Tim Burton Production Design: A Look at the Bold Sets of Every Tim Burton Film

“Anybody with artistic ambitions is always trying to reconnect with the way they saw things as a child.” Tim Burton

His most recent film, Alice in Wonderland, is nominated in the Fantasy Film category in this year’s Art Director’s Guild awards.

Tim Burton Production Design: A Look at the Bold Sets of Every Tim Burton Film Click To Tweet

---

The Tim Burton Production Design Aesthetic

---

Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure (1985)

Click Photo to Enlarge:

When eccentric man-child Pee-wee Herman gets his beloved bike stolen in broad daylight, he sets out across the U.S. on the adventure of his life.

Director: Tim Burton
Production Designer: David L. Snyder
Set Decorator: Thomas L. Roysden

---

Beetlejuice (1988)

Click Photo to Enlarge:

The spirits of a deceased couple are harassed by an unbearable family that has moved into their home, and hire a malicious spirit to drive them out.

Director: Tim Burton
Production Designer: Bo Welch
Art Director: Tom Duffield
Set Decorator: Catherine Mann

---

Batman (1989)

Click Photo to Enlarge:

The Dark Knight of Gotham City begins his war on crime with his first major enemy being Jack Napier, a criminal who becomes the clownishly homicidal Joker.

Director: Tim Burton
Production Designer: Anton Furst
Supervising Art Director: Leslie Tomkins
Set Decorator: Peter Young

---

Edward Scissorhands (1990)

Click Photo to Enlarge:

An artificial man, who was incompletely constructed and has scissors for hands, leads a solitary life. Then one day, a suburban lady meets him and introduces him to her world.

Director: Tim Burton
Production Designer: Bo Welch
Supervising Art Director: Tom Duffield
Set Decorator: Cheryl Carasik

---

Batman Returns (1992)

Click Photo to Enlarge:

Batman returns to the big screen when a deformed man calling himself the Penguin wreaks havoc across Gotham with the help of a cruel businessman.

Director: Tim Burton
Production Designer: Bo Welch
Supervising Art Director: Tom Duffield
Set Decorator: Cheryl Carasik

---

Ed Wood (1994)

Click Photo to Enlarge:

Ambitious but troubled movie director Edward D. Wood Jr. tries his best to fulfill his dreams, despite his lack of talent.

Director: Tim Burton
Production Designer: Tom Duffield
Art Director: Okowita
Set Decorator: Cricket Rowland

---

Mars Attacks! (1996)

Click Photo to Enlarge:

Earth is invaded by Martians with unbeatable weapons and a cruel sense of humor.

Director: Tim Burton
Production Designer: Wynn Thomas
Supervising Art Director: James Hegedus
Set Decorator: Nancy Haigh

---

Sleepy Hollow (1999)

Click Photo to Enlarge:

Ichabod Crane is sent to Sleepy Hollow to investigate the decapitations of three people, with the culprit being the legendary apparition, The Headless Horseman.

Director: Tim Burton
Production Designer: Rick Heinrichs
Supervising Art Director: Leslie Tomkins
Set Decorator: Peter Young

---

Planet of the Apes (2001)

Click Photo to Enlarge:

In 2029, an Air Force astronaut crash-lands on a mysterious planet where evolved, talking apes dominate a race of primitive humans.

Director: Tim Burton
Production Designer: Rick Heinrichs
Supervising Art Director: John Dexter
Set Decorator: Rosemary Brandenburg

---

Big Fish (2003)

Click Photo to Enlarge:

A frustrated son tries to determine the fact from fiction in his dying father’s life.

Director: Tim Burton
Production Designer: Dennis Gassner
Art Directors: Roy Barnes, Jean-Michel Ducourty, Robert Fechtman, Jack Johnson, and Richard L. Johnson
Set Decorator: Nancy Haigh

---

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)

Click Photo to Enlarge:

A young boy wins a tour through the most magnificent chocolate factory in the world, led by the world’s most unusual candy maker.

Director: Tim Burton
Production Designer: Alex McDowell
Supervising Art Director: Leslie Tomkins
Set Decorator: Peter Young

---

Corpse Bride (2005)

Click Photo to Enlarge:

When a shy groom practices his wedding vows in the inadvertent presence of a deceased young woman, she rises from the grave assuming he has married her.

Director: Tim Burton and Mike Johnson
Production Designer: Alex McDowell
Art Director: Nelson Lowry

---

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)

Click Photo to Enlarge:

The infamous story of Benjamin Barker, aka Sweeney Todd, who sets up a barber shop in London which is the basis for a sinister partnership with his fellow tenant, Mrs. Lovett.

Director: Tim Burton
Production Designer: Dante Ferretti
Supervising Art Director: Gary Freeman
Set Decorator: Francesca Lo Schiavo

---

Alice in Wonderland (2010)

Click Photo to Enlarge:

Nineteen-year-old Alice returns to the magical world from her childhood adventure, where she reunites with her old friends and learns of her true destiny: to end the Red Queen’s reign of terror.

Director: Tim Burton
Production Designer: Robert Stromberg
Supervising Art Director: Stefan Dechant
Set Decorator: Karen O’Hara

---

Dark Shadows (2012)

Click Photo to Enlarge:

An imprisoned vampire, Barnabas Collins, is set free and returns to his ancestral home, where his dysfunctional descendants are in need of his protection.

Director: Tim Burton
Production Designer: Rick Heinrichs
Supervising Art Director: Chris Lowe
Set Decorator: John Bush

---

Frankenweenie (2012)

When a boy’s beloved dog passes away suddenly, he attempts to bring the animal back to life through a powerful science experiment.

Director: Tim Burton
Production Designer: Rick Heinrichs
Art Directors: Tim Browning and Alexandra Walker

---

Big Eyes (2014)

Click Photo to Enlarge:

A drama about the awakening of painter Margaret Keane, her phenomenal success in the 1950s, and the subsequent legal difficulties she had with her husband, who claimed credit for her works in the 1960s.

Director: Tim Burton
Production Designer: Rick Heinrichs
Supervising Art Director: Chris August
Key Set Decorator: Shane Vieau

---

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (2016)

When Jacob discovers clues to a mystery that stretches across time, he finds Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. But the danger deepens after he gets to know the residents and learns about their special powers.

Director: Tim Burton
Production Designer: Gavin Bocquet
Supervising Art Director: Peter Russell
Set Decorators: Jan Pascale, Monica Alberte, and Elli Griff

---

Dumbo (2019)

Click Photo to Enlarge:

A young elephant, whose oversized ears enable him to fly, helps save a struggling circus, but when the circus plans a new venture, Dumbo and his friends discover dark secrets beneath its shiny veneer.

Director: Tim Burton
Production Designer: Rick Heinrichs
Supervising Art Director: Chris Lowe
Set Decorator: John Bush

---

The Stylish Trademarks of Every Tim Burton Film

---

What is your favourite Tim Burton film? What are your favourite sets in a Tim Burton film?

 

For more Production Design Inspiration, click here.