There are Christmas movies, and there are Halloween movies, and then there are movies like The Nightmare Before Christmas that are a bit harder to classify.

For years, movie lovers have ruminated over which type of holiday movie The Nightmare Before Christmas really is. Is it a Halloween movie that takes place on Christmas, or a Christmas movie with Halloween characters?

Regardless of which school of thought you subscribe to, the fact of the matter is that it’s a question that has plagued the minds of many. Now, director Henry Selick is settling the debate once and for all.

Selick recently participated in a Q&A at the Telluride Horror Show in Colorado. When the time came for audience questions, Selick was hit with a very good question from a little girl, who asked whether the 1993 animated classic was a Christmas movie or a Halloween movie.

“Oh boy,” said Selick according to Birth. Movies. Death (BMD), who was in attendance. “It’s a Halloween movie.”

According to BMD, the director then went on to explain that while Christmas plays a factor in the story, at the end of the day, Nightmare Before Christmas is a story about Halloween, the citizens that inhabit Halloween Town and how they react to the idea of Christmas.

We’re sure some hardcore Nightmare fans could come up with some pretty impressive arguments with regards to why the film should be classified as a Christmas flick, but it is interesting to hear Selick’s take on the matter nevertheless.

Either way, the fact that both Halloween and Christmas are represented in the film just gives us an excuse to use Nightmare as a means of getting into the holiday spirit twice a year. With that in mind, we can’t say we’ll be complaining either way!

[H/T: Nerdist]