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This list was originally published on March 26, 2019.
It has been updated to includeBeetlejuice Beetlejuice.
The guy too weird for Disney was suddenly one of the biggest, most powerful directors in the world.
20.Planet of the Apes(2001)
20.
We are here to remind you that Tim Burton took a stab at it with this god-awful remake.
Famously, Wahlberg signed up for the film after meeting with Burton for five minutes.
There were days that I started to panic.
The first day I freaked out.
It all seemed pretty ridiculous.
It turned out to be even worse than that, Mark.
19.Alice in Wonderland(2010)
19.
18.Dark Shadows(2012)
18.
If Burton had madeDark Shadows, say, 15 years earlier, you wonder if it might have worked.
But by 2012, Burtons style had devolved into leaden cliches.
Not even a very fun Eva Green can salvage this.
17.Charlie and the Chocolate Factory(2005)
17.
Would you believe that this is Burtons second-biggest hit worldwide?
On the one hand, it makes sense, given the widely popular source material.
On the other hand …
This films success was bad for both DeppandBurton moving forward.
16.Beetlejuice Beetlejuice(2024)
16.
Would the old Burton recognize this guy?
Would he admit to it if he did?
15.Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children(2016)
15.
14.Big Fish(2003)
14.
He pushes too hard for his effects, as always.
13.Dumbo(2019)
13.
Theres no Timothy Q.
In this movie, a pachyderm can reach the heavens, but a veteran filmmaker cant change his stripes.
12.Frankenweenie(2012)
12.
11.Sleepy Hollow(1999)
11.
Of Burtons director-for-hire period,Sleepy Hollowis the most successful.
Mood and atmospherics outpace the plot, butSleepy Hollowis flat-out gorgeous.
10.Corpse Bride(2005)
10.
9.Big Eyes(2014)
9.
Burton is often criticized, rightly, for seeming uninterested in human beings.
8.Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street(2007)
8.
(His camera seems to shrug a little as soon as the music starts.)
7.Mars Attacks!
(1996)
7.
In a weird way,Mars Attacks!isnt just funny but deeply personal.
6.Pee-Wees Big Adventure(1985)
6.
Moments of gothic horror that both shock and amuse.
(Tell em Large Marge sent ya!)
So many lesser filmmakers would have made this corny and maybe even a little unbearable.
Burton made it a classic.
5.Batman Returns(1992)
5.
(None of his other studio wide-releases have ever felt as close to his heart as this one.)
You cant take your eyes off her, still, more than 25 years later.
4.Batman(1989)
4.
BeforeBatman, there was Richard Donner and Christopher Reeve and a Superman who was a sunny, aw-shucks construction.
Burton torpedoed that square folksiness, giving us a Dark Knight who was hip and edgy.
Superhero movies eventually conquered Hollywood, but few of them feel as epochal and vital as this one.
3.Beetlejuice(1988)
3.
This is another of those movies its impossible to imagine anyone other than Burton directing.
And dont forget Dick Cavett!
2.Edward Scissorhands(1990)
2.
Johnny Depp has become a disaster in just about every way: financially, artistically, even morally.
This movie still sort of breaks your heart a little.
You cant hold everything that came afterward against it.
1.Ed Wood(1994)
1.
(The point is nicely underscored by a fantastic scene where Wood meets Orson Welles.)
