Tim Burton

Made films the shows talk about.

Wikidata Q56008: matched by corpus:resolve, told apart by Wikidata joins them to Planet of the Apes, which Planet of the Apes with Matt Singer credits them on.

Counted as director, the making department they hold the most credits in. The films the hosts said they directed, which the two lists below run through too: Vincent (1982); Frankenweenie (1984); Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985); Beetlejuice (1988); Batman Returns (1992); Ed Wood (1994); Sleepy Hollow (1999); Planet of the Apes (2001); Big Fish (2003); Alice in Wonderland (2010); Dark Shadows (2012); Frankenweenie (2012); The Batman (2022); Batman (Burton/Keaton films); Batman (Tim Burton); Big Eyes; Edward Scissorhands. Count them as writer (1 film), craft (3 films) instead.

Draws on

What the speakers say they, or a film of theirs, drew on. Each is a speaker's account: “the maker said so” when they report the maker's own words, “the host's read” when the read is theirs.

Planet of the Apes (1968): 2 lines

  1. contrast (inversion) · through Planet of the Apes (2001), which they directed: Planet of the Apes ⇒ Planet of the Apes (the host's read). The remake opens on a loud, leafy backlot set while the original opens in an empty desert with no apes for a long stretch.
    “They totally invert the original movie where the original movie starts in the middle of nowhere.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Planet of the Apes with Matt Singer · 0:53:06 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
  2. lineage (lineage) · through Planet of the Apes (2001), which they directed: Planet of the Apes ⇒ Planet of the Apes (the host's read). Burton's ending tries to outdo the Statue of Liberty reveal of the original.
    “Because they're trying to outdo the reveal of like the Statue of Liberty at the end.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Incredible Hulk · 0:39:14 · Griffin or David (0.30 sure it was them)

Batman (1943 serial) (1943): 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through The Batman (2022), which they directed: Batman (1943 serial) ⇒ The Batman (the host's read). A New York screening of the 1943 Lewis Wilson serial caused bat fever and led Fox to greenlight the movie.
    “someone screened that in New York City and it was such a phenomenon.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Batman (1966) · 0:11:37 · David Sims (0.50 sure it was them)

Dogville shorts (1930s-40s live-action dog shorts): 1 line

  1. industry (studio instinct) · through Planet of the Apes (2001), which they directed: Dogville shorts (1930s-40s live-action dog shorts) ⇒ Planet of the Apes (the host's read). Fox just wanted apes doing human things, like the old Dogville shorts with dogs at restaurant tables.
    “And it feels like Fox just wanted to make that.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Planet of the Apes with Matt Singer · 1:12:43 · unknown (0.45 sure it was them)

Forrest Gump (1994): 1 line

  1. unmapped (attempt at a Gump) · through Big Fish (2003), which they directed: Forrest Gump ⇒ Big Fish (the host's read). Studios kept trying to replicate Gump; Big Fish was one attempt.
    “And Big Fish is an attempt at a gump.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with Richard Lawson (Ad-Free) · 0:10:34 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Frankenweenie (2012): 1 line, within their own work

  1. career (career) · through Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985), which they directed: Frankenweenie ⇒ Pee-wee's Big Adventure (the host's read). Frankenweenie became Burton's live-action reel that got him hired on Pee-wee.
    “that becomes his director's reel for live action that gets him hired on peewee”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 0:26:42 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)

Seven (1995): 1 line

  1. unmapped (borrowing) · through The Batman (2022), which they directed: Seven ⇒ The Batman (the host's read). The speaker had forgotten how indebted The Batman is to Fincher, mostly to Se7en.
    “I had forgotten just how indebted the Batman is to...”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Se7en with Mike Mitchell & Nick Wiger (Ad-Free) · 1:28:34 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

The Batman (2022): 1 line, within their own work

  1. theme (theme) · through Batman Returns (1992), which they directed: The Batman ⇒ Batman Returns (the host's read). Villains scheming together in Batman Returns and Schumacher films echoes the 1966 team-up, but those feel forced.
    “The team up does always feel a little forced”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Batman (1966) · 0:42:12 · David Sims (0.45 sure it was them)

The Long Halloween (comic): 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through The Batman (2022), which they directed: The Long Halloween (comic) ⇒ The Batman (the host's read). Every adaptation pulls from The Long Halloween but has not used Calendar Man.
    “Everyone has pulled from the long Halloween, but not used calendar man.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Batman (1966) · 0:43:06 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)

Drawn on by

What the speakers say drew on them or a film of theirs, marked the same way.

Henry Selick: 2 lines

  1. people (people) · them, directly: Tim Burton ⇒ Henry Selick (the maker said so: Selick's quote in the dossier ("Tim's egg")). Selick says the film began as Burton's idea and he was the one who finished it.
    “it was Tim's egg, but I was the one who hatched it”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 0:49:55 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)
  2. lineage (artwork source) · them, directly: Tim Burton ⇒ Henry Selick (the host's read). Nightmare Before Christmas brought Burton's artwork to life; Peach got Lane Smith; Coraline Tadahiro Uesugi; Wendell & Wild Pablo Lobato.
    “Zalek is kind of bringing the artwork of Tim Burton to life.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Wendell & Wild · 1:09:35 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)

The Dark Knight Rises (2012): 2 lines

  1. lineage (lineage) · through The Batman (2022), which they directed: The Batman ⇒ The Dark Knight Rises (the host's read). The ocean bomb-disposal sequence is thought to be directly referenced in the final act of Dark Knight Rises.
    “this sequence, a lot of people think, is directly referenced by the final act of Dark Knight Rises.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Batman (1966) · 0:18:49 · David Sims (0.50 sure it was them)
  2. lineage (lineage) · through The Batman (2022), which they directed: The Batman ⇒ The Dark Knight Rises (the host's read). The giant bomb, the film's most iconic image, is what Dark Knight Rises lifts.
    “This is the thing that Dark Knight Rises kind of lifts.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Batman (1966) · 1:14:38 · David Sims (0.50 sure it was them)

Batman Forever (1995): 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through The Batman (2022), which they directed: The Batman ⇒ Batman Forever (the host's read). Burton had a plane and a boat which Schumacher updated in Batman Forever; Batman & Robin gave Robin a motorcycle.
    “Burton has a plane and a boat.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Batman (1966) · 1:27:30 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)

Batman Forever / Batman & Robin: 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through The Batman (2022), which they directed: The Batman ⇒ Batman Forever / Batman & Robin (the host's read). Griffin says Schumacher's Batman films are directly shaped by the Adam West show's pairing and cliffhanger style.
    “Joel Schumacher is very influenced by the Adam West show.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Batman (1966) · 0:08:26 · Griffin Newman (0.45 sure it was them)

Batman Returns (1992): 1 line, within their own work

  1. theme (theme) · through The Batman (2022), which they directed: The Batman ⇒ Batman Returns (the host's read). Villains scheming together in Batman Returns and Schumacher films echoes the 1966 team-up, but those feel forced.
    “The team up does always feel a little forced”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Batman (1966) · 0:42:12 · David Sims (0.45 sure it was them)

Bear City (SNL digital short): 1 line

  1. unmapped (parody) · through Planet of the Apes (2001), which they directed: Planet of the Apes ⇒ Bear City (SNL digital short) (the host's read). An SNL short riffs on Apes with bears who just wear human clothes and mimic humans, like the apes keeping the Lincoln Memorial.
    “they were riff on Plan of the Apes, where the bears got smart and they decided to kill all the humans.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Planet of the Apes with Matt Singer · 1:24:42 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)

Big Top Pee-wee: 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985), which they directed: Pee-wee's Big Adventure ⇒ Big Top Pee-wee (the host's read). The 1985 film has a sequel, Big Top Pee-wee, and a 2016 Netflix follow-up less successful for speaker.
    “Pee-wee's big holiday in 2016, a little bit less successful for me.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife,’ ‘Tick, Tick ... Boom!,' and Our Top Five Feel-Good Movies · 0:57:50 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)

Conan O'Brien: 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through The Batman (2022), which they directed: The Batman ⇒ Conan O'Brien (the host's read). Conan's brand of obvious-shorthand humor is why this humor lands for the hosts; Conan echoes it.
    “Conan is actually probably a crucial reason this humor lands for us because Conan is echoing it.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Batman (1966) · 1:37:33 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)

Dolomite Is My Name (2019): 1 line

  1. people (people) · through Ed Wood (1994), which they directed: Ed Wood ⇒ Dolomite Is My Name (the host's read). Eddie Murphy first met them reciting lines from Ed Wood, which led to the Rudy Ray Moore project.
    “Eddie started doing, um, uh, lines from Ed Wood.”
    The Big Picture · The 10 Best Horror Movies of the Decade | The Big Picture · 1:32:59 · unknown (Alexander or Karaszewski) (0.40 sure it was them)

Fighting with My Family (2019): 1 line

  1. craft (craft) · through Batman (Tim Burton), which they directed: Batman (Tim Burton) ⇒ Fighting with My Family (the maker said so: Merchant in this interview). Merchant says his furious teenage reaction to Burton's Joker change taught him that a 90-minute movie must simplify its source, as he did with wrestling storylines.
    “the more that Tim Burton's decision to do that makes perfect sense to me as a 90 minute movie”
    The Big Picture · Pro Wrestling Goes to the Movies, Plus Stephen Merchant on ‘Fighting With My Family’ | Interview (Ep. 130) · 0:35:54 · Stephen Merchant (0.95 sure it was them)

Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985): 1 line, within their own work

  1. career (career) · through Frankenweenie (2012), which they directed: Frankenweenie ⇒ Pee-wee's Big Adventure (the host's read). Frankenweenie became Burton's live-action reel that got him hired on Pee-wee.
    “that becomes his director's reel for live action that gets him hired on peewee”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 0:26:42 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)

The Lego Batman Movie (2017): 1 line

  1. theme (theme) · through Batman (Burton/Keaton films), which they directed: Batman (Burton/Keaton films) ⇒ The Lego Batman Movie (the host's read). The film shares the Burton/Keaton take that Batman is fully broken and has not processed his parents' deaths.
    “this movie sort of has the Burton Keaton take of like, he's fully broken by this fucking thing.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:40:08 · Griffin Newman (0.70 sure it was them)

What the speakers said they did

Directing (34) everyone in directing

Craft (3) everyone in craft

Other (3) everyone in other

Writing (1) everyone in writing

What was said about them, by kind

career (6)

  1. career (career): Tim Burton → Pee-wee's Big Adventure. Pee-wee set Burton up as a significant filmmaker, though his last five or six films baffle the speaker.
    “Incredibly strange film obviously sets up Tim Burton as one of the more significant filmmakers of the 80s and 90s.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife,’ ‘Tick, Tick ... Boom!,' and Our Top Five Feel-Good Movies · 0:57:21 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  2. career (career): Vincent → Tim Burton. Burton's student short Vincent has an energy not found in his last twenty years of films.
    “there is an energy and creativity there that even I can't argue consistently exists in any of his films in the last 20 years”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 0:19:15 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
  3. career (career): Henry Selick → Tim Burton. Burton said Selick was the only CalArts student who moved between the experimental and character-animation camps.
    “Burton said that Selleck was the only guy in his time who actually coexisted between the 2 camps.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 0:20:17 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)
  4. career (career): Rick Heinrichs → Tim Burton. Heinrichs is Burton's right-hand cohort and his art director for years.
    “Rick Heinrich is a, yeah, his right hand cohort, right, and becomes his big sort of art director for years and years.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 0:25:53 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  5. career (career): Tim Burton → Frankenweenie. Disney funded live-action Frankenweenie instead of this project because it was cheaper and faster.
    “Disney basically gives him the money to make live action Frank and Weenie rather than make this because Frank and Weenie would be cheaper and faster.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 0:26:33 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  6. career (career): Danny Elfman → Tim Burton. Elfman and Burton's working relationship is called very up and down.
    “I feel like Elfman and Burton have had a very up and down relationship in general, right?”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 1:03:39 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)

contrast (1)

  1. contrast (contrast): Tim Burton → Walt Disney Pictures / Touchstone Pictures. Burton and his peers all rebelled against Disney while still loving it.
    “It's like, oh, Disney's sweet and I will be dark.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 0:44:26 · Michael Rianda (0.50 sure it was them)

craft (2)

  1. craft (craft): Ed Wood → Tim Burton. Ed Wood is both a Tim Burton movie and a Scott and Larry movie.
    “it is 1000% a Tim Burton movie from frame one to frame N, but it's also a Scott Larry movie”
    The Big Picture · The 10 Best Horror Movies of the Decade | The Big Picture · 1:22:13 · unknown (Alexander or Karaszewski) (0.40 sure it was them)
  2. craft (craft): Tim Burton → Batman (Tim Burton). Merchant recalls Burton making the Joker the killer of Batman's parents, which he first hated as a comics fan.
    “Burton makes the Joker, the person who killed Batman's parents”
    The Big Picture · Pro Wrestling Goes to the Movies, Plus Stephen Merchant on ‘Fighting With My Family’ | Interview (Ep. 130) · 0:35:16 · Stephen Merchant (0.95 sure it was them)

industry (1)

  1. industry (studio-notes buffer): Tim Burton → Henry Selick. Burton played the calming intermediary on Nightmare and, less so, James and the Giant Peach; Monkeybone had no such figure.
    “Burton doing that for him to a far lesser degree on the 2nd movie.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Wendell & Wild · 1:03:28 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)

lineage (1)

  1. lineage (artwork source): Henry Selick → Tim Burton. Nightmare Before Christmas brought Burton's artwork to life; Peach got Lane Smith; Coraline Tadahiro Uesugi; Wendell & Wild Pablo Lobato.
    “Zalek is kind of bringing the artwork of Tim Burton to life.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Wendell & Wild · 1:09:35 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)

people (2)

  1. people (casting): Tim Burton → Mark Wahlberg. Wahlberg skipped the script and agreed to work with Burton after five minutes, trusting a strong director.
    “And Mark Wahlberg pointedly didn't read the script, went to a meeting with Tim Burton.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Planet of the Apes with Matt Singer · 0:51:55 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
  2. people (people): Henry Selick → Tim Burton. Selick says the film began as Burton's idea and he was the one who finished it.
    “it was Tim's egg, but I was the one who hatched it”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 0:49:55 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)

theme (1)

  1. theme (personal trilogy): Tim Burton → Ed Wood. One commenter argued Ed Wood, Edward Scissorhands and Batman Returns say everything Burton has to say; after that he took what was offered.
    “Ed Wood, Edward Scissorhands, and Batman Returns, or like this perfect triptych of everything that guy sort of has to say in his heart”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Planet of the Apes with Matt Singer · 0:51:03 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)

unmapped (6)

  1. unmapped (rebound): Tim Burton → Pee-wee's Big Adventure. Burton stepped aside for Scorsese and immediately rebounded onto Pee-wee, which came out the same year.
    “And then he just like immediately rebounds onto Pee Wee, which comes out the same year or the year after this.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · After Hours with Alison Sivitz · 0:17:05 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  2. unmapped (shadow): Henry Selick → Tim Burton. A host says Burton's name overshadows Selick; people hear Nightmare Before Christmas and assume it is Burton's.
    “It does really feel like the Burton thing is a shadow.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Wendell & Wild · 0:04:02 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  3. unmapped (hated pair): Tim Burton → Alice in Wonderland. Alice in Wonderland and Apes are the only two Burton films the speaker hates; Alice has too much burden and no center.
    “Because even like Alice in Wonderland, which is the other movie of his that I hate.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Planet of the Apes with Matt Singer · 0:02:10 · unknown (0.50 sure it was them)
  4. unmapped (defensibility): Tim Burton → Sleepy Hollow. Sleepy Hollow is a defensible Burton film; Apes marks the transition from good to bad.
    “Like Sleepy Hollow is a fully defensible movie.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Planet of the Apes with Matt Singer · 0:03:56 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
  5. unmapped (outsider perspective): Tim Burton → Dark Shadows. Even in lesser films like Dark Shadows he comes from a perspective of not understanding behavior, which is missing from Apes.
    “even like Dark Shadows, it's like, well, he still is coming from that perspective of, like, I don't understand behavior.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Planet of the Apes with Matt Singer · 0:55:39 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
  6. unmapped (Burton muse): Tim Burton → Helena Bonham Carter. Burton meets Bonham Carter on Apes and the speaker thinks he relates to her ape character more than the hero.
    “I think he's kind of relating more to the Hell on the Bottom Carter character.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Planet of the Apes with Matt Singer · 0:59:52 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)

what-if (3)

  1. what-if (almost-director): Tim Burton → After Hours. Burton was originally signed to direct After Hours as his first feature before Scorsese took it.
    “Now, so now they're packaged. Griffin Dunn is the star, and Tim Burton is the director.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · After Hours with Alison Sivitz · 0:47:17 · unknown host (0.40 sure it was them)
  2. what-if (what-if director): Tim Burton → After Hours. Burton was originally set to direct but stepped aside when Scorsese wanted it.
    “This was originally supposed to be directed by Tim Burton.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘After Hours’ with Bill Simmons and Sean Fennessey · 1:13:40 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
  3. what-if (what-if): Mary Reilly → Tim Burton. Burton was supposed to direct Mary Reilly but dropped out very late.
    “but Tim Burton was supposed to do and dropped out very late.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 1:01:59 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)

Fun items about them

  1. fun, about Tim Burton: Burton had the idea of a love story between ape and human; the studio said no, so Ari became a princess subtext.
    “Well, so that's the only other thing the idea I think that Tim Burton had very strongly was he wants to make a love story between ape and a human.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Planet of the Apes with Matt Singer · 0:30:18 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
  2. fun, about Tim Burton: Burton and Selick fought over the Oogie ending (Scooby-Doo reveal that he's Finkelstein); the fight reportedly ruined an editing bay.
    “Selleck wanted the ending to be that Oogie Boogie was actually Dr. Finkelstein in disguise.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 0:53:50 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)