The Top 6 Tim Burton Movies

Timothy William Burton is an American film director. He was born on August 25, 1958, and is widely known for his eccentric style. As a child, he spent much of his time drawing and was awarded a prize for an anti-litter poster that he created when he was 14-years-old. He attended the California Institute of the Arts and became an animator for Disney. Burton and his colleagues had some creative differences. Realizing how talented Burton was, Disney allowed him to make several short films, including: Vincent (1982) and Frankenweenie (1984). Frankenweenie was considered to be inappropriate for children and was never formally released. Paul Reubens, best known for his role as "Pee-Wee Herman," saw the movie and decided that Burton was the perfect person to direct his debut film. Pee-Wee's Big Adventure was an unexpected success (known as a "sleeper" in the film business) and so began Tim Burton's cinematic career. He is an extremely talented director with an unprecedented unique style. Here are a few of my favorite Tim Burton films:

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993): The movie takes place in an alternate universe where each holiday has its own world. Jack Skellington is the leader of Halloween Town and has always prided himself on making each and every Halloween horrifyingly spectacular. When we meet him, his enthusiasm is fading and he finds himself discontented with his life. He takes a stroll in the woods with his ghostly dog, Zero, and comes upon a group of trees. The trees are arranged in a circle and each contains a door with an icon that symbolizes a different holiday. Jack only knew of Halloween Town and never realized that any other holiday or world existed. He is instantly captivated by the icon shaped like a decorated tree. He and Zero enter the door and find themselves in the new and exciting Christmas Town. Jack falls in love with the cheerfulness and bright colors of the town and decides that he wants to make it his own. He travels back to his world and tells everyone of his discovery and they all agree to celebrate Christmas instead of Halloween that year. Sally, a creation of the town doctor, is secretly in love with Jack and tries to warn him of the foreboding feeling that she has about his plans to take over Christmas. Jack does not listen and hires three trick-or-treaters to travel to Christmas Town and bring back Santa Claus. They retrieve Santa and against Jack's orders, bring him to their evil master, Oogie Boogie. With Santa held captive, everything starts going wrong and it is up to Sally to save Santa and Jack before it is too late. This movie is absolutely adorable and features a wonderful music score composed by the infamous Danny Elfman (who works with Burton on many of his films).

Corpse Bride (2005): This animated movie is set in a gloomy English town during the Victorian era. Victor Van Dort (Johnny Depp) is a shy and nervous young man who is prearranged to marry Victoria Everglot (Emily Watson). Victor is not too happy about the idea of marrying someone he does not know. He soon forgets those feelings when he meets Emily and is smitten with her charm and beauty. At the wedding rehearsal, Victor becomes extremely nervous and cannot remember his vows. The situation is exacerbated by the fact that he accidentally sets his future mother-in-law's skirt on fire. The pastor orders him to learn his vows. He goes for a stroll in the forest and practices his vows. He grabs a tree branch that resembles a human hand, places the wedding ring on it and properly recites his vows. He then realizes that the branch was indeed a hand. Emily (Helena Bonham Carter), the Corpse Bride, rises from the ground and claims Victor as her husband. He is whisked into the land of the dead, which ironically is much more lively and colorful than the land of the living. Victor manages to convince Emily to accompany him to the land of the living via a magical spell, so that he can introduce her to his family. His real intentions were to find Victoria and inform her of what happened. When Emily finds the two together, she becomes infuriated and brings Victor back to the land of the dead. Victor begins to care for Emily after discovering that she was killed on her wedding day. She waited in the forest for years for her groom to claim her. Meanwhile, in the land of the living, everyone presumes that Victor has run away. Victoria's parents order that she marry Lord Barkis Bitterrn. Unbeknownst to all, Bittern plans to marry Victoria, kill her and steal her fortune. Emily and Victor work together to try to reunite him with Emily before she marries the evil Lord Bittern. This movie is excellent and also features a phenomenal music score by Danny Elfman.

Sleepy Hollow (1999): This film is loosely based on Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. It is set in 1799 in a town called Sleepy Hollow. Johnny Depp plays Ichabod Crane, a young constable who is sent to Sleepy Hollow to investigate a slew of murders. The locals inform Ichabod that the heads of all the victims were missing and they suspect the culprit to be the "Headless Horseman." Legend has it in Sleepy Hollow that he is the ghost of a Hessian mercenary who was notorious for decapitating soldiers during the Revolutionary War. As the legend goes, he was overpowered and decapitated by a group of soldiers in Sleepy Hollow and his spirit still lingers in the town. Ichabod is skeptical and believes that the killer is human. His cynical attitude fades when he personally witnesses the horseman (Christopher Walken) kill one of the members of the town council. As Ichabod works to prevent future killings, he begins to fall in love with Katrina Van Tassel (Christina Ricci), the daughter of a prominent town member. Along with Ichabod's self-assigned assistant, the three discover that the horseman has risen from the dead and will continue to claim human heads until his own is returned to him. The trio must now find out who has possession of the horseman's head, for it is this person who controls him and encourages him to continue killing. This movie is very creepy and has a shocking twist towards the end. I highly recommend it.

Beetlejuice (1988): In this supernatural comedy, a young couple named Adam (Alec Baldwin) and Barbara (Geena Davis) move into their new home. Soon after they are killed in a car accident, but do not realize that they are dead. They return to their house where they find The Handbook for the Recently Deceased. They follow its instructions and are led to Juno, their caseworker who informs them that they are dead. As per the rules of the dead they are to haunt their home for 125 years and will not be permitted to leave the house any sooner. They return home and live peacefully until an obnoxious family buys and moves into their house. They try to scare them out themselves, but are inexperienced. Their efforts are completely unnoticed by the family with the exception of their gothic teenage daughter, Lydia (Winona Ryder), who seems more intrigued than frightened. Adam and Barbara call on the help of bio-exorcist, Betelgeuse (Michael Keaton). All is fine and well until Betelgeuse begins to take over and endangers Lydia and her family. The two families must come together to stop Betelgeuse and learn how to coexist harmoniously. This is one of my personal favorites.

Edward Scissorhands (1990): Peg Boggs (Diane Wiest) is a traveling Avon saleswoman. She visits an isolated mansion, hoping to make a sale, and comes upon Edward Scissorhands (Johnny Depp). He is the creation of an inventor (Vincent Price) who died before he was able to give him hands. Edward has never been exposed to humans and has long, sharp scissor blades in place of hands. Peg takes him home and adopts him as part of her family. He is very timid, but adjusts well to life in the suburbs and uses his "hands" to do landscaping for the neighbors. He begins to fall in love with Peg's daughter, Kim (Winona Ryder), and she learns to care for him as well. The neighbor's are very apprehensive of Edward because he is different. Kim's boyfriend, Jim (Anthony Michael Hall), becomes jealous of Edward's relationship with Kim and tries to capitalize on the fear of the neighbors by sabotaging Edward's attempts to fit in. I do not want to spoil anything for those of you who have not yet seen it, but it is an excellent film and I highly recommend watching it.

Big Fish (2003): This movie is based on a novel written by Daniel Williams. It is a fantasy film about a man named Edward Bloom (Albert Finney and Ewan McGregor) who enjoys telling tall tales. His story is told through a series of flashbacks. His journey begins when he grows weary of his hometown and sets out in search of somewhere bigger and better. Along the way, he meets a friendly giant named Karl (Matthew McGrory), who he takes with him. The two end up in the idyllic town of Spectre, where they meet several interesting characters. Edward does not feel ready to settle down yet and leaves with the promise of returning one day. The two then end up at a circus where Karl finds a job and Edward sees the woman of his dreams and becomes determined to marry her. The circus operator is a man named Amos Calloway (Danny DeVito). Edward agrees to work for Calloway free of charge, if he will give him information about the woman that he saw. Edward works for him for three years. One night, he discovers that Amos is a werewolf. Edward spares Amos' life when he accidentally attacks him and so Amos agrees to tell him the name and location of the object of his affection. Karl decides to stay behind and Edward sets out in search of his love, Sandra. He travels a great distance, only to find out that she is engaged to a former classmate of his. I will not spoil the rest, but I strongly recommend watching this film.