The Greatest Tim Burton Films to Expertise The Visionary

Like Batman or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the original Sweeney Todd musical by Stephen Sondheim was the ideal source material for Burton to adapt. Coinciding with Burton’s love for grim subject matter and macabre settings, it’s a musical that lives up to Sondheim’s gripping stage production, following the titular Sweeney Todd’s slow descent into murder, hate, and insanity.

Ed Wood

In the early 1950s, mediocre B-movie director Ed Wood (Johnny Depp) sets out to create his most ambitious movie yet, Plan 9 From Outer Space — a film that would become notorious as the worst film ever made.

One of Burton’s most personal films, Ed Wood, is also among his most visionary works. Focusing on the life and career of Burton’s idol, Ed Wood, and his relationship with horror icon Bela Lugosi, Ed Wood is sadly among Burton’s lesser-known films. Yet between its ‘50s-esque black-and-white cinematography and stunning performances by Depp and Martin Landau, it’s a deeply affecting movie that deserves far more attention.

Frankenweenie

After his beloved pet dog Sparky is accidentally killed in a car accident, the brilliant child inventor Victor (Charlie Tahan) uses his scientific experiments to bring Sparky back from the dead.

As with Corpse Bride, Frankenweenie marks another full-fledged exploration of stop-motion animation on Burton’s part. Once again returning to the story of Frankenstein, the film also drew on an early short work by Burton dating back to his formative years at Disney, brilliantly spread out into feature film length.

Sleepy Hollow

In the late 1790s, a series of beheadings plague the isolated farming community of Sleepy Hollow in upstate New York, all attributed to a mysterious Headless Horseman. To find out the truth about the Horseman, a skeptical Manhattan constable (Johnny Depp) is dispatched to solve the crime.

One of Burton’s darkest movies, Sleepy Hollow, is in the same vein as Sweeney Todd. However, instead of its Victorian setting, Burton turns his attention to a more barbaric presentation of colonial America, channeling a stylistic look straight out of a Hammer Horror film.

Big Fish

Learning that his father (Albert Finney/Ewan McGregor) is on his deathbed, a young man (Billy Crudup) looks back at his dad’s life, trying to separate fact from fiction in his numerous elaborate stories.

Roald Dahl may not have written Big Fish, but it feels like he did. Just as creative and bursting with childlike imagination as Matilda or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, it’s a wondrous family movie that might be the most children-friendly of Burton’s films (even when held up to the potentially ghastly The Nightmare Before Christmas or Edward Scissorhands).

Batman Returns

When a mysterious sewer-dwelling circus performer calling himself the Penguin (Danny DeVito) arrives in Gotham City, Batman (Michael Keaton) investigates his past, all the while playing a game of cat and mouse with an alluring vigilante (Michelle Pfeiffer) and corrupt industrialist (Christopher Walken).

Even by Burton’s standards, Batman Returns is an exceptionally dark film (perhaps even a little too dark for its own good). Pushing the boundaries for macabre to its most extremes, it can make for an off-putting viewing experience for some, but like every Burton film, there’s no denying its utter originality and artistic vision.

Big Eyes

In the 1950s, rising artist Margaret Ulbrich (Amy Adams) has her career stalled when her second husband (Christoph Waltz) began taking credit for her famous paintings.

One of the better Burton films in recent years, as well as one of his most underrated, Big Eyes is another foray into the biographical genre on Burton’s part after his earlier, equally overlooked Ed Wood. Exploring Ulbrich’s story and heated relationship with her husband, it’s a fascinating look at the world of art, the 1950s, and gender politics specifically, all to dazzling effect.

Charlie and The Chocolate Factory

Upon winning a contest, an impoverished young boy (Freddie Highmore) and his grandfather (David Kelly) are invited to tour the grand chocolate factory of the reclusive candy mogul Wonka (Johnny Depp).

A more macabre, albeit still incredibly faithful adaptation of Roald Dahl’s famous children’s novel, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, proves more bewildering than Gene Wilder’s earlier 1971 film. Far more divisive than Burton’s other films, most viewers either adamantly love the movie or outright despise it; however, there’s no question Charlie and the Chocolate Factory bears all the main elements of a typical Burton film: bizarre images, quirky characters, an eccentric Johnny Depp, a Danny Elfman score, etc.

Mars Attacks!

When ghastly Martians arrive on Earth, various inhabitants around the globe wonder about the aliens’ intentions: are they peaceful visitors coming in harmony, or do they intend to wage war against mankind?

Burton’s first career blunder, Mars Attacks! was derived as a more comedic spoof of the cult classic Tops trading card series. Modeled after the kitschy atmosphere of Ed Wood’s ‘50s B-movies, the movie’s tone is just slightly too mocking for effective comedy or sci-fi, its narrative too scattered across its wide cast. However, like most of Burton’s movies, it has since garnered a strong following of fans.