Have you watched “The Nightmare Before Christmas”? If so, I hope you did not watch it around Halloween. To put it frankly, “The Nightmare Before Christmas” belongs with the plethora of other Christmas movies, not the grouping of Halloween movies. You would think we as a society would be able to differentiate what holiday a movie belongs to, but no, the placement of this movie is still debated.

The whole premise of the movie involves the main character, Jack Skellington, who lives in Halloween Town, a place where people only celebrate Halloween. They are all Halloween-based  creatures including skeletons, ghosts, monsters, and much more. They all love Halloween and spend the whole year preparing for their day of scares.

In the movie, however, Jack discovers the joys of Christmas when he comes across the space of Christmas Town for the first time. This town has the same premise as Halloween Town, but the people favor Christmas instead. He becomes enamored with the holiday and wants to bring it back to his original world. Despite what his fellow Halloweeners may think of this Christmas holiday, he wishes to share the festivities of Christmas around the world.

As you can see, the main idea of the movie involves sharing the joys of Christmas, even with people who do not know much about it. The one who initiates this all, Jack, just so happens to be the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town. Even though he is committed to the Halloween holiday, he learns more about Christmas and he understands that more joy can come from celebrating another holiday.

Most Christmas movies involve exactly what is included in this movie: a character or characters who do not enjoy the holiday and come to love it throughout the movie. The characters from Halloween Town learn about Christmas and the history behind the holiday from Jack, even though they originally rejected the idea. This is a similar concept to what happens in “The Grinch”. The Grinch originally hated the idea of Christmas, but by the end of the movie his opinion has completely changed.

We get more screen time revolving around Christmas ideas, like dressing up as Santa and preparing gifts for children. This movie just does not have the qualities that Halloween movies present. There is nothing considerably “scary” or “frightening”… Grouping this movie in the Halloween category honestly is an embarrassment to Halloween movies since their primary goal is to be creepy, magical, or at least Halloween based.​

Instead, this “The Nightmare Before Christmas” focuses on the ideas behind Christmas. When it is seen as a Christmas movie, it acts as a fun cartoon movie that can be watched by the whole family while conveying the message of sharing the winter holiday spirit with those around you. However, as a Halloween movie, it does not give the same effect as other well-known movies. It does not fit on their spectrum, but it does fit in the spectrum of Christmas movies.

“The Nightmare Before Christmas” mixes two of the most favored holidays: Christmas and Halloween. Watching it during Halloween gives you a taste of what festivities are to come, and watching it during Christmas gives you flashbacks to what celebrations just passed. It is a movie that is watched by many all over the country as it appeals to a wide variety of ages. However, when choosing what movie to watch this Halloween season, save “The Nightmare Before Christmas” for December and watch a real Halloween movie instead.