13 Essential Films For The Burtonphiles And Selick-ites Out There.

13 essential films for the Burtonphiles and Selick-ites out there.

Yee. Unconventional list as this isn't just short content here, but I love me some Selickesque-Burton whatever stuff and I wanted to feature it exclusively somewhere.

Family = Kids can watch it.

Adult = Kids can’t watch it but teenagers can. Contains swearing and adult situations

Horror = Classic horror/thriller with some good scares and creepy imagery.

Goth = Less horror and more on the macabre or suspense side of things.

Surreal = Weird stuff that crosses into the other genres.

Comedy = Funny stuff w. maybe some cuteness too.

Drama = Horror and monsters used to make you sad or tell a gripping story.

GORE = Take this as your Trigger Warning. Films with this label are gorey and not for the faint of heart in that department.

MATURE = Not for kids; contains disturbing subject matter such as abuse or sexual encounters.

Moon Girl | Family

A solo film Henry Selick made with Laika before he began production on Coraline. The CG is give or take but it's an adorable story if nothing else.

Face Like a Frog | Family/Surreal

Sesame Street animator Sally Cruikshank's iconically surreal short film featuring a musical interlude by the one and only Danny Elfman.

Frankenweenie | Family/Horror

Tim Burton's 30-min live action feature which got him kicked from Disney.

Hansel and Gretel | Family/Horror

One of Tim's contributions to Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre, this one being an adaptation of Hansel and Gretel that of course Burton used to make some creepy imagery.

Vincent | Family/Goth

Tim Burton's first breakout film at Disney, featuring the voice and made in loving tribute to the late, great Vincent Price.

The Stalk of the Celery Monster | Horror/Comedy

What remains of this film is what you got. It was to be one of Tim Burton's short 'interlude' shorts he made while at Disney.

Aladdin and his Wonderful Lamp | Family

Also made for Shelley Duvall's show, though this Burton-directed outing is a bit more in line with a fairytale adaptation. A bit.

The Sandman | Family/Horror

Paul Berry, the lead animator behind Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach shows us why he was picked for such projects with this early horror short of his.

Slow Bob in the Lower Dimensions | Surreal

The 'pilot' episode for an MTV series that Henry Selick never ended up pursuing. Yet, it features all of his staples of multiple techniques at once.

The Devil Went Down to Georgia | Goth/Comedy

Paul Berry directed another fantastic gothic short, this one being the music video to Primus' take on "The Devil Went Down to Georgia".

Family Dog | Comedy/Adult

One of many late 90s attempts to reach Simpsons-level acclaim - this tv show had a handful of writers involved but the designs of the characters were Tim Burton's.

Party at Ground Zero | Surreal

Selick's first time directing a music video for the band Wishbone, for their black-comedy romp "Party at Ground Zero".

Demiurge Emesis | Goth/Surreal

Voltaire brings us a grim little stop-motion diddy about the will of the artist to aspire against it's peers, narrated by good ole Danny Elfman.

Happy Hauntings

Let's talk character design for a bit. I love our villains' designs, because SP incorporated so much into them. Personality, motive, and the fact that this is our own universe completely inhabited by animals are all aspects which are folded into the baddies' appearances like a stubby calzone. Just imagine a stubby calzone for a second. What a cutie.

Consider Arpeggio's design, for instance. The beret, bow tie, monocle and itty bitty mustache suggest he's sophisticated, classy, has accumulated a bunch of wealth; throw in there the fact that he's the game's final boss as well as his voice which we briefly heard in He Who Tames the Iron Horse and you already know we're facing an eccentric millionaire genius in the last episode without even meeting him yet. The haircut, beret and cape also hint at him being inspired by Renaissance artists, the designs in his intro cutscene referencing Da Vinci. If he's reserved as the final villain in the game and just such a huge threat, then why is he so little? He seems like a brainiac but could never be as menacing as Rajan. And there you have it: just a perfectly rounded character solely presented through his design.

It's all also reflected in the choice of species for each character. Black widows mate and kill: the Contessa. Roosters have a sense of abrasive moxie and eagerness to mate: Tsao. Bulldogs have an attitude with a mug similar to a gangster's: Muggshot (also the term underdog here, his bullies never considered him a threat and in the end he... um... murdered them? idk). It all goes hand-in-hand, it's just so effortlessly perfect, even when it doesn't have to be.

So, despite its initial trajectory, this post was always intended to be, and you guessed it, anti-Thieves in Time rhetoric. Because I was just thinking today about its villains and like, the choices are just so underwhelming. In the cutscenes, El Jefe wears a military uniform because he works in the military; the Grizz wears a tracksuit because... he's a rapper ?? I know I've addressed this like 89319821092 times already but what's with the choice of species too? We've done tiger already, next. They could have gone with anything else, even another cat animal like a puma would make more sense, just to push the design to its limits. Like it's nothing groundbreaking but it would make more sense for a cheetah to wear his sports tracksuit and have his skill set because it's a really fast animal. Where. Are. The. Ideas. I wanted new, exciting animals we never saw prior. Ant-eater, octopus, zebra, eagle, platypus. Give me an otter at this point, I'll take it. Why not utilise an animal's characteristics to come up with some innovative ideas instead of yet another tiger, or an elephant who is, guess what, fat, or a skunk who, and i can not stress this enough for the love of fuck, stinks. *Sigh*

So anyway, yet another post idea brought about by Thieves in Time slander. Will it ever end?

this is how the movie went right

Honestly we need to please PLEASE further normalize comfort OCs, fan-inspired OCs, fan-AUs, OOC tags, etc.

I feel like what this becomes born of so often are people who get really latched onto some ideas and qualities they can project or add onto a canon inspiration, but they’re so darn afraid of distinguishing that extension as their own original creativity + the canon material. Of putting something out there that’s theirs and dear to them. They’re afraid of putting their own ideas out there without grasping at certain interpretations of [thing that is already popular] to somehow… validate it? And understandably there is an unfortunate sort of vulnerability that can come with that. But the double edge of that sword lends itself to the actual growth and self esteem development that can come from authenticity.

And in any sense, I’m all for mischaracterizing canon assets- in an honest and upfront way. Transformative art is still art in its own right and it’s a a common way for younger and inexperienced creatives to toy around with concepts or to try a hand at accentuating, deconstructing, or paying tribute to what traits of the source material they love.. or hate! Instead of clowning on the OP, hell, I’ll give them credit tbh for owning their personal divergence from the canon as exactly what it is without defensiveness, at least in that snapshot.

But honestly people on the large trend lately do severely overestimate the assumed originality of their blorbos themselves, and don’t often recognize that there’s both nothing usual about nor inherently “cringe” about building upon classical tropes. Same goes for inspired creations as long as you’re not like, legitimately committing intellectual property theft. But near all is fair in personal hobby and exploration.

That infinite chain of possibilities and freedom is a great deal of fiction and creation’s entire appeal as a concept, after all.

Yet at the same time, there’s merit and usefulness in not getting carried away to the point of changing the concrete material of the original works themselves. The enjoyment someone takes in media canon is neither above or below that someone can take in OOC concepts, so maybe it’s actually healthier and more fun for everyone involved to know which is which and where to find it.

And like maybe we can all stop being jerks to each other as well I think that’s a pretty awesome side objective.

(because we deserve this)

(because you deserve this)

(because i deserve this)

(because i had to)

(because i wanted to)

(because i could)

(i don't know)

Hornets - Kitty Horrorshow