For the Nickelodeon Theatre, the most wonderful time of the year has called for thinking outside the box. This Christmas, the Nick is showing movies that go beyond the classic ones we see each year.
The Nick is no stranger to bringing culturally diverse and impactful productions to its screens. This holiday season, as a part of its “Holly Jolly Hollywood” film series, the Nick has selected shows that have unconventional elements while still spreading holiday cheer.
To encourage movie-watchers to come out to the theater over staying home and watching Christmas movies on television, there will be various activities before the shows. This includes trivia, an “I love Winona” pre-show, concession sales, free cookies and designing greeting cards.
Though striking this balance poses some challenges — such as satisfying community members and keeping the Nick’s unconventional reputation — Marketing Coordinator Pauline Arroyo has enjoyed being involved in the movie selection process.
“With something like the holiday series, there's a lot of room for fun and for levity,” Arroyo said. “You can just be a little more whimsical, a little more carefree, and it’s fun to think of ways to make each event special.”
This series has been an intricate part of the Nickelodeon Theatre for a few years, but tapping into the community's preferences has changed over time. With so many classic Christmas films that people watch each year, it can be hard to mix things up for the dynamic audience.
With that in mind, Arroyo needed to switch things up to captivate the Columbia crowd. For example, “Edward Scissorhands,” which is one of the movies showing in Nickelodeon Theatre, does not fall under the stereotypical Christmas movies that others, such as “A Christmas Story,” do, but it does have a Christmas relation and has themes that keep people coming back to see the diversity of Nickelodeon’s movies.
“Within holiday movies there's such a variety. There can be more family-oriented films, more irreverent films, things that are sad, things that are funny. So It’s a great way to kind of get into the spirit of celebrating family and community, but kind of putting our little Nick twist on it,” Arroyo said.
In a two-week period between Dec. 10 and Dec. 24, Nickelodeon Theatre will show four Christmas-themed movies to get the Columbia residents into the holiday spirit. “Little Women” and “Edward Scissorhands” will make their debuts on Dec. 10 and Dec. 11, respectively, while the other two, “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “Miracle on 34th Street,” are returning to the theater's holiday lineup and will be shown in the successive Sundays before Christmas.