Tim Burton's career, which included quite a few remakes, has reached many wonderfully inventive high points and a few low points. From ghosts and superheroes to talking animals and magic beings, Tim Burton has one of the most distinct styles in Hollywood. The fact that some stars are often described as "Tim Burton actors" due to how many times they have worked with him is just one of many examples of how Burton became a genre of his own.

However, for every great original film he's directed over the years, from Beetlejuice to Ed Wood and Edward Scissorhands, he's also been in the directing chair for a series of remakes that differ in quality. Taking on a film that already has an expectant fan base is never an easy task, but when done correctly, it can be a wonderful re-imagining of a beloved existing IP. Tim Burton's filmography consists of hits and misses, and it's no different when it comes to remakes.

Burton has never been afraid of tackling a beloved IP, though. One of the first hits in his career was precisely Batman (1989), a film that changed general audiences' perception of the character and brought the darkness and complexity of the famous superhero from the comics to the screen in a way that had never been done. While Batman wasn't a remake, it showed that Burton was more than capable of reimaging characters and stories that had been around for years.

5 Planet Of The Apes

Burton Remakes A Sci-Fi Classic

Tim Burton was a great choice to direct a remake of Planet of the Apes. His visual style and humor seemed like they could have been the perfect combination to bring Pierre Boulle's novel to the screen, especially given how Tim Burton specializes in bringing the weird and wonderful to life. The original film series had its distinctive charm that resulted in some of the most iconic imagery in cinema from the late 1960s.

A movie featuring talking chimps who are set to take over the world should have been the perfect canvas for Burton to unleash his creativity in an inventive way, but unfortunately, his version fell flat for several reasons. Sadly, it lacked depth, and the sociopolitical parallels from the original film series were missing. Burton's Planet of the Apes wasn't terrible, but it didn't feel like a Tim Burton movie, which is the most damning criticism of the film, given the power of his visual storytelling usually.

Also, the movie came before motion capture techniques and visual effects in general at a point where an entire set of main characters could be created through CG as opposed to what happened in 2011's Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Burton's re-imagining, a phrase he helped to coin thanks to the movie, relied on great prosthetics, and make-up, to bring the apes to life. They look decent overall, but the less said about the awkward kissing scene, the better.

4 Dumbo

Tim Burton Remakes The Disney Animated Classic

One of the best elements of the original Dumbo cartoon from 1941 was that its limited narrative was well handled by the film's equally conservative runtime of one hour and four minutes. It had its wonderful charm, and pathos, in the tale of an elephant who was ridiculed because of the size of his ears and was handled with great care. Unfortunately, Tim Burton's announcement that he could have retired following his remake speaks volumes.

However, taking on any Disney property is not for the faint of heart, plus, Burton had to somehow extend the narrative of a one-hour kids' movie, to a two-hour remake while still channeling what made the first movie so timeless. In doing so, the production lost sight of what it was attempting to be, and it became a weird mix of Burton-esque gothic adventure, with an over-complicated plot. Also, star Michael Keaton itted he "sucked" in Dumbo.

While Tim Burton's Dumbo isn't a terrible film, it's, unfortunately, a predictable mess.

While Tim Burton's Dumbo isn't a terrible film, it's, unfortunately, a predictable mess. There are moments when the film almost soars, but they are too few and far between to elevate it beyond being a disappointing remake. At least it made Burton realize he needed to be re-energized, meaning audiences finally got the fun sequel, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice.

3 Dark Shadows

Remaking The Classic Supernatural Soap Opera

Dark Shadows saw Tim Burton casting an actor who had already been in some of his very best movies, including Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood, and Sleepy Hollow; Johnny Depp. Burton itted (via New York Times) that the 1960s Dark Shadows TV show was a huge influence on him as a child, saying, “I should probably have been doing homework or playing sports after school instead of watching Dark Shadows."

It's no stretch to see why Burton would be drawn to the world of Dark Shadows as a child. It had a genuinely creepy atmosphere, and although the pacing was slow and some of the acting was questionable, to say the least, it had a nostalgic charm all of its own regardless. Unfortunately for Burton, his adaptation may have a wonderful cast, including Helena Bonham Carter, Eva Green, Burton's Catwoman herself, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Johnny Depp.

The film's saving grace is Eva Green's antagonist Angelique, who dives into her role as the witchy lady who Depp's Barnabas spurned. She's great, but her obsession with Barnabas doesn't make sense. Depp's performance, like it is usually in Burton's movies, is suitably quirky, but his various tics and scenery-chewing don't lend themselves well to a character that a domineering witch such as Angelique would obsess over. The movie, however, is tonally awkward, and while it's entertaining, it doesn't look like a Tim Burton film.

2 Alice In Wonderland

Lewis Caroll's Fantasy Classic Gets A Remake

Tim Burton's best movies are the ones in which he has creative control over the project, especially when he's able to conjure up bizarre images from his wonderful mind. That's why a lot of his remakes don't quite make the grade in of overall quality. He has the talent to turn any story into movie gold, but he's better when he can focus his attention on original stories. His adaptation of Alice in Wonderland is a great example of this.

In theory, the combination of Lewis Carroll's iconic children's novel, and Burton's wildly vivid imagination, should have been a match made in heaven. For the most part, the film does work, and Burton brings some superbly realized images to the screen. Johnny Depp's Mad Hatter is one of his better roles in Burton's later output, Helena Bonham Carter's Red Queen is very Burton-esq in her design, and the visuals pop out of the screen wonderfully.

Alice in Wonderland was a huge success at the box office, bringing over a billion dollars to the studio Disney, which got the marketing campaign for the film spot-on. Despite it having a low score of 6.4/10 on IMDb, the movie is a lot of fun, and it made an impression on audiences. Unfortunately, however, Burton's experience with Alice in Wonderland, and also later with Dumbo, is why he considered leaving directing behind. Thankfully, that didn't last too long.

1 Charlie And The Chocolate Factory

Willie Wonka Gets A Tim Burton Make-Over

Gene Wilder's performance as the titular character in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory from 1971 is so iconic, and one of his best roles, that anybody who took on the role in Tim Burton's 2005 remake would have big shoes to fill. If one team, consisting of a visionary director in Burton, and a great character actor in Johnny Depp could pull it off, it was them. Their pairing has brought audiences some of the very best movies in Burton's impressive back catalog, but although Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a lot of fun, Depp's protagonist is its weakest element.

One person who wasn't impressed with Burton's remake was Gene Wilder, who said that Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was "an insult". Wilder felt that there was no need for Hollywood to go back and remake the movie and that the reasons behind it were prominently financial. There's no doubt some truth in this, but when you have a talented creative team behind a project, and a studio backing it with an eye-catching marketing campaign, there's always the hope that they can get it right.

The production design is exactly what you'd expect from Tim Burton.

In the end, Tim Burton, and Disney, got their Willy Wonka remake largely right. Depp's protagonist was designed so that he didn't seem like a pale imitation of Gene Wilder's classic Wonka. However, he was such a cartoonish version of the character that he almost became a caricature. Burton and Depp brought the character of Willy Wonka to life in vivid surroundings, but their main protagonist's personality is split too far apart.

One minute, the audience is supposed to feel sorry for the wounded man-child, while at the same time, he doesn't seem to care if the children he invites to the chocolate factory make it out alive. It's a shame, as the rest of the movie works brilliantly; the production design is exactly what you'd expect from Tim Burton, and the chocolate factory looks deliciously good to eat. Plus, the squirrel scene is a hoot.

Sources: The New York Times