Last weekend, as a spur of the moment thing to celebrate the release of Alice In Wonderland, I asked you to vote for
your favourite Tim Burton movie. The poll received a decent 50 votes, although the downside of big polls like this is how you tend to get a
lot of joint-placings. Anyway, the results are below, in ascending order of popularity:
6. Planet Of The Apes (0%) A little predictably, there was no love for Burton's ill-advised Apes remake. I remember quite enjoying elements of it, actually, and managed to untangle its convoluted timeline. Don't ask me to explain it now, though.
5. Ed Wood, Beetlejuice, Pee Wee's
Big Adventure (4%) I'm astonished Beetlejuice didn't do much better than this, as I class it as prime Burton. Ed Wood is arguably his best film for many reasons, too, so it was disappointing it didn't get many votes. The lack of love for Pee Wee? I can understand that entirely because I never did understad that irritating manchild's appeal.
4. Corpse Bride, Big Fish, Batman
Returns, Sweeney Todd (6%) I enjoyed Big Fish, but have no intention or desire to ever see it again, while nothing in this group deserved to be placed higher than Beetlejuice or Ed Wood.
3. Mars Attacks!, Batman, Charlie &
The Chocolate Factory (8%) I was surprised there was so much love for Mars Attacks! (often cited as one of Burton's indulgent follies), and likewise Charlie & The Chocolate Factory. Are these becoming more popular in hindsight? Or do we have a young(ish) crowd voting here, so the earlier Burton flicks aren't so fondly remembered because, gasp, so many voters were born post-1990?
I agree that Sleep Hollow is a very underrated effort from Burton (his fun ode to Hammer Horror), but I'm not convinced it's Burton's second best movie ever. But, hey, that's how your votes went.
1. Edward Scissorhands (30%) At least we can all agree the winner deserves to be #1. Edward Scissorhands is certainly amongst Burton's best, on par with Beetlejuice in my mind. A worthy winner.
If you're interested, my Top 12 would be ordered thus:
1. Beetlejuice
2. Edward Scissorhands
3. Batman Returns
4. Batman
5. Ed Wood
6. Mars Attacks!
7. Sweeney Todd
8. Big Fish
9. Charlie & The Chocolate Factory
10. Corpse Bride
11. Planet Of The Apes
12. Pee Wee's Big Adventure
