CAST
(VOICES OF) CHRIS SARANDON, DANNY ELFMAN, WILLIAM HICKEY, CATHERINE O’HARA, KEN PAGE, PAUL RUEBENS, SLENN SHADIX

SCREENPLAY BY
TIM BURTON, MICHAL McDOWELL, CAROLIN THOMPSON

DIRECTED BY
HENRY SELICK

Burton went animated and handed over the directing reigns to the equally talented Henry Selick (Caroline) on The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Despite someone else calling the shots Nightmare… is undeniably a Tim Burton movie, from the character and set designs down to its theme of embracing your identity. Good to is Danny Elfman’s catchy compositions, with opening number “This Is Halloween” a toe tapping tribute to the ghastly.

CAST
ALEC BALDWIN, GEENA DAVIS, JEFFREY JONES, MICHAEL KEATON, CATHERINE O’HARA, WINONA RYDER, GLENN SHADIX

SCREENPLAY BY
MICHAEL McDOWELL, WARREN SKAAREN, LARRY WILSON

DIRECTED BY
TIM BURTON

Tim Burton’s first hit movie, Beetle Juice introduced audiences to his fascination with the macabre in the story of a recently deceased couple (Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis) who look to the help of the afterlife’s worst resident (Michael Keaton) to rid their home of yuppie vermin.  

Burton’s visually twisted interpretation of the afterlife introduced a new kind of filmmaker, but it is Michael Keaton’s hilariously grotesque performance as Beetlejuice that stole the show.

CAST
KIM BASINGER, MICHAEL KEATON, JACK NICHOLSON, MICHAEL GOUGH, PAT HINGLE, BILLY DEE WILLIAMS, ROBERT WUHL

SCREENPLAY BY
SAM HAMM, WARREN SKAAREN

DIRECTED BY
TIM BURTON

A comic book movie blockbuster before such a term became fashionable, Batman saw Burton turn his dark gaze to the iconic Dark Knight and transform a once campy commodity into a different monster all together.

It was not without much controversy, with the casting of Michael Keaton as Batman/Bruce Wayne drawing the ire of fanboys. Yet Burton had the last laugh with Keaton and a perfectly cast Joker in Jack Nicholson fronting a darkly rich reinterpretation of a classic character.

CAST
JOHNNY DEPP, MICHAEL GAMBON, JEFFREY JONES, CHRISTINA RICCI, MIRANDA RICHARDSON, CASPER VAN DIEN, CHRISTOPHER WALKEN

SCREENPLAY BY
ANDREW KEVIN WALKER, KEVIN YAGHER

DIRECTED BY
TIM BURTON

Burton has a thing for classic literature and Sleepy Hollow is his richest adaptation of a dusty ol’ book yet. Based upon Washington Irvin’s book The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, the film saw Burton and his hetero life mate Johnny Depp getting bloody in a ye’ old English town where secrets are dark and blood flows like a crimson river as the Headless Horseman (Christopher Walken) strkes.

As per usual it’s the art direction that steals the show, yet just as good is Depp’s comical performance as perhaps the bravest coward to grace the screen.   

CAST
(VOICES OF) HELENA BONHAM CARTER, JOHNNY DEPP, ALBERT FINNEY, RICHARD E. GRANT, JOANNA LUMLEY, TRACEY ULLMAN, EMILY WATSON

SCREENPLAY BY
JOHN AUGUST, TIM BURTON, CARLOS GRANGEL, PAMELA PETTLER, CAROLINE THOMPSON

DIRECTED BY
TIM BURTON, MIKE JOHNSON

Over a decade after The Nightmare Before Christmas, Burton returned to the animated arena this time comfortable enough to take part in directing duties, joining forces with animator Mike Johnson.

With Burton’s usual personnel (Depp, Bonham Carter, Elfman) giving there all, this story of a shy groom to be accidentally marrying a deceased young woman is not only on of Burton’s best, but it’s also one of his most successfully sentimental.

CAST
DANNY DE VITO, MICHAEL KEATON, MICHELLE PFIEFFER, MICHAEL GOUGH, PAT HINGLE, CHRISTOPHER WALKEN

SCREENPLAY BY
SCOTT HAMM, DANIEL WATERS

DIRECTED BY
TIM BURTON

Burton’s second Batman movie didn’t match the first in box office success, but it proved to be the better movie with Burton pushing the films themes of duality and its gothic setting even further to make for a deliciously dark and demented superhero movie.

Michael Keaton returned to play the Dark Knight, this time going up against two foes in the grotesque Penguin (a perfectly cast Danny De Vito) and Catwoman, who as played by Michelle Pfieffer steals the show with a campy, sexy and fierce performance.

Better action scenes, tempo and characters gave Batman Returns the edge over its ground breaking predecessor, while its characters added to Burton’s memorable rogue gallery of misfits.  

CAST
HELENA BONHAM CARTER, JOHNNY DEPP, JAMIE CAMPBELL BOWER, SACHA BARON COHEN, ALAN RICKMAN, TIMOTHY SPALL, JAYNE WISENER

SCREENPLAY BY
JOHN LOGAN

DIRECTED BY
TIM BURTON

Tim Burton taking on a musical may have been a farfetched idea in theory, yet Stephen Sondheim’s musical adaptation of Christopher Bond’s play (itself based on Hugh Wheeler’s novel) Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street proved to be the perfect match for Burton’s dark sensibilities.

The film starred Burton’s long time leading man Johnny Depp as Sweeney Todd, a barber hell bent on revenge against the judge (Alan Rickman) who raped his wife and unlawfully sent him to prison for 15 years.

A film as dark as it is macabrely entertaining in its twisted humour and musical compositions, Sweeney Todd is especially buoyed by the performances of Depp (earning a well earned Oscar nomination), Helena Bonham Carter and a scene stealing Sacha Baron Cohen.   

CAST
JOHNNY DEPP, KATHY BAKER, ALAN ARKIN, ANTHONY MICHAEL-HALL, VINCENT PRICE, WINONA RYDER, DIANE WIEST

SCREENPLAY BY
TIM BURTON, CAROLE THOMPSON

DIRECTED BY
TIM BURTON

After setting the box office on fire with his interpretation of Batman, Tim Burton scaled things back a bit and went personal in this tale of a misfit who lives in the centre of conservative suburban America.

Burton also struck gold in his casting of 21 Jump Street star Johnny Depp as Edward, a shy young man with scissors for hands who Depp inhabits with fragility and warmth, despite his frightful leather bound appearance.

The end result is a visually striking and genuinely heartfelt gothic fantasy that proved Burton could tell intimate stories and introduced the kooky genius of Depp.

CAST
EWAN McGREGOR, HELENA BONHAM CARTER, MARION COTILLARD, BILLY CRUDUP, ALBERY FINNEY, JESSICA LANGE, ALISON LOHMAN

SCREENPLAY BY
JOHN AUGUST

DIRECTED BY
TIM BURTON

Although Burton was still dealing with fantastical material, Big Fish was a film much lighter in tone and brighter in colour when compared to his usual gothic infused yarns.

It was a welcome change. Based on the novel by Daniel Wallace, Big Fish is a charming story between a dying father (Albert Finney) and his estranged son (Billy Crudup), where the former describes his life with tall tales which is played out with Burton’s fantastical eye for the visually exuberant.

Working with new blood (Ewan McGregor and Billy Crudup took on roles usually meant for Johnny Depp) and delving into personal experiences with his own parents, Burton created a film filled with freshness and feeling. Critics and the film going public responded in kind, making Big Fish one of Burton’s most successful films.     

CAST
JOHNNY DEPP, PATRICIA ARQUETTE, JEFFREY JONES, MARTIN LANDAU, BILL MURRAY, SARAH JESSICA PARKER, MIKE STARR

SCREENPLAY BY
SCOTT ALEXANDER, LARRY KARASZEWSKI

DIRECTED BY
TIM BURTON

Burton has always been attracted to outcasts, and none were as ostracised in their community then Edward D. Wood Jr., the writer/producer/director/ and (sometimes) star of such classics as Glen and Glenda and Plan 9 From Outer Space (among many others) which saw Wood named the “Worst Director of All Time.”

Perfect fodder for Burton to bite into and a perfect role for Johnny Depp to portray which he did to critical acclaim in Ed Wood, a sympathetic and funny interpretation/ode to Wood’s personal eccentricities, his relationship with cinema legend Bela Lugosi (Martin Landau in an uncanny performance) and the passion which drove him to become a filmmaker of little skill yet much ambition.

Although Ed Wood proved to be Burton’s least commercially successful film it reigns as his best (thus far). As entertaining as it is educational about 1950s exploitation cinema, it is also a film in which Burton did not need to rely on his bag of tricks to get his point across.

Ed Wood is Burton at his most stripped down and humane. Ironic that it took a film about one of the worst directors in Hollywood to bring out the best in one of Hollywood’s most unique filmmakers.