Tim Burton celebrates his 55th Birthday today and we all wish a happy birthday to Tim! And to do so i welcome Blake Meredith, new D&M contributor and film blogger for Direct-ticket.net where she covers everything from new releases, to classics, directors and writers. Blake lives and writes from Chicago, is a huge Tim Burton fan and counts The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach among her favorites. Today, she suggest to celebrate Tim Burton 55th Birthday with a choice of favorite Tim Burton movies.
There are countless
lists and debates over which of Tim Burton’s works are truly his greatest. Batman,
which was a huge commercial success and the reason for much of Burton’s
creative influence, doesn’t even come close to the top ten in regards to
overall viewer ratings. According to Rotten Tomatoes, along with Batman (which
Burton himself wasn’t really a fan of) the films Beetlejuice and Charlie
and the Chocolate Factory also don’t breach the top five. Here instead is a
look at the top reviewed, most popular Tim Burton films in honor of his
upcoming 55th birthday.
5. Edward
Scissorhands (1990)
Scissorhands
was created shortly after Batman’s success and allowed Burton to begin
creating projects of his own choice. The film is one of three Burton projects
that Winona Ryder stars in, and the first of the Johnny Depp/Tim Burton
relationship that has resulted in eight films (so far). Burton had long been
waiting to create the film, which had been inspired by the classic Cabinet
of Dr. Caligari, and considered actors such as Tom Cruise and Jim
Carrey before settling on Depp. In the film, Edward is given his scissorhands
by a quirky inventor. The inventor dies, leaving Edward entirely isolated until
he is taken in by a bustling Avon saleswoman, Peg Boggs (Dianne Weist). During
the film, Depp only says a total of 169 words. Perhaps because of this, Burton
realized the astounding ability Depp had to act through facial expression
alone, a talent that has made Depp famous in other roles. Burton’s visual
presence, though not as dark as future films, was still at its finest — the
director insured that every house in the Boggs’ neighborhood was painted either
sea-foam green, dingy nude, butter or dirty blue.
4. Pee-wee’s Big
Adventure (1985)
Perhaps
one of Burton’s least grim creative works, Pee-wee tells the story of
Pee Wee (Paul Reubens), an oversized man-child, who is devastated after his red
bicycle is stolen. The film follows Pee Wee on his strange adventure to recover
the bike, during which he meets various strange characters, although perhaps
not as strange as himself. The script was based on Reubens’ own stand-up
routine.The film is an off the wall, James Bond parody-style, action film
starring a nerdy, innocent, man-child. This was Tim Burton’s first full-length
film, and effectively launched both his and Danny Elfman’s careers. Afterwards,
Elfman composed most of Burton’s film soundtracks.
3. Ed Wood (1994)
Unsurprisingly,
Johnny Depp again stars in a Burton film as Ed Wood in this
fictionalized biography. The film follows legendary low-budget science fiction
director Ed Wood as he attempts to break into the directing business. Instead,
he directs a series of failures and associates himself with an odd crew of Hollywood
outcasts. Burton once again balances his comedic and tragic sides — at times
the film will have you bursting in laughter, but Burton also highlights the
heartbreaking effects of failure and displays his own passion for the world of
movies. Roger Ebert said of the film, “What Burton has made is a film which
celebrates Wood more than it mocks him, and which celebrates, too the zany
spirit of the 1950s exploitation films.” It was Burton’s choice to shoot the
film in black-and-white in order to retain a semblance of Ed Wood’s own work.
Burton also refused a salary for the film, choosing instead to focus on having
total creative autonomy.
Above: Tim Burton and actor and longtime friend Johnny Depp
2. James and the
Giant Peach (1996)
Tim
Burton and Henry Selick’s version of the famous Roald Dahl novel (who also
wrote Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) comes close to the top of this
list. James was created using a combination of live action and
stop-motion animation. The tale, of James Henry Trotter, who finds himself
befriending life size bugs and escaping from his horrible aunts, begins with
live action until about twenty minutes in, when James enters the oversized
peach. Then, using stop-motion animation, the magical world of talking bugs
comes alive. Burton fans may not know that the stop motion figurine of Jack
Skellington from The Nightmare Before Christmas was reused in the film,
appearing as a dead pirate captain. The film was nominated for an Academy Award
for Best Music, and won Best Animated Feature Film at the Annecy International
Animated FIlm Festival. In a review for the New York Times, Janet Maslin
called the film, “A technological marvel, arch and innovative with a daringly
offbeat visual conception,” a description which could be aptly applied to
any of Tim Burton’s work.
1. The Nightmare
Before Christmas (1993)
It’s
no surprise this film still tops the list, having been a family favorite for
thirty years. Although not the official title, this film was such an obvious
display of Tim Burton’s creative work and visual skills that it is often
referred to as Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas. The idea for
the film originated in a poem written by Burton in 1982, while he was working
as a Disney animator. Burton created a visual delight with his, now famous,
sweet and creepy Halloween Town, occupied by monsters, vampires and various
other creatures, all led by Jack Skellington, The Pumpkin King. Jack discovers
a portal into Christmas Town, and loves the holiday so much that he decides to
bring the celebration to his own town. Burton admitted that the film was
created by drawing inspiration from his own childhood obsession with holidays.
To create the film, 227 puppets were used, with Jack Skellington rumored to
have around “four hundred heads” for every possible emotion.
And you, what are your favorite Tim Burton movies? Let us know in the comments!
Pictures: copyright Disney, Touchstone, 20th Century Fox
