Vida Wisham
Staff Writer
“For the story that you are about to be told took place in the holiday worlds of old. Now, you’ve probably wondered where holidays come from. If you haven’t, I’d say it’s time you begun.” These are the first lines of “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” the popular seasonal movie, which are told as you are taken from tree to tree, each of which have a different door representing a different holiday, all kept separate.
For a little refresher of the movie, some of the characters in the Halloween world discover the other holiday doors and decide to take over the Christmas world, squeezing the joy out of it and replacing it with fright. However, the main protagonist, Jack Skellington, realizes it’s wrong by the end of the movie, and they return to their rightful holiday world, allowing Santa to save Christmas.
A big question, though, with many different answers depending on who you ask, is: “Is this a Halloween or a Christmas movie?” As ironic as it is to say that the movie is about keeping the holidays separate, I believe that this movie is versatile. Although many signs point to it being a Halloween movie — it was released on Oct. 29, 1993, it starts with a Halloween song, and it has an overall spooky feel — I feel that this movie is, in fact, a Christmas movie.
Even with the spooky aesthetic and music woven into the movie, it is still centered around the Halloween Town characters trying to take over Christmas. It may start with the song that repeats, “This is Halloween,” yet I believe that that is merely how it begins.
When Jack Skellington accidentally stumbles into Christmas Town, he is introduced to these new traditions that are very different from the Halloween ones. No one in Halloween Town really understands how and why Jack has been hit by the Christmas fever. Jack yearns for a change of pace and fixates on recreating a Christmas of his own, one that is spooky instead of happy because that is all he really knows, after all. So, the movie may have a scary and frightful setting, but really it is just part of the Christmas fun, another reason why this could be considered a Christmas movie.
At one point, Sally, who is in love with Jack, rescues Santa Claus, but then in the heat of the escape, needs help from Jack. There is a heartwarming scene as Jack apologizes for ruining the night and Santa Claus leaves to save Christmas, ultimately treating us to a jolly ending — a perfect scene for this moving Christmas story.
Not only does this story have a touching ending thanks to Santa Claus saving the day, but at the very end of the movie, you see Jack and Sally go up onto the now icy mountain, sharing a romantic moment. Additionally to the fact that this is a heartwarming Christmas story, “The Nightmare Before Christmas” could, in fact, also be considered a Christmas rom-com. Throughout, you can see Jack Skellington’s change of heart due to Christmas cheer and the potential love between him and Sally.
Personally, I love the fall season, especially with its spooky movies, so I don’t mind a bit of fall sprinkled into my holiday stories. Even though it may have aspects of Halloween in it, I believe that “The Nightmare Before Christmas” is overall a holiday movie, as it shows the love and joy that Christmas brings and even how that can spread to a frightful town.
Really well-structured and easy to follow.