-1.jpg?q=50&fit=contain&w=1140&h=&dpr=1.5)
Tim Burton is one of Hollywood's most popular directors, especially for all people who like genres such as fantasy or horror since Burton often combines the two genres in his work. Considering how prominent some of his movies are, it's difficult to imagine that not all of Tim Burton's directorial work get the kind of appreciation it deserves.
Either the ratings were lower than expected, not that many people saw the movie as in other cases, or it didn't do so well at the box office. Anybody looking to check out Tim Burton's underappreciated movies has multiple options to choose from.
5 Vincent (1982)
If Tim Burton fans or moviegoers, in general, want to check out a Tim Burton movie but don't have that much time, then Vincent is a perfect choice. It's the first official movie Burton has directed, and it's also a short movie, with a runtime of only 6 minutes. As the title suggests, the story focuses on a boy named Vincent. Vincent is just seven years old, he admires the horror movie icon Vincent Price and believes himself to be the famous actor.
This movie clearly suggests what type of movies and actors influenced Tim Burton in his own directorial work. It already has the visual style and strange poetic that people later went on to associate with Burton's feature films. Vincent currently has 23,000 ratings on IMDb, which might seem like a lot, but it isn't nearly as much as with his other movies. Those viewers interested in watching the short animated movie can find it on YouTube.
4 Frankenweenie (1984)
Most Tim Burton fans will most likely be familiar with the 2012 animated version of this movie, but they might have missed out on watching the original, considering it currently has only 12,000 ratings on IMDb. Both versions follow a similar story. A young boy, Victor Frankenstein, decides to bring his beloved dead dog Sparky back to life. He succeeds, but his actions might have consequences that Victor couldn't have predicted. The story sounds like a horror movie but Frankenweenie mixes horror and comedy. With a runtime of only 29 minutes, it's another Tim Burton movie ideal for busy people.
An interesting fact is that Burton originally made the movie for a Disney children's channel, but they considered it too dark for a young audience, and because the movie cost a million dollars to make, Burton was fired by Disney for spending too much money. However, all the behind-the-scenes issues aside, Frankenweenie is ultimately an enjoyable story for all people who like Tim Burton's work that draws inspiration from the iconic Frankenstein but offers its own unique spin on the well-known story.
3 Pee-Wee's Big Adventure (1985)
One of Tim Burton's least-known feature films is also his first feature film ever and an unusual family comedy about a man who loves his bike so much that he goes on an adventurous road trip over the USA when somebody steals his bike.
Some viewers commented that they either loved or hated Pee-wee, but whatever the case, no fan of Burton should miss out on watching the movie, especially if they want to learn more about Burton's earlier work. An interesting bit of trivia is that Pee-wee's Big Adventure is the first movie that saw Tim Burton cooperate with Danny Elfman, who would later go on to create the music for many of Burton's movies.
2 Ed Wood (1994)
Tim Burton doesn't often make movies about real-life characters, let alone ones associated with the world of film. Ed Wood is known by many as the worst movie director of all time. Whether that's accurate or not, Wood's enthusiasm for movies as well as his amateurish productions is well documented. In this biopic where Johnny Depp portrays Ed Wood, the viewers get to learn more about Wood's work, his rise to directing movies, his friendship with the aging horror movie icon Bela Lugosi who played in Wood's movies, as well as Wood's complicated personal life.
Johnny Depp is perfectly convincing as the young excited director and Martin Landau shines as Bela Lugosi. Even though the movie got a positive rating on IMDb (7.9), when it premiered in 1994, it was a box office failure. Ed Wood cost $18 million to make and made the box office gross of only $5.9 million. On the other hand, the movie won two Academy Awards, and it continues to attract audiences, proving that its box office failure was down to bad luck.
1 Big Eyes (2014)
One of Tim Burton's later movies once again captures a real story, but it takes some creative liberties with reality. It centers on a talented painter, Margaret Keane (Amy Adams), whose opportunistic husband Walter (Christoph Waltz) pretends that he was the one who created Margaret's paintings and becomes influential because of the lie.
The movie combines realism (Margaret's marital issues) with fantasy (the way Margaret sees the world around her when she paints) but is mostly based in the real world, making it a more civil, accessible movie than many of Burton's others. Amy Adams is excellent in the leading role. Walter sometimes comes across as too one-dimensional in his evil character, but overall, Big Eyes is entertaining enough, despite not having gotten as many ratings as other Burton movies.