This week, I attended a film screening of Tim Burton’s classic “The Nightmare Before Christmas”. This movie features great animation, catchy songs, and a memorable story that has made it a Halloween classic for nearly 25 years. Watching the movie, what stuck out to me the most was the idea of tradition. It is a tradition for many to watch this movie every year on Halloween, but the importance of tradition is also one of the major themes in the movie. The plot following Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King, who upon learning about Christmas, wants to have Halloween Town run the holiday in place of Halloween. As the movie goes along, it becomes clear that the residents of Halloween Town have no idea what Christmas is and, while they try to replicate it, they end up ruining the holiday for all the children of the world. What Jack and the rest of Halloween Town learn is to appreciate the traditions they hold and to respect the traditions others hold. If Halloween Town wanted to run Christmas, they could have worked with Christmas Town or at least learned directly, rather than by overhearing. The point of the movie is not that you shouldn’t adopt other traditions, but more so that you should appreciate and uphold the traditions you do have. And so, after never seeing the movie before, I very well adopt the tradition of viewing “The Nightmare Before Christmas” every Halloween.