Iconic filmmaker Tim Burton says he’s returning to animation for an upcoming project.
Burton, who got his start an animator with Walt Disney Animation Studios out of CalArts, directed the classic stop-motion animated short Vincent while with the studio in 1982.
Later on, the filmmaker produced the stop-motion animated classic Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas (which was directed by Henry Selick) in 1993, co-directed Corpse Bride (with Mike Johnson) in 2005 and directed Frankenweenie (based on his 1984 live-action short film) in 2012.
Now, just weeks before the return of Netflix’s Wednesday Season 2 — which he executive produces and directs some of the episodes — Burton is teasing at least one of his upcoming projects.
During a recent interview with the Mexican press outlet Milenio (via World of Reel) at the opening of his new exhibition Tim Burton’s Labyrinth in Mexico City, Burton said, “I am working on something as an animated project. So, hopefully I’ll have the script soon and take it from there. It’s something I’m very excited about.”
Tim Burton Did Not Indicate What Style Of Animation He Would Be Using For The Project
While Tim Burton didn’t get into any details about his upcoming animated project, it’s quite likely that he will be filming in stop-motion animation again given his extensive history in the stop-motion field.
In addition to his work on Vincent, Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, Corpse Bride and Frankenweenie, Burton has worked stop-motion animated sequences into many of his live-action films, including Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, Beetlejuice, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children and most recently, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.
In the latter, stop-motion was used in the script to reveal the fate of Deetz family patriarch Charles Deetz, which also includes a cameo appearance by Burton. Stop-motion animation also is used in other key scenes in the film, including the return of the iconic black-and-white-stripped sandworm introduced in the original Beetlejuice.
“Tim made it very clear from the beginning that his intention was to use some stop-motion,” Beetlejuice Beetlejuice visual effects supervisor Angus Bickerton said in a Zoom conversation in November 2024.
“He knew he also wanted to — and we should mention the great work done by [creature effects creative supervisor] Neil Scanlan — use prosthetics, a creature effects team and a lot of on-set puppetry to capture the same vibe as the original,” Bickerton added.
Tim Burton’s Labyrinth exhibition runs through Jan. 18, 2026, in Mexico City. Wednesday Season 2, starring Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams, returns to Netflix with Part 1 (Episodes 1-4) on Wednesday, Aug. 6, and Part 2 on Wednesday, Sept. 3 (Episodes 5-8).
