Tim Burton is one of the most recognizable directors in the world. You can identify his films by one frame or several seconds of the soundtrack—eerie pictures on the verge of movie and cartoon, similar to both comics and fairy tales. Since childhood, he was a big fan of cinema, preferred science fiction, and horror films, and was also fond of creating puppet cartoons. Let’s recall the best pictures of the master.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)
Willy Wonka’s mysterious confectionery opens its doors to visitors for the first time in many years. Only five children will see how the most delicious chocolate in the world is made, who will find golden tickets under the wrapper. The factory amazes the imagination with chocolate waterfalls and umpa-lump dances, and it seems that the owner of this magical country should be very happy. But Willy Wonka, praising his factory, for some reason does not look happy. The same cannot be said about the visitors – either about Augustus Gloop, who can eat as much chocolate as he wants or about the spoiled daughter of the millionaire, Veruca Salt. A sincere smile always shines only on the face of little Charlie, who lives in a dilapidated house. And he does not even suspect that Willy Wonka himself would exchange his entire factory for such a loving family as his. Why is it worth a look? “Candy doesn’t make sense. That’s why they are candy. ” “When it comes to dessert, something always happens.” This film is the complete collection of aphorisms about sweets. Willy Wonka has his own philosophy, which rules on mixing chocolate correctly and why a human hand should not touch it.
Sleepy Hollow (1999)
Sleepy Hollow is a small village on the east bank of the Hudson. A young constable from New York is sent to this godforsaken place to investigate mysterious murders. Locals claim that they are being performed by a headless horseman – the ghost of a German cavalryman who died in the War of Independence. Why is it worth a look? The classic horror movie for All Saints’ Eve. Misty hollow, gloomy dark forest, shutters of houses sharply slamming, young and pale Johnny Depp. The screen version of the mystical story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” by Washington Irving by Burton turned out to be sinister and fabulous.
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
Demon hairdresser Sweeney Todd was once a young and happy barber Benjamin Barker. But after 15 years of excessive hard labor, he turned into Burton’s Earl of Monte Cristo, who also wants to avenge his betrayal, but is not so elegant in methods. Why is this film worth a look? Gloomy dark blue tones are diluted only by bright red blood and yellow fire of the stove, where “the worst pies in London” are baked. Having learned what is wrong with the pies, you will look with apprehension at all flour products with meat for a long time. And the eerie song that the bakery owner sings will not soon get out of your head. The movie is 18+, and it’s not a good idea to watch it over dinner with kids. Better to see for yourself, and if it is scary, think about the fact that Johnny Depp (who plays the leading role here, as in most of Burton’s films) is afraid of the sight of blood. Therefore, for the filming, they used fake orange blood.
Big Eyes (2014)
Margaret leaves her husband. She takes her daughter Jane and travels to San Francisco. In the city, the heroine has a difficult time. It’s the end of the 50s, and a woman’s business is to take care of the family and not to go looking for work. Margaret decides to become a street artist. Fate brings her to Walter Keane. She paints portraits of children with big eyes, and he paints unpretentious landscapes of Parisian streets. Soon the couple is getting married. Thanks to a series of circumstances and Walter’s entrepreneurial spirit, Margaret’s paintings gained popularity and spread around the world. The family’s financial well-being is growing, and doubts grow within the heroine: the authorship of the works that she draws with such inspiration.
Beetlejuice (1988)
On the outskirts of the provincial town of Winter River, there is an old mansion where Barbara and Adam Maitlands live. Not long ago – a young married couple, now – a couple of ghosts, unable to go beyond the walls of their home. Soon, new tenants move into their house, who immediately take on the rebuilding of the house. Maitlands behave like the most correct ghosts – trying to drive out uninvited residents. But the trouble is: they are not only not afraid, but simply not paid attention. And the spirits have no choice but to seek help from Beetlejuice, “a specialist in the exorcism of the living.” Why is it worth a look? Burton has an original perspective on the problems of the dead and the living. Usually, the audience’s attention belongs to the latter, but here the opposite is true. Burton shows the world of ghosts from the inside: how surprised they are to find that they have become ghosts, how they worry about the neighborhood with new tenants and make plans to expel them.
Big Fish (2003)
This is the story of a dreamer father and a realistic son who see the world completely differently. The son does not want to believe how amazing his father’s life is. His stories about how he saved the village from the giant and participated in the bank robbery, the son considers useless inventions. He even gets angry when his father once again begins to tell his tales at his wedding. And the father knew something else – the exact day when he would die. And when that day comes, it turns into a big fish. And the son begins to collect stories about his father and realizes that all his stories about incredible adventures are pure truth. Because now it happens to him. Why is it worth a look? Usually, the opposite is true. Parents are advised not to lose their child’s view of the world and believe in miracles to find a common language with their child. But it also happens that parents cannot reach out to a child who looks at everything like an adult.
Edward Scissorhands (1990)
“The story of an amazingly polite man.” Edward is the creation of a lonely old scientist who raised a cyborg-like his own son. But the creator died before he could finish his work. And instead of hands, Edward was left with iron “scissor hands,” because of which he was forced to hide from people. But one day, a kind woman from a nearby village learns about a hermit living in an old castle and invites him to her home. In the village, Edward becomes a local celebrity, as well as a sought-after hairdresser and gardener. Thanks to his hands. Why is it worth a look? People can be kind enough to those different from them, but this kindness often turns out to be hypocrisy. The polite, shy, sad Edward is welcomed into the house, and he is treated with sympathy and goodwill. But exactly until he falls in love with the daughter of Mrs. Pag, who took him in. Edward has a human heart, but he is a stranger who can only bring a funny curiosity for people.
Corpse Bride (2005)
And again, the world of the dead, where the hero falls by an absurd accident. Thus, violating the plans of two families at once, who very much counted on him in the world of the living. From a family of wealthy slave traders, Victor must marry Victoria, the daughter of impoverished aristocrats. This marriage is mutually beneficial for the parents. And children, as is customary in the Victorian era, no one asks. Excited before the wedding, Victor goes into the forest to rehearse his role at the ceremony. Carried away, he puts the ring on a tree twig. And, without knowing it, he binds himself with a vow to Emily – an inhabitant of the world of the dead. Why is it worth a look? In a dark Gothic cartoon, Burton, no worse than satirical writers, ridicules the vices of society in the 19th century. Instead of speaking surnames, his characters have an expressive appearance. Victor, Victoria, and Emily are slender, graceful figures with sad, beautiful faces, and their parents are comical figures, the personification of greed, vulgarity, and prudence. And yet, first of all, this is a cartoon about true love, for which even the border between the world of the dead and the living does not become an obstacle.
Alice in Wonderland (2010)
Alice Kingsley is 19 years old, and she has the usual girlish problems: she is proposed by a narrow-minded young man from a wealthy family, whom she does not want to marry at all. But Alice is an unusual girl, and she not only avoids answering but runs away from him to Wonderland after the White Rabbit. There she meets the mad Hatter, the Cheshire cat, the Dodo bird, and many other strange characters that are much more interesting than the guests at the Victorian ball. Why is it worth a look? What happens to Alice is, in fact, an absolute nightmare for any parent. Escape from home, mindless gastronomic experiments, extraordinary friends. But if you look at it from the other side, her fabulous adventures are a dream come true for any child. And Alice is an excellent example for someone who wants to become the hero of a fairy tale.
Batman (1989)
A classic film comic strip about the people’s avenger flying on the wings of the night. Mafiosi Carl Grissom seeks to crush the whole of Gotham, and Attorney Harvey Dent and Commissioner Gordon intend to stop the villain. They seem to have a like-minded person – a mysterious man in a bat costume confronts local crime on his own—Grissom orders to deal with his closest assistant Napier, who betrayed his trust. Showdowns take place at a chemical plant, and Batman arrives in time. Napier falls into a cauldron of chemicals in the heat of the fight, and everyone thinks he’s dead. However, the villain manages to survive – however, now he is painted in all colors of the rainbow and has a smile from ear to ear, but Batman finally has a worthy opponent. Burton filled the picture with the atmosphere of his favorite gothic, but this film was shot quite classically, even by Burton’s standards, for which, probably, he received an Oscar.
