Jack Skellington looks at a snowflake in A Nightmare Before Christmas.

Director Henry Selick Answers Whether Nightmare Before Christmas Is a Halloween or Christmas Movie

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Do you like re-watching The Nightmare Before Christmas during Halloween for the pumpkins and scares, or during the winter for “What’s this?” to get you in the Christmas spirit? Or both? I mean, I’ll watch it during the 4th of July just because I like it so much, but it is a small mystery which holiday the film is meant for.

I mean, Christmas is right there in the title, but the story really focuses on the Halloween Town characters. The story is full of spooks, but scary ghost stories are a big part of the Christmas tradition! Also, Christmas movies looove the whole “saving Christmas” thing and funny Santas.

Henry Selick was at the Colorado’s Telluride Horror Show film festival, where he attended a screening of Nightmare Before Christmas followed by a Q&A session. Birth.Movies.Death. reports a young girl asked him “Is this a Christmas movie or a Halloween movie?” to which Selick settled the long debate and “definitively” answered, “It’s a Halloween movie.” Selick also said that while lots of people liked the Christmas parts more, the story is about Halloween.

I think it’s a bit silly to label the film as one or the other at all, but it’s also fun to think about whether it’s more Christmas or Halloween. What do you think, are you convinced?

(via Vulture)

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