Many young people have grown up watching Tim Burton’s extraordinary movies. Burton has always kept his movies fun, distinctive, and ominous. Here’s a list of a few of Tim Burton’s movies that are cold-hard evidence that he is the Halloween King.
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The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
The Nightmare Before Christmas is possibly Tim Burton’s most well-known film, and arguably one of his best. In Halloween Town, they count down the days until Halloween, preparing for it each day of the year. The characters in Halloween Town all prove to be quite spooky in the movie’s opening track, This is Halloween, especially as Jack “The Pumpkin King” takes his skeletal form.
Jack has a hankering to do something new and unexpectedly lands in Christmas Town. Jack presents what he has learned about Christmas Town at a Halloween Town meeting, and in order to persuade the townspeople he paints Santa Claus in a darker light, naming him “Sandy Claws.”
After Jack convinces the townspeople to celebrate Christmas instead, they help Jack to create toys for the children in Christmas Town. Unfortunately, these toys begin to terrorize the children and their parents.
Of course, Burton finishes with a happy ending where the real Santa Claus saves the day, but can you imagine the terrifying trauma these kids will now face every Christmas?
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Edward Scissorhands (1990)
Edward Scissorhands is a story about a boy who lives in a gothic mansion on top of a large hill. Edward was created by an inventor who passed away just before being able to give him hands.
He is taken in by a family in the suburbs and becomes very helpful to those around the neighborhood. Edward’s hands of scissors are really quite intimidating, but he learns to use them for good—for now. He falls in love with Kim, the daughter of the woman who took him in initially, despite Kim’s jealous boyfriend, Jim.
Edward is mistreated by most of his neighbors due to lies and deceit being spread around, so after defending himself against Jim, he runs away to the mansion. Kim, who has also developed feelings for Edward overtime, chases after him, followed by Jim.
Jim is egging Edward on, but he does not want to fight him. That is until he sees Jim slap Kim in the face. A dark turn of events comes into place when Edward is so enraged that he kills Jim with his hands.
Edward is a gentle soul by nature so to see him commit a murder is shocking and disturbing, even if it is justified. Edward Scissorhands teaches us that what may seem so scary and dangerous on the outside is not the same on the inside.
Not to mention, it makes quite the Halloween costume.
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Beetlejuice (1988)
Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetle… A married couple, Barbara and Adam Maitland, get into a car crash when returning to their home after a vacation. They do not survive the car accident, but it takes them a while to finally figure this out. The time they spend trying to understand what has happened to them is quite ghostly, but the fear factor does not stop there.
A new family moves into the home, so the couple summons the creepy “bio-exorcist” Beetlejuice. He does more than the Maitland’s ask of him, so much so that they regret summoning him. He continually scares and pranks the new family to attempt to drive them out. (What is the Halloween season without a few pranks?)
Beetlejuice is a wild and crazy character that makes many uncomfortable. His shapeshifting is creepy, his actions are selfish, and he is just plain strange. Whatever you do, just don’t say his name three times.
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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)
You may be thinking that this film seems quite out of place relative to the others on this list. However, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory takes a peculiar spin on what we see as spooky.
As they walk through the factory, it seems that each one of the children is picked off one by one, taken by the Oompa Loompas to “help” them. In the end, they all walk out, physically altered and changed for the rest of their lives in some way. Plus, Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka is unrecognizable, and his character’s nonchalant behavior towards what happens to the children is rather eerie. It is as though he was aware that these mistakes were going to be made, and he just did not care.
On a lighter note, Burton’s Chocolate Factory set made up of unlimited amounts of candy and sweets is enough to make anyone’s mouth water and put them in the trick-or-treating spirit.
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Corpse Bride (2005)
Most know of the typical wedding vows that end with, “until death do us part,” but what if the bride is already dead? Burton’s Corpse Bride starts out in an entirely black and white city landscape. Victor Van Dort, who is marrying a woman he barely knows, wanders into the woods to practice his vows when he places a wedding ring on a root.
Only it is not a root, but the Corpse Bride’s hand. When she brings Victor to the underworld, it is portrayed as a beautiful and lively place, in contrast to the deadly blue hues of the land of the living. Burton paints the dead as colorful and the living as miserable.
Victor tries to escape his dead bride to run back to his living bride-to-be, Victoria, before realizing he does want to make their marriage official by poisoning himself. All of the dead travel to the land of the living for the wedding ceremony, at first seemingly frightening the town, but the undead get to reconcile with their living family members before the wedding.
As the ceremony goes on, the Corpse Bride sees Victoria, saddened and torn apart about what is about to happen. She tells Victor that she cannot take away his life because her own was cut short. The Corpse Bride’s compassionate natures shows that the “dead” do have lessons to offer us.
It is very clear that Tim Burton’s strengths are in all things scary, creepy, and spine-chilling. Of course, this is not a completely comprehensive list, but it is a strong place to end off this spooky season. Happy Halloween!