Burton and Helena Bonham Carter in Vogue UK Dec. 2008

For years director Tim Burton has been captivating audiences with movies that mix dreams, nightmares, and all the kooky things in-between.  From Sweeney Todd to Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, the outrageously creative director has given us some of pop-culture’s most memorable character looks. Although we love him for his humorously grotesque characters (Jack Skellington! Beetlejuice!), we also adore the director’s beautiful and surreal characters, like James and the Giant Peach. His latest film Alice in Wonderland, which opens today, is guaranteed to be just as visually stimulating as the rest. Academy Award winner Colleen Atwood designed the costumes for the film with the intention of moving away from the cutesy Alice costumes that we know from our youth and adding some of Burton’s signature elements.

Costume design for Alice

Costume design for The Red Queen

Quite a change from this drawing of Alice and the Red Queen from Lewis Carroll’s original story Alice’s Adventures Underground:

In honor of the eccentric director’s latest film, let’s take a look back at some unforgettable costumes from Burton’s past cinematic masterpieces:

Johnny Depp is a cut above the rest in Edward Scissorhands (1990); Actress Lisa Marie is out of this world in Mars Attacks!(1996)

In Beetlejuice (1988), Michael Keaton makes you say his name; In Ed Wood (1994), Johnny Depp shows off his more feminine side

Johnny Depp struts his stuff in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005); Michelle Pfeiffer looks purrfect in Batman Returns (1992)

Visit the Tim Burton exhibit going on at MOMA until April 26^th to see a few of these costumes along with hundreds of props and sketches from his exciting career.