All 21 Tim Burton Opening Credit Scenes Ranked

  It may seem like a minor thing to highlight, but I absolutely love opening credit sequences in movies. This is the moment when a movie can suck you into what kind of world, personality, tone or environment the film has to offer, and when done right, they can effectively establish my feelings on a film before it even gets started. I love it when there’s something creative, something animated, something musically engaging, or just something very atmospheric to go along with the opening credits, which can get me so hyped up for a film. 

In recent years, opening credits have appeared less frequently in movies, much to my disappointment. However, there are still two reliable sources that always deliver with their opening titles, one of them being the James Bond franchise, and the other being any kind of movie directed by Tim Burton. He always seems to relish the art of building-up the movie experience, and utilizing his opening credits in very distinct ways. As such, I thought it would be fun to stop and rank all 21 opening credit sequences from the openings of his directed movies (including “The Nightmare Before Christmas”, which I know he didn’t direct), on my own personal scale from least favorite to absolute favorite.

 

#21 The opening credits to “Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure” (1985) 

This marked Tim Burton’s very first theatrically directed movie, and for me, it was his weakest opening credit sequence, as both the title and ensuing credits are presented against a flat, black backdrop. Aside from the crayon colored title, there’s very little to look at to get me excited … but the one saving grace is Danny Elfmans accompanying music score, which at least helps set the playful mood of the film. Elfman’s music will be a reoccurring highlight in the majority of Tim Burton’s films, and by extent, his opening credit sequences.  

#20 The opening credits to “Big Eyes” (2014) 

In this Tim Burton directed Biopic, we get an opening title sequence that looks like the lead into a documentary, right down to the very basic text credits on display. The credits themselves don’t last long, but it suitably leads into a nice title card, matched with a somber, yet soothing theme song.

 

#19 The opening credits to “The Nightmare Before Christmas” (1993) 

While this movie features one of my favorite opening musical numbers, it really can’t be counted as part of an opening credit sequence. In fact, there’s little more than the title card, once again presented against a black backdrop, accompanied with suitably moody music. It works okay, but it’s still only a foot note compared to the actual opening credits that are still to come. 

 

#18 The opening credits to “Dumbo” (2019) 

Perhaps the most usual entry on this countdown, as it’s an opening credit sequences … without any credits displayed. We have a nice little opening montage of the traveling circus train, complete with cartoony transitions and edits, and even a pleasant rendition of the classic animated Disney movie score, but for some reason, only the studio credit and title card are displayed during this whole sequences, which is clearly meant for the credits.  

 

#17 The opening credits to “Dark Shadows” (2012) 

Once again, we have an opening montage set on a train, but this time with the credits properly presented. We follow a girl as she travels to the films central spooky house, which is a basic, yet practical use for an opening credit sequence. The one big difference to note is that it’s not matched to a Danny Elfman score, and instead is matched with a pop-song, 1967’s “Nights in White Satin”, performed by The Moody Blues. It’s an odd choice, but it gives this opening a different feel from any other Tim Burton movie.  

 

#16 The opening credits to “Alice in Wonderland” 

Here’s yet another opening that’s a title card only, and no real opening credits, but with that said … this is a terrific opening title card. The way it appears through smoke stakes, fills the whole screen, and matched to Danny Elfmans catchy chant … it gets me hooked. Personally, this is my least favorite of Tim Burtons directed movies, but this title card gets me excited like it’s one of my favorites.

 

#15 The opening credits to “FrankenWenie” (2012) 

For one of Burton’s more gentle and relaxed family films, we get an opening credit sequence that appropriately compliments the tone moving forward. It’s as simple as they get, as we see the daily activities of our lead boy with his dog, and it’s all very nice. The Dany Elfman score sounds derivative of his earlier work, but it’s okay, and this opening title sequence is fine for what it needs to be.   

 

#14 The opening credits to “Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice” (2024) 

In a loving nod to the original “Beetlejuice”, we get an opening credit sequence that’s an overhead shot of the town, this time it’s not the model, and there’s edits giving us different angles. Danny Elfmans score is likewise that same as the first, just with more bells and whistles added in. Personally, I would have preferred an original opening credit sequence, but this was still a nice tribute to the first, and got me excited for this long-delayed sequel.

#13 The opening credits to “Corpse Bride” (2005) 

Just like with the previously mentioned stop-motion animated picture “FrankenWenie”, this opening title sequences is short, simple, and gets the job done with very little on display. We get our first glimpse of our main character, and it sets the personality of the London setting as being more lifeless than the afterlife setting that will appear later. Dany Elfmans score this time around isn’t big or bombastic, nor is it overly moody, it’s just the right marriage of blissful, but with a pinch of melancholy.  

 

#12 The opening Credits to “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children” (2016) 

Now we come to the more traditionally stylish and fun of Tim Burton's opening credit sequences. For this lead in, our opening credits are presented with a montage of photos, newspaper clippings, sightings on maps, and all done in this unique photo inverted effect. The musical score is ominously building in tempo, while matched to the sound of a ticking clock or metronome, and it’s all very exciting.

#11 The opening credits to “Big Fish” (2003) 

Perhaps the longest of Burtons opening credit sequences, as it’s spread throughout the opening five minutes of the film, in which we’re introduced to our main characters. Also, while Dany Elfmans whimsical score is present, most of the tone is set through narration by Ewan McGregor’s lead character. The imagery on display is peaceful, and this whole lead-in is very comforting, like we’re about to see a modern fairytale come to life.

#10 The opening credits to “Batman Returns” (1992) 

This opening credit sequence follows a baby carriage floating through Gotham’s elaborately designed underground sewer channels. The Batman franchise is another one with great opening title sequences, and while this isn’t one of the absolute best, it’s still something to savor as it’s the last time we’ll get a title opening matched to Danny Elfman’s iconic Batman score.

#9 The opening credits to “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” (2007) 

Without question, this is the darkest of Tim Burton's movies, and naturally, its opening title sequence is arguably the most ominous and unsettling of the whole collection. This time we’re given an animated visuals montage that foreshadows the bloody and horrific events of the film. Complementing the Gothic imagery is a score comprised of deep organs, and it absolutely sets me on edge. It’s an effective title sequence to set the mood of the film … and it promises to be dark.

#8 The opening credits to “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” (2005) 

While this second adaption of Roald Dahl’s book has always been one of my lesser favorites of Tim Burton’s offerings … I will admit that the opening credit sequence is wonderful. The titles this time around are set to a montage within the chocolate factory, which looks like a technical marvel, but still with elements of fantasy and enchantment on display, like parashooting chocolates and so forth. Danny Elfmans score this time around is also very distinct, and couldn’t be confused with anyone of his other Burton collaboration scores.   

#7 The opening credits to “Beetlejuice” (1988)

After a striking title card, we’re presented with a single tracking shot over a model city, which is a fairly standard presentation for an opening credit sequence. However, what puts this above all the previous films naturally is Danny Elfmans wild and bombastic score. It conveys so much personality and fun, that it sets the mood without the need of a big visual presentation. 

#6 The opening credits to “Planet of the Apes” (2001) 

This outing begins with an awesome opening credit sequence, with a foreboding overtone, eerier music, and lots of cool imagery. While Tim Burton’s remake of the classic “Planet of the Apes” was unnecessary, I just can’t dismiss how much I love this title sequence. Danny Elfmans music score is emphasized with low, moody percussion instruments, similar to the original Jerry Goldsmith score, but with a synthesizer beat that builds to a satisfying final image, with a pair of eyes looking at the camera … it’s great.

#5 The opening credits to “Sleepy Hollow” (1999) 

This is personally one of my favorites of Tim Burton’s movies, and Danny Elfmans score once again is outstanding. This time around, for our opening titles, the movie goes for the subtle abroach, as we follow Ichabod Crane on his coach ride to the titular Sleepy Hollow. The deep scenic views of the forest setting, all-encompassing wide-shots, and striking imagery, laced with Danny Elfmans foreboding music cues hook me in every time I watch this. This title sequence once again highlights how the little things can go a long way, and an elaborately designed visual montage isn’t always required.  

#4 The opening credits to “Mars Attacks” (1996) 

As the title would suggest, this movie is about aliens from Mars attacking Earth, and to really hit the point home, the whole opening sequence is watching a fleet of flying saucers leaving their base, and heading to our beautiful blue planet. The effects on display are a fine mix of cheesy and appealing, and in a creative touch, the credits themselves spin like ships. I know I sound like a broken record, but it's Danny Elfmans score that makes this one of the best lead-in’s to any of Tim Burton’s movies, as it conveys a sense of both goofiness and dread for the approaching Martians. 

#3 The opening credits to “Ed Wood” (1994) 

While Burton commonly takes an artistic approach to his openings, this one stands out with a distinct charm and personality. Real life director Ed Wood made some of the cheapest horror movies of all time, and the opening title sequence to Tim Burton’s 1994 biopic titled “Ed Wood” is very crafty in celebrating his films in every possible way. We begin with a creepy house in the middle of a stormy night, there’s lots of lightning, the cast names are carved in cheap looking gravestones, we get a stop motion octopus, flying saucers, and some excellent background music. The score this time around was composed by Howard Shore, and it’s a loving nod to 1950’s B-list Sci-Fi pictures. It’s a great intro, and without question is one of Tim Burton’s best opening credit sequences.

#2 The opening credits to “Batman” (1989) 

Not only one of Tim Burton’s best opening title sequences, but one of the best of the whole Batman film series. The camera travels through a lot of dark tunnels, the music builds and then in a big pullback shot it’s revealed to be the Batman logo. It gives me chills every time, and the classic score by Danny Elfman is one of the greatest music themes ever composed for a superhero movie. It fits the character perfectly, and it’s one of Elfman’s greatest achievements.

#1 The opening credits to “Edward Scissorhands” (1990) 

At last, we come to my favorite of all Tim Burton’s opening credit sequences. The look and feel is dripping with Burton’s signature gothic atmosphere, but also punctuated with this whimsical and enchanting personality. The imagery on display is so elaborate, with odd shapes and figures in this crazy castle, laboratory interiors, and framed in these cold colors. It’s all mixed with Danny Elfmans unforgettable score which is just so haunting and beautiful … I’d say it’s my favorite of all his movie scores. This is the opening that really draws me into this crazy yet brilliantly crafted world from Tim Burton, and it leaves me with goosebumps every time.

Thanks for reading my countdown … and continue to enjoy the movies you Love!

Dead of Night (1945) (Movie Review)

  When it comes to Horror anthology movies or series, there’s several popular titles to highlight, including “Tales from the Crypt”, “Night Gallery”, “Creepshow”, “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark”, and for us kids from the 90’s we had “Goosebumps” and “Are you Afraid of the Dark”. Perhaps my personal favorite is the original 1960’s series “The Twilight Zone”, which mainly had a lean toward Science Fiction, but is largely remembered for its spooky entries. However, for today’s topic, I wanted to spotlight one of the very first spooky anthologies ever made, the 1945 horror movie classic “Dead of Night”. While not as famous a title for modern viewers, it was one of the most influential original horror movies to come out of the 1940's decade, and provided a template to inspire many other projects in the decades to come, including some influence on “The Twilight Zone” series, which is how the movie first piqued my interest.

  The 1940’s in general was a dry spell age for original horror movies, as most of the mainstream scarry films of the time focused on various sequels and crossovers of Universals classic monsters, which helped “Dead of Night” stand out. This was also a special British production that came out at a time when Britten was banned from producing anything horror related, largely due to the conditions of World War 2, and as such, it was kind of a miracle this film came out at all. So, let’s look back at this early horror classic to see what was significant for its time, and what still works all these decades later. As a quick note, I’ll do my best to avoid spoiling anything specific, including the ending … that’s something you’ll just have to see for yourself.

  We open on a man named Walter Craig (played by Mervyn Johns), who’s just arrived at a farmhouse he’s never been to before, and filled with various people he’s never met … 

yet swears he’s seen them all before, perhaps in a dream, and even suspects he knows what the outcome of the day will be. This opens up a lengthy conversation among all the different occupants, as each recalls a personal experience with a supernatural anomaly. Thus, we have five individual ghostly stories playout in front of us … all leading to a surprise at the end. Each segment has a different director, and each based on different stories from established authors, including H. G. Wells of “War of the Worlds” fame, and T.E.B. Clarke who wrote “Sons and Lovers”. 

The wraparound segments at the farmhouse were directed by Basil Dearden, who after this would direct the 1946 War Drama “The Captive Heart”, and would direct a number of successful films in the decades to come, like 1960’s “The League of Gentlemen”. With the set-up established, let's look at the individual stories as presented.

 

The Hearse Driver

Our first story revolves around a rase-car driver, who just had a brush with death on the track. As he slowly recovers in a hospital room, he sees a mysterious hearse driver outside the window, beckoning him to join, as there’s “room for one more”. Now he fears that death is immanent, and it will be coming to him soon in the form of a familiar face. This segment was also directed by Basil Dearden, and was based on a story by E. F. Benson called “The Bus-Conductor”, which would inspire further similar stories down the road. 

One of the more memorable episodes of the original series “The Twilight Zone” had a similar episode titled “Twenty-Two”, which also had a set-up involving a person with premonitions of death coming in the form of a person stating there’s “room for one more”, leading to what could have been a fatal accident, had it not been for a familiar face. As for the short featured in the movie, it’s a good one to start things off, with some ominous build-up at the window, great use of shadows, and a decent payoff at the end.    

 

The Christmas Party

Next, we transition to the tight spaces of a Gothic Mansion, with a Christmas party in full swing, and a group of kids are playing hide-and-seek. We focus on a young teenage girl named Sally, who ventures off to find a good hiding spot, only to discover a secluded nursery, with a sad and lonely boy inside … who may or may not really be there at all. Having a supernatural encounter amidst a Christmas party is an effective concept, although, I feel the pay-off at the end could have been stronger, and it features some of the weaker acting in the film. With that said, the teenage girl Sally was played by a young Sally Ann Howes, who would later go on to portray Truly Scrumptious in the 1968 family musical “Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang”, which is a childhood staple of mine. 

Also, I’m always drawn to ghostly stories told in the confines of a mansion, as it immediately brings to mind classics like “The Haunting” or “The Innocents”, and while this short is actually kind of pleasant on the surface, it still has a rather grim backstory. This segment was directed by Alberto Cavalcanti, and the story was written by Angus MacPhail, who based it around a real murder case from 1860, revolving around Francis Saville Kent, and his half-sister Constance Kent, which for me makes this segment feel a little creepier.    

 

The Haunted Mirror

Now we come to my personal favorite segment of the film, which revolves around a newly married couple, and a mysterious mirror. While it seems rather ordinary on the surface, the mirror secretly has a history, and when the husband is alone, and peering at his reflection, he sees in the background a little glimpse of that history, which gradually unravels before him, and drives him insane. 

This segment features some of the better performances, as well as a really sharp direction from Robert Hammer, who’d go on to write and direct the 1949 dark comedy “Kind Hearts and Coronets”. Something about cursed mirrors is very simple, yet so intriguing, and this short executes its premise quite well. While I have no factual proof, I’d like to think this segment helped inspire the 2013 horror movie “Oculus”, which also revolved around a cursed mirror.  

 

The Golfer’s Story

Next, things take a turn for the goofy and comedic, and to get right to the point, this is my least favorite segment of the film. Two rivel golfers are eager to best the other in a round of Golf, and the winner takes the hand of a girl they’re both fond of. One man cheats his way to victory, while the looser drowns out his sorrows … by drowning himself. Sounds like a grim set-up, but things get very stilly very fast when the ghost of the golfer lingers around as a personal poltergeist to the gamer who was cheating. The interplay between the man and ghost feels like it would be right at home in a sitcom … “Just because a chap becomes a ghost, surely that doesn’t mean he ceases to be a gentleman”. 

This segment was directed by Charles Crichton, who’d go on to direct a number of successful comedies, including 1951’s “The Lavender Hill Mob”, and more famously in 1988 “A Fish Called Wanda”. His distinct personality is on display, but the segment as a whole just feels out of place when compared to the other shorts. I should also note, this story was based on the H. G. Wells tale “The Story of the Inexperienced Ghost” … but if you ask me, the better H. G. Wells adapted film to be laced with comedy was the 1933 picture “The Invisible Man”.  

 

The Ventriloquist’s Dummy

At last, we come to the most famous of the film’s segments, and arguably the one that made the biggest impact on our pop culture. We open on an entertainer named Maxwell Frere, and his wooden Dummy named Hugo, who’s quite good at amusing his audience … but someone is rather eager to split the act, and go separate ways … perhaps even a certain wooden dummy who’s taking on a life all his own. Whether it be “The Twilight Zone” or “Goosebumps”, a living ventriloquist dummy will always be a reliably scary mascot … and Hugo is arguably the one to put them on the map. 

This was the second short to be directed by Alberto Cavalcanti, following after “The Christmas Party”, and this time he really gets to shine with the build-up, and use of heavy shadows. The performances in this short are also some of the best, with Michael Redgrave stealing the show as the beaten and unhinged performer Maxwell Frere. Hugo naturally has his place in the hall of creepy dummy characters, and for me is quite eerie, even when compared to our contemporary horror mascots.  

 

  Once we finish with the shorts, the scares still keep coming, as we get our big twist ending. 

Again, I won’t go into specific details, but I will say that it’s a rare case of all the previous shorts (minus the golf segment) coming together at the end, which is very different for the horror anthology film format. The only other example I can think of was another British horror anthology that came later in 2017 called “Ghost Stories”, which also featured several shorts coming together in one creepy twist ending. In the case of “Dead of Night”, this ending is what made the whole film worthwhile and memorable, and features the film’s most striking imagery, and creative camera work. For a fun bit a trivia … one of the films main cinematographers was a young Douglas Slocombe, who’d go on to famously lens the original three “Indiana Jones” movies.

  In the end, “Dead of Night” isn’t one of my all-time favorite classic horror films, but it is well worth checking out if you’re a fan of spooky anthologies, or old creepy black and white films. As a fan of “The Twilight Zone” series, I find the film immensely satisfying, and love seeing what might have inspired several classic episodes. In many ways, I view “Dead of Night” as a blueprint of sorts for what came to be “The Twilight Zone” TV show … honestly, it makes for a superior Twilight Zone movie then the actual film that came out in the 1980’s. Like I said, if you're a fan of old creepy movies, or the package movie format, then "Dead of Night" will deliver what you expect ... and perhaps even a little more. 

Thanks for reading my review of the 1945 Horror movie classic “Dead of Night” … and continue to enjoy the movies you Love!