by Claire O'Neill

Tim Burton is probably the only person who could get away with using a monster's mouth as the entrance to an art exhibition. You know him for his films Edward Scissorhands and The Nightmare Before Christmas. Of all film director-producers today, Burton probably has the most singular vision: one of whimsy, gothic gore and hallucinogenic fictions.

  • Untitled (The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories), 1998
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    Untitled (The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories), 1998
    Tim Burton
  • Untitled (Edward Scissorhands), 1990
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    Untitled (Edward Scissorhands), 1990
  • Johnny Depp in Edward Scissorhands, 1990, directed by Tim Burton
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    Johnny Depp in Edward Scissorhands, 1990, directed by Tim Burton
    Photo by Zade Rosenthal/Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox/Photofest
  • Untitled (Black Cauldron), 1983
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    Untitled (Black Cauldron), 1983
  • Untitled (Trick or Treat), 1980
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    Untitled (Trick or Treat), 1980
  • Untitled (Romeo and Juliet), 1981–1984
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    Untitled (Romeo and Juliet), 1981–1984
  • Michael Keaton as Beetlejuice in Beetlejuice, 1988, directed by Tim Burton
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    Michael Keaton as Beetlejuice in Beetlejuice, 1988, directed by Tim Burton
    Courtesy of Warner Bros./Photofest
  • The Green Man, 1996-1998
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    The Green Man, 1996-1998
    Tim Burton, 2009
  • Untitled (The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories), 1982–1984
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    Untitled (The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories), 1982–1984
  • Untitled (Picasso Woman), 1980-1990
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    Untitled (Picasso Woman), 1980-1990
  • Johnny Depp in Sleepy Hollow, 1999, directed by Tim Burton
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    Johnny Depp in Sleepy Hollow, 1999, directed by Tim Burton
    Paramount Pictures/Photofest
  • Untitled (The World of Stainboy), 2000
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    Untitled (The World of Stainboy), 2000
  • Ewan McGregor as Edward Bloom in Big Fish, 2003, directed by Tim Burton
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    Ewan McGregor as Edward Bloom in Big Fish, 2003, directed by Tim Burton
    Columbia Pictures
  • Untitled (Trick or Treat), 1980
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    Untitled (Trick or Treat), 1980

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Tim Burton

Tim Burton on the set of Corpse Bride (Derek Frey)

But Burton has been an artist his whole life. Well before Beetlejuice and Batman, he was escaping into illustrated fantasy worlds as a child in Burbank, Calif. To celebrate his career, New York's Museum of Modern Art has curated a major retrospective exhibition, opening Sunday.

The exhibition contains hundreds of creations from throughout Burton's career, including little-known short films, sketches of unrealized projects from his days at Disney and seven new pieces, created just for the show.

MOMA asked Burton to produce a trailer for the retrospective and, in collaboration with Mackinnon & Saunders, the animation and puppeteer firm that helped with Corpse Bride, he produced this little short. Learn about the making of it on MOMA's site.

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