Who influenced Tim Burton, and what came after

Every connection with its receipt

Tim Burton's imagination was formed in suburban Burbank, in front of late-night TV horror hosts and Vincent Price double features, then trained at CalArts and Disney animation. The mix traces that line from Universal and AIP monster pictures through German Expressionism and stop-motion craft, out to his collaborators and the gothic-whimsy filmmakers who followed. His work as a draftsman and illustrator is part of the map too.

The Kynda mix for Tim Burton

• Key Influence · House of Usher by Roger Corman (1960). Corman's Poe cycle starring Vincent Price was Burton's formative viewing as a Burbank kid watching horror on television. Burton's reverence led him to cast Price as the narrator of his 1982 Disney short Vincent and later as the inventor in Edward Scissorhands, Price's final screen role. The crumbling mansions, saturated gothic color and theatrical melancholy of the AIP Poe films are the direct ancestor of Burton's visual vocabulary.
• Influencia Obscura · The 7th Voyage of Sinbad by Ray Harryhausen (1958). Harryhausen's stop-motion creature work is the hidden technical spine of Burton's career. Burton has repeatedly named him as the reason he pursued animation, and the handmade, slightly jerky vitality of Harryhausen's skeletons and cyclops informs the puppet performances of The Nightmare Before Christmas and Corpse Bride — Burton choosing laborious stop-motion in an era when CGI had made it commercially irrational.
• Local Roots · Pee-wee's Playhouse by Paul Reubens (1986). Reubens built Pee-wee as a Los Angeles stage phenomenon at the Groundlings, and it was his insistence that handed a 26-year-old Disney animator his first feature. Pee-wee's Big Adventure gave Burton a studio picture built on the same suburban-surreal palette as the Playhouse — garish primary colors, nightmare interludes, childhood logic — and established the Burton-Reubens LA alliance that later brought Reubens into Batman Returns.
• Beyond the Medium · The Melancholy of Departure by Giorgio de Chirico (1916). Burton trained as a draftsman long before he directed, and his sketchbooks owe a visible debt to the metaphysical painters' empty plazas, long shadows and faceless mannequin figures. The vacant, dread-saturated town squares of Sleepy Hollow and the stylized voids of Beetlejuice's afterlife waiting room read as de Chirico staged in three dimensions: architecture as mood, perspective bent toward unease.
• Peer · Brazil by Terry Gilliam (1985). Gilliam was the other major studio-funded fantasist of the 1980s and 90s, likewise an illustrator-animator turned director fighting executives over tone and final cut. Brazil's handmade retro-futurist clutter and bureaucratic nightmare occupy the same territory as Burton's Gotham and Beetlejuice's afterlife civil service — baroque production design as a weapon against realism, comedy braided into dystopia.
• From the Canon · Vincent by Tim Burton (1982). The six-minute black-and-white stop-motion short made at Disney, narrated by Vincent Price in rhymed verse, is the Rosetta Stone of Burton's career: suburban boy, gothic fantasy life, Expressionist shadows, Seussian meter, and the Price devotion all present at once. Everything from Edward Scissorhands to Frankenweenie to Corpse Bride is latent in it, and it got him noticed outside the animation department.
• Key Collaborator · Dead Man's Party by Oingo Boingo (1985). Elfman fronted the LA new-wave band Oingo Boingo when Burton hired him to score Pee-wee's Big Adventure, his first film score. The partnership has produced the music for most of Burton's filmography, from Beetlejuice's carnival mania to the choral ache of Edward Scissorhands, and Elfman also sang Jack Skellington. Oingo Boingo shows the theatrical, horns-and-mania sensibility he brought with him.
• Legacy · Coraline by Henry Selick (2009). Selick directed The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach under Burton's producing banner before building his own stop-motion practice at Laika. Coraline extends the Burton inheritance directly: a lonely child, a sinister mirror-world of button eyes, handmade puppets over CGI, and the conviction that children's animation can be genuinely frightening without losing its tenderness.

What influenced Tim Burton

• Dr. Seuss (1904). The article identifies Dr. Seuss's books as an influence on Burton. (also via The Nightmare Before Christmas, Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas!) “His future work would be heavily influenced by the books of such childhood heroes as Dr. Seuss and Roald Dahl” (Wikipedia)
• Oingo Boingo. The article identifies Burton as an Oingo Boingo fan. (also via Dead Man's Party) “Tim Burton was a fan of Oingo Boingo, but how did you two meet?” (loudersound.com)
• Christopher Lee. Lee's horror films are listed among Burton's formative influences. “I loved the movies from England, the Hammer horror films with Christopher Lee; Tim Burton and I bonded over those—all the Dracula movies.” (synthhistory.com)
• Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. The article says Burton repeatedly paid homage to the film. “Universal Monsters films such as Frankenstein (to which he would continuously pay homage throughout his career)” (Wikipedia)
• Vincent Price. Price's films influenced Burton, who later honored him in Vincent. “the horror films of Vincent Price ; the latter two would both later star in his films, with Price being honored in his short film Vincent (1982)” (Wikipedia)
• Peter and the Wolf by Sergei Prokofiev (1936) “== Influences and style == Elfman has said his major influences are composers from Hollywood's Golden Age, such as Bernard Herrmann, Dimitri Tiomkin, Max Steiner, David Tamkin, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, and Carl Stalling; 20th century cla…” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Mario Bava. Burton explicitly names Bava’s work as an inspiration for his “Here With Me” video. “The concept of the video is inspired by the 1935 film  Mad Love , starring Peter Lorre, as well as the works of Mario Bava.” (rollingstone.com)
• Ray Harryhausen. The article reports Burton crediting Harryhausen's work with sparking his interest in stop-motion. “He also said that his love of Ray Harryhausen 's work got him interested in stop-motion animation at a young age.” (Wikipedia)
• Stanley Kubrick (1928). Burton is named among directors who cite Kubrick as an influence. “Kubrick continues to be cited as a major influence by many directors, including Brad Bird , [ 312 ] Christopher Nolan , [ 313 ] Todd Field , [ 314 ] David Fincher , Guillermo del Toro , David Lynch , [ 315 ] Lars von Trier , [ 316 ] Tim …” (Wikipedia)
• Roald Dahl. The article identifies Dahl's books as an influence on Burton. “His future work would be heavily influenced by the books of such childhood heroes as Dr. Seuss and Roald Dahl” (Wikipedia)
• The 7th Voyage of Sinbad by Ray Harryhausen (1958) “That was my genre." He also said that his love of Ray Harryhausen's work got him interested in stop-motion animation at a young age.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Mad Love by Karl Freund. Burton explicitly names Mad Love as an inspiration for his “Here With Me” video. “The concept of the video is inspired by the 1935 film  Mad Love , starring Peter Lorre, as well as the works of Mario Bava.” (rollingstone.com)
• The Addams Family by David Levy (1964). Wednesday is based on a character from The Addams Family. (via Wednesday) “Burton would be directing and producing Wednesday , a series for Netflix based on the titular character from The Addams Family starring Jenna Ortega and Christina Ricci .” (Wikipedia)
• Frankenstein by James Whale (1931) (themoviedb.org)
• House of Usher by Roger Corman (1960) (themoviedb.org)
• The Melancholy of Departure by Giorgio de Chirico (1916) (wikidata.org)
• The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari by Robert Wiene (1920) (themoviedb.org)
• Hexed (via Wednesday) (themoviedb.org)
• Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas! by Dr. Seuss (1957)
• The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories by Edward Gorey (1963)

Peers and kindred spirits

• Johnny Depp. Depp and Burton collaborated on eight films. (also via Beetlejuice) “His friend Johnny Depp , a teen idol at the end of the 1980s due primarily to his work on the hit TV series 21 Jump Street , was cast in the title role of Edward” (Wikipedia)
• Christina Ricci. Ricci starred in Burton's film. (also via Beetlejuice) “Yeah, Tim is amazing. I always felt like working with him, I would literally do anything he told me to because you assume it’s the right thing to do.” (Interview Magazine)
• Henry Selick. Burton and Selick collaborated again on James and the Giant Peach. (also via The Nightmare Before Christmas, Coraline) “Burton and Selick met while working for Disney, and went on to work together again on Selick’s next movie, the 1996 Roald Dahl adaptation James and the Giant Peach.” (polygon.com)
• Rick Heinrichs. Heinrichs produced Burton's short Vincent. “And, Tim and I did Vincent together, many years ago, as a kick-off for those.” (collider.com)
• Danny Elfman. Elfman is identified as a frequent Burton collaborator. “I didn't meet with Paul, I only met with Tim, but we just hit it off.” (loudersound.com)
• Bones. Burton directed the band's video for Bones. “Burton directed his first music video, " Bones ", in 2006. "Bones" is the sixth overall single by American indie rock band The Killers” (Wikipedia)
• Timur Bekmambetov. Burton and Bekmambetov jointly pursued production of 9. “Director Timur Bekmambetov talks about collaborating with Tim Burton and 20 th Century Fox in the making of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter .” (collider.com)
• A$AP Rocky. The article reports a planned film collaboration and Burton's album artwork for Rocky. “Rocky also discusses his brief prison sentence in Sweden, shares why he worked with Tim Burton on his new album, and offers his latest fashion advice as a Chanel ambassador.” (esquire.com)
• the Killers. Burton directed music videos for the Killers. “The first time I saw The Killers perform live was in Blackpool, UK shortly after completing work on our first collaboration” (rollingstone.com)
• Robert Downey Jr. (via Ed Wood) “During this time, Depp became known for his work with director Tim Burton, collaborating on eight films together, starting with Edward Scissorhands (1990), followed by Ed Wood (1994), Sleepy Hollow (1999), Charlie and the Chocolate Facto…” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street by Stephen Sondheim (1979) “Tim Burton's film adaptation starred Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, and Alan Rickman.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Glenn Close. Close appeared in Burton's Mars Attacks!. “in 1996, she acted alongside the cast of Tim Burton 's alien invasion satire Mars Attacks! (1996), playing First Lady Marsha Dale.” (Wikipedia)
• Pee-wee's Playhouse by Paul Reubens (1986) “Actor Paul Reubens saw Frankenweenie and chose Burton to direct the cinematic spin-off of his popular character Pee-wee Herman, stating on the audio commentary of 2000 DVD release of Pee-wee's Big Adventure that as soon as the short bega…” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Helena Bonham Carter. The article identifies Big Fish as their second collaboration. “The film was also the second collaboration between Burton and Helena Bonham Carter , who played the characters of Jenny and the Witch” (Wikipedia)
• Dead Man's Party by Oingo Boingo (1985) “Burton, a fan of the eccentric musical group Oingo Boingo, asked songwriter Danny Elfman to provide the music for the film.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Dead Man by Jim Jarmusch (1995) “I have a new film project that's really foremost for me that I hope to shoot early next year with Tilda Swinton and Michael Fassbender and Mia Wasikowska, who was Alice in Wonderland in Tim Burton's film.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Sacha Baron Cohen (1971). Baron Cohen names Sweeney Todd as a film he made with Burton. “I did Hugo with (Martin) Scorsese and Sweeny Todd with Tim Burton and Les Misérables with Tom Hooper.” (Elements of Madness)
• Edward Scissorhands “In 1990, Burton created a unique drawing which gave screenwriter Caroline Thompson inspiration to write the script for Edward Scissorhands which Burton directed, re-uniting with Winona Ryder from Beetlejuice.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Caroline Thompson. Thompson wrote the film based on Burton's story and characters. (via The Nightmare Before Christmas) “The film was directed by Henry Selick and written by Caroline Thompson , based on Burton's original story, world, and characters.” (Wikipedia)
• Brad Pitt (via Ed Wood) “In February 2022, however, the sequel was announced again, with Brad Pitt's Plan B Entertainment producing alongside Warner Bros.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Nicolas Cage (via Ed Wood) “He had originally been slated to portray Superman in Tim Burton's canceled Superman film, Superman Lives, in the 1990s.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Brazil by Terry Gilliam (1985) (themoviedb.org)
• Eraserhead by David Lynch (themoviedb.org)
• Fantasia by Walt Disney (1940) “== Career == === 1981–1987: Early work and breakthrough === Stalk of the Celery Monster attracted the attention of Walt Disney Productions, who offered Burton an animator's apprenticeship at its animation division.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Delicatessen by Jean-Pierre Jeunet (1991) (themoviedb.org)

Who Tim Burton influenced

• Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (collection). A specific cape design was inspired by filmmaker Tim Burton. “the Autumn/Winter 2002 Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious collection was shown with live caged wolves and a black parachute cape inspired by Tim Burton” (Wikipedia)
• Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. The design team also took inspiration from the Batmobile in the 1989 film. (via Batman) “They were also inspired by the 1989 Batmobile.” (Wikipedia)
• DC League of Super-Pets. The film's Batmobile is described as inspired by Burton's version. (via Batman) “The film DC League of Super-Pets features a Batmobile clearly inspired by Tim Burton's version.” (Wikipedia)
• Batwheels. The television show's main character is based on Burton's film Batmobile. (via Batman) “In the Batwheels kids tv show, the main character is based on Tim Burtons's Batmobile, with some small differences.” (Wikipedia)
• The Batman. An episode of the animated series depicts Burton's film Batmobile as a prototype. (via Batman) “In the " RPM " episode of the animated series The Batman , one of Bruce Wayne's Batmobile prototypes is the Batmobile from the Tim Burton films.” (Wikipedia)
• Beetlejuice animated series. Chang notes the animated Beetlejuice TV series was spawned by Tim Burton's original film. (via Beetlejuice) “Tim Burton's hit film spawned a trippy animated TV series, which I happily devoured as a kid in the late '80s, and, more recently, a "Beetlejuice" stage musical that's now touring the U.S.” (Fresh Air (NPR))
• Beetlejuice stage musical. Chang notes the Beetlejuice stage musical derives from Tim Burton's original film. (via Beetlejuice) “Tim Burton's hit film spawned a trippy animated TV series, which I happily devoured as a kid in the late '80s, and, more recently, a "Beetlejuice" stage musical that's now touring the U.S.” (Fresh Air (NPR))
• Batman: The Animated Series. Burton's Batman is identified as an inspiration for the animated series. (via Batman) “It also served as a major inspiration for the acclaimed TV series Batman: The Animated Series .” (Wikipedia)
• Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. The later film is presented as Burton's Beetlejuice follow-up. (via Beetlejuice) “Burton was working with Seth Grahame-Smith on Beetlejuice Beetlejuice , a project he had been considering making since 1990.” (Wikipedia)
• Tinker Hatfield. Hatfield describes how an existing shoe design was modified into a boot for the 1989 Batman film. (via Batman) ““I had all the drawings, and they just basically created molds and poured urethane parts, and then were able to take an existing shoe that I had selected,” Hatfield says, “and make it in all black and then put the extension, the knee-boo…” (Complex)
• Hugo by Martin Scorsese (2011) (themoviedb.org)
• The Addams Family by Barry Sonnenfeld (1991) (themoviedb.org)
• Coraline by Henry Selick (2009) (themoviedb.org)
• Widow's Bay (via Beetlejuice) (themoviedb.org)