two days before Halloween of 1993!

It’s Halloween: characters and setting revolve around Halloween

Another person on Halloween’s side, Antonio Reyes  ’26, took a logical stance on the debate as well, focusing on the symbols of Halloween: “The main character is a skeleton, which is the main [representative] of Halloween. And overall, I think that the general plot of the movie leans towards Halloween.” Reyes also argued that a “smaller section of the movie” devotes itself to Christmas “rather than the entire movie itself, which is centered around Halloween.”

Why not both?

Not everyone thought there was a side to choose. Tessa Haines ’26 said she firmly believes that “it is absolutely both. The characters are Halloween-themed, but they’re celebrating Christmas … There’s no one side to it at all!” 

What do you think?

Some believe that “The Nightmare Before Christmas” is strictly a Christmas movie because of the timing of the movie and the plot centering around celebrating Christmas. However, others think that the movie is Halloween-themed because of the spooky elements of the plot, characters, and setting. There is too much evidence and argument for both sides for there to be a definitive answer. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t have opinions – what do you think “The Nightmare Before Christmas” is about?