Nightmare Before Christmas: Halloween or Christmas classic?

[Son of Gadsden]

DW and I were arguing about this the other day. She says it's a Halloween movie, not Christmas.

I say it's both, but a little bit more Christmas than Halloween. It's just a good movie to watch October through December.

The story starts when Halloween is over, and Jack is essentially overflowing with the spirit of Christmas rather than Halloween.

What holiday does the movie most portray to your family? or is it both?

Also, as a side note, I wasn't allowed the watch the movie growing up. My parents were by no means overprotective when it comes to screening what I watched on TV. I wasn't allowed to watch R rated movies and such until I was 13, I think...but my wife watched it since it came out. I saw it for my first time this year, and I'm not sure what my parents were worried about, though I'm sure they probably haven't seen it. What age would you allow your kids to watch it, or do you consider it a "all ages" movie?

 

[karly05]

Both - but if I have to pick, I'd go with Christmas, since most of it takes place "Making Christmas" and on Christmas Eve.

I'm a Nightmare girl from way back; I was an adult on the first release, and don't have kids, but if my kids were intrigued and not freaked out by the visual style, I wouldn't hesitate to let them watch. For all the creepy factor (and the Oogie Boogie/Santa plot), I think it's really a gentle, charming, whimsical movie. It probably also helps my perspective that I did grow up on the Grinch and all the Rankin-Bass Christmas specials that influenced the film. And this is gonna sound weird, but I've always thought cartoon skeletons were cool.

 

[disneydennis]

Leaning towards a Christmas movie.

I watch it twice a year though... once before Halloween and once again before Christmas.

 

[MomToPirate&Princess]

We love it and watch it for both holidays.
I asked DS11 and DD9 and they voted - More Halloween than Christmas because of the creepiness of it.

 

[Rowi]

Good question! I think both too. I watch it with Halloween ánd with Christmas!!

 

[Ron from Michigan]

I watch it several times every year. I love this movie. I watched it with my Grandson for the first time last week and he love it. He want's to watch it again this weekend.

 

[figment_jii]

I also think that it could work for either Halloween or Christmas, but it "feels" more like a Halloween movie to me. While it is set more during Christmas, the general look of the movie is darker and set in a Halloween-themed world.

In terms of "family friendly" or older kids only, I wouldn't let a small child watch it, but it does depend on the child. It's pretty creepy in sections, especially the parts with Oogie Boogie, Sally when she's trying to poison someone, and the three creepy kids that kidnap the Easter Bunny and Santa. Overall, I would probably wait until the kids were old enough not to be scared and/or upset. So maybe around 9 or 10, but certainly not less than 6 (but that's because the 6 year old that I know would be crying and having nightmares if she saw the movie, as would the 4 year old).

 

[momoluvgd]

I would say both.
They are focusing on Christmas during the majority of the movie, however, it's a Halloween theme kind of Christmas, and they make a big point about Halloween during the beginning of the movie. Saying both also gives us an excuse to watch the movie twice a year!

 

[aprilchem]

I'd say both as well. And we're pretty conservative as movies go but we let our kid watch it at 2, 4, and 6. They loved it and weren't scared at all.

 

[MinnieLovesMickey12]

I will say Halloween since the movie was originally released 2 weeks before Halloween. October 13th, 1993.

But as for content I lean more towards Christmas.

 

[BrokeMack]

My wife and I have the same discussion about Die Hard. At its core it is a movie about a man trying to reconcile with his estranged wife on Christmas eve. That it gets interrupted by terrorists is incidental.

But I never understood Nightmare Before Christmas or is popularity with people who weren't even born when it came out. Back on topic, it has Christmas in the title so that's what I'd go with.

 

[old lady]

I would say Halloween.

 

[Axlcat]

This is the movie I choose to watch Christmas Eve, but it's a treat for either holiday. One of my favorite scenes is when Lock, Shock, and Barrel accidentally kidnap the Easter Bunny, so it works for Easter too.

 

[disneyrex]

I always enjoy it more as a Halloween movie !

 

[BW DISfan]

I think of it more as a Halloween movie.

 

[MissMaryQC]

I have to agree that it's more so a Christmas movie than a Halloween movie. Friends of mine who like ghouls and goblins actually theme their Christmas traditions around the film; darker wrapping paper, bats on the tree, etc. Needless to say it's always fun to visit their home during the holidays!

 

[anyadreams]

this is a xmas film definitely. ghouls and goblins can celebrate the festive season too ya know!

 

[hnorthrop09]

Why can't it be both?

 

[Natara]

I also think that it could work for either Halloween or Christmas, but it "feels" more like a Halloween movie to me. While it is set more during Christmas, the general look of the movie is darker and set in a Halloween-themed world.

My thoughts exactly. I know many people prefer to view it around Christmas, at some point in November or December, but I tend to watch it every year during the Halloween season.

I can see how it would work as either, but it just seems more like a Halloween film to me, regardless of how much Christmas is involved. *shrugs*

NBC first came out a bit before my time (I wasn't born until 1999), so I never saw it at the theater. My parents never showed it to me or bought it on DVD or VHS like they did with most Disney films, though I doubt their reasons had to do with their concern for it being too scary but rather a lack of familiarity with it (neither of them had ever seen it). I ended up watching it for the first time when I was at a friend's house, when I was about... four or five, maybe? It terrified me. Really, legitimately terrified me, and I didn't even watch the entire movie (my mom came to pick me up about twenty minutes in).

I didn't view the film in its entirety until several years later, when I caught it on TV. When I watched it that time, I loved it. But based on my experience, I probably wouldn't endorse showing it to a child younger than seven or eight -- unless that child has a particularly high tolerance for the creepy and strange.