10 best Tim Burton books, ranked
Tim Burton: the man whose singularly spooky animated films singlehandedly created a generation of Hot Topic shoppers, I myself one of them, also has books! But which are the best of the auteur author’s oeuvre? Read on!
10. Tim Burton Exhibit: Official Museum of Modern Art Program
Tim Burton Exhibit: Official Museum of Modern Art Program is a poster fold out detailing Burton’s exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Perfect for a coffee table or walk decoration. The poster sized piece unfolds into a map of the exhibit featuring poems and illustrations!
9. The Napkin Art of Tim Burton
The Napkin Art of Tim Burton is exactly what’s written on the tin, or rather, napkin. It’s a collection a Burton’s artwork that was sketched entirely on the counter of the bar! While it’s not at dark and rhapsodic as the other art collections on this list, it’s still a joy to look at the man’s demented doodles.
8. The World of Tim Burton
The World of Tim Burton center’s around Burton’s art that was disputed at the Museo del Cinema in Turin. Over 200 never before seen artworks from Burton himself are featured across nine different sections of the book! We’re talking early sketches from when he was a kid, to paintings, to sculptures, to costumes, storyboards, puppets, and even life sized sculptures. The whole Nine yards.
7. Tim Burton
Tim Burton’s Tim Burton is more than just a compendium of select works from the author, it’s also a peak into his every day doings! Both Burton’s illustrations and his creative process are on display in this work, from childhood to his adult life.
6. Burton on Burton
Burton on Burton by Mark Salisbury gets into all the gory details of Burton’s life, an interview where Burton talks about his training while working as an animator at Disney and his rise to critical and commercial success with the development of his own films and style.
5. The Art of Tim Burton
The Art of Tim Burton is 434 pages worth of illustrated spookiness divided over 13 haunted chapters. It’s essentially the Tim Burton art bible. One of them, at least. All of Burton’s work is on display, from his most famous creations to his early and obscure work. It also features interviews with the animator’s frequent collaborators, giving both insights and anecdotes about the man himself.
4. Frankenweenie: A Graphic Novel
It’s the Frankenweenie: A Graphic Novel, what else is there to say? While it doesn’t quite have the pedigree of Nightmare Before Christmas or Beetlejuice, Frankenweenie is an adorable romp about a little dog that comes back from the dead.
3. Tim Burton’s Vincent
Tim Burton’s Vincent is the story about the life of Vincent Malloy, a man to whom spooky things just won’t stop happening. His house gets chock full of bats, his aunt becomes a wax museum exhibit, and his beloved wife gets buried in his mother’s flower bed!
2. The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories
The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories is a collection of spooky short stories, the best of which concerns the untimely demise of poor, young Oyster Boy. Honestly this book concerns the demise of a poor, young lot of children. It’s essentially haunted nursery rhyme tales about hopeful little kids who meet unhoped for ends in a dark and spooky world that they are unfortunate enough to call home. Boys who get mummified. Boys with nails in their eyes. A poor girl who got turned into a bed. This children are all in Burton’s authorial crosshairs, and it isn’t gonna end well for most.
1. The Nightmare Before Christmas
That’s right, Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas is now a picture book! The ultimate story about the convergence of the two ultimate holidays is now flip-through-able! It’s the story of Pumpkin King Jack Skellington, who, bored with his life in Halloweentown, seeks to bring the bright joys of Christmas to its dark and dismal resident’s. It’s arguably Tim Burton’s best story, a universally appealing work that both kids and adults can enjoy. It’s also not without scares. Just take one look at the Thing Under The Stairs and you’ll see what I mean.
(Featured Image: Disney)
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