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Top 10 Tim Burton

Beetlejuice (1988)

After the success Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, Tim Burton gained a reputation as a bankable director and whilst he was co-writing the script for Batman, Burton was offered to direct Beetlejuice. Out of the film’s $13 million budget, Burton spent $1 million on special effects, which included stop-motion, prosthetic makeup and puppetry. It was his aim to make the film look ‘fake’ like the B-movies that he’d grown up watching. Geena Davis was the only cast member to commit right away; Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder said no at least once. Incidentally, Keaton has said Beetlejuice is his favorite film of his own.

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Batman (1989)

Nearly three years after starting the project, Burton finally got the green light for Batman after the box-office success of Beetlejuice. Filming began in October and took just 12 weeks to shoot. After working with Burton on Beetlejuice, Michael Keaton was cast as Batman, however comic book fans weren’t impressed and 50,000 letters of complaint were sent to Warner Bros. At the time of release, Batman broke the opening weekend record, taking $43.6 million. Due to the impressive visuals it won the Oscar for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration.

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Edward Scissorhands (1991)

Tim Burton's favourite of all his films, Edward Scissorhands was inspired by a drawing he did as a teenager. Tom Cruise, Jim Carrey and Robert Downey Jr. were all considered for the lead role which ultimately went to Johnny Depp, helping him break away from his teen idol status. It was the first of seven – so far – Depp/Burton collaborations, and there are more in the pipeline. Throughout the film Depp says only 169 words and to prepare for the role he studied Charlie Chaplin films. It was on the set of Edward Scissorhands that Depp met Winona Ryder, who was his girlfriend for 4 years.

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Batman Returns (1992)

Such was the secrecy of Batman Returns that Danny DeVito wasn’t allowed to describe the Penguin's make-up to anyone, including his family. It reportedly took two hours every day to turn DeVito into the Penguin. Originally Annette Bening was cast as Catwoman, but Michelle Pfeiffer stepped in when she became pregnant. Pfeiffer received $3 million for her part, which was $2 million more than Bening was offered. The filming schedule took much longer than Batman, and Pfeiffer got through 60 catsuits during the 6 month shoot – each costing $1,000.

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Ed Wood (1994)

Burton filmed this biopic about cult filmmaker Edward D. Wood Jr in black and white, which was deemed off putting for audiences. As the film had a budget of just $18 million, Disney, who have worked with Burton on many projects including Frankenweenie (1984) and most recently Alice in Wonderland, didn’t consider the risk as being that great and granted Burton total creative autonomy. To keep costs down further Burton refused a salary for Ed Wood. Once again, Burton approached Johnny Depp with the lead role and the actor was committed "within 10 minutes of hearing about the project." Ed Wood won two Oscar awards for Best Make-Up and Best Supporting Actor for Martin Landau.

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Mars Attacks! (1996)

This science fiction film was based on a trading card series of the same name, which Tim Burton collected as a child. It features an impressive all-star cast, with the likes of Jack Nicholson, Pierce Brosnan, Sarah Jessica Parker, Glenn Close, Michael J. Fox, Natalie Portman and Danny DeVito, to name just a few. It was a flop, the film scraped to make more than the overall budget of $100 million. Although it received a mixed response in America, Mars Attacks! was more successful with European audiences. The storyline drew comparisons with Independence Day, which was released the same year.

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Sleepy Hollow (1999)

Burton has said that the look and style of the film was inspired by Disney’s 1958 version, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. The town was solely built for the film and took three months to create. At the time, it broke the record for the largest set built in England. Playing lead character Ichabod Crane, Johnny Depp did his own stunts for the final scene which involved being dragged by a horse. For safety, he wore bullet-proof clothing underneath his costume. Producer Scott Rudin said that the financial failure of Mars Attacts! didn’t cause concern, because directors are often hungrier for success after a having a film flop. Sleepy Hollow was both a critical and box office success.

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Planet of the Apes (2001)

Mark Wahlberg signed up to the project after meeting with Tim Burton for only five minutes; he was so keen to work with the director that he said he’s take any part. Subsequently, Wahlberg dropped out of playing Linus in Ocean's Eleven, and that role ultimately went to Matt Damon. When filming ended, Burton became romantically involved with Helena Bonham Carter, who played female chimpanzee Ari. It was the first of many collaborations for the couple, who now live in London with their two children.

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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)

For his role as Willy Wonka, Johnny Depp took inspiration from game show hosts. After working on Finding Neverland, Depp was so impressed with Freddie Highmore's performance that he recommended him to Burton for the role of Charlie Bucket. Many of the lollipops and other treats were real sweets and Nestlé provided 1,850 bars of real chocolate for the set. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory went on to be one of the biggest box office hits of 2005.This was the last film produced by Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston’s production company Plan B before the couple split.

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Corpse Bride (2005)

Burton created Corpse Bride especially for Helena Bonham Carter; she voices – and apparently modeled for – the title character. The film features stop-motion animation and the puppets were made from stainless steel which was covered with silicone skin. Burton had hoped to direct the 1993 stop-motion film The Nightmare Before Christmas – which he wrote and produced – but due to commitments with Batman Returns, he had to relinquish the director’s chair to Henry Selick. Corpse Bride was nominated for a Best Animated Feature Oscar.

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Tegan Kniveton