With Halloween just around the corner, Netflix is preparing the release of Tim Burton's Wednesday, which will be an eight-episode series about the Addams Family character. However, the show frustratingly won't be released until November, which doesn't make any sense whatsoever, given that the show is intrinsically tied to the spooky holiday.
However, it'll be worth the wait and will undoubtedly be better than the critically slammed animated The Addams Family movies. But some animated releases make for the very best movies to watch during Halloween. And between several other Burton productions, a heartbreaking Pixar release, and even an Adam Sandler comedy, there are so many creative animated Halloween films. And needless to say, 2019's The Addams Family is nowhere to be found.
Monster House (2006) - 6.6
Stream On Netflix
Somehow, almost every street in America has that one house that is unkept, looks terrifying, and is the place that parents tell their kids to stay away from, and the 2006 movie is about that very house. Monster House follows a group of curious kids who take an interest in the house and decide to take a look-see.
However, they immediately regret that decision when the house becomes sentient, and though the film doesn't have a great score on IMDb, it's still more entertaining than most other kids' movies. In particular, Monster House has a much deeper and emotional narrative that unveils the house's origin, making it a far more unique and poignant haunted house movie than others while still having its scary factor. It's the animated answer to Haunted Mansion, and there's no denying that it's better than the Haunted Mansion remake, too.
The Adventures Of Ichabod And Mr. Toad (1949) - 6.9
Stream On Disney+
Disney's older animated films are great to rewatch for their unique hand-drawn animation and wild concepts. And even though it doesn't get mentioned as much as the likes of Alice in Wonderland, The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad is one of those movies.
The film follows the titular characters, which are pulled from two different stories, The Wind in the Willows and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and they're interpolated in a way that's completely original. And if kids took an interest in the DVD cover of Sleepy Hollow but are way too young to watch the dark Tim Burton movie, the 1949 classic should be next on the watchlist.
Frankenweenie (2012) - 6.9
Stream On Disney+
There's no denying that director Tim Burton has an obsession with Halloween, and that fact has spawned tons of hilarious Burton-themed memes. 2012's Frankenweenie is the third spooky stop-motion movie from the mind of the Beetlejuice director, and while it isn't as beloved as its predecessors, it is still a satisfying Halloweeny movie and features a surprisingly heartbreaking tale about a boy and his dog.
The movie lacks the amazing musical numbers that are found in Burton's other stop-motion releases. But what it lacks in the musical department it more than makes up for in comedy horror, and Frankenweenie is essentially one of the most unique movie adaptations of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
ParaNorman (2012) - 7.0
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Like Frankenweenie, ParaNorman is another stop-motion animated movie, but it was made in an original way, giving the character designs such a unique look. According to Wired, ParaNorman is one of the first stop-motion movies to have characters' faces made with a 3D color printer, and tens of thousands of models were printed with the printer.
That technology led to such a cool-looking movie, and the film had a just-as-fascinating premise to boot. The movie follows Norman who finds out he can speak with the dead, and he finds that he prefers their company to the living. ParaNorman is one of the most creative movies about a medium outside of Beetlejuice.
Hotel Transylvania (2012) - 7.0
Stream On Hulu
Even though a 7.0 isn't exactly the greatest rating in the world, it's respectable enough, and more than anything, it's a rarity for an Adam Sandler comedy. A 7.0-rated Sandler movie means that it's one of his most beloved releases, and that's no different with Hotel Transylvania, a fun family movie that even took critics by surprise.
Critics love to hate Sandler, but they couldn't deny how much fun the spooktacular movie is and how it turned the likes of Dracula and Frankenstein into lovable goofballs. Unfortunately, while the franchise has been extremely successful at the box office, it's a perfect example of diminishing returns, as the sequel has a 6.6, Summer Vacation has 6.3, and the recently released Transformania has a disappointing 6.0.
Corpse Bride (2005) - 7.3
Stream On HBO Max
There's something about Halloween-adjacent movies and stop-motion, as so many spooky films use clay animation. It could be because of the strange way clay animation looks, as it's still physical compared to computer animation and so detailed but also so animated, giving the films an eerie look.
Corpse Bride is a great example of that, as the second animated production from Tim Burton has the most interesting character designs yet. It once again features Burton's typical dark fantasy elements, and it also has some incredible musical numbers, but it still doesn't reach the classic status that its predecessor does.
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit (2005) - 7.5
Stream On Freevee
While Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit might have been America's introduction to the clay-created Englishman and his dog, there had been several shorts that were incredibly popular in the UK. They were inventive and took the possibilities of the stop-motion format to its limits. And for as strong of a score as 7.5 is, it's relatively low compared to how well the shorts are rated.
However, The Curse of the Were-Rabbit was an interesting approach to the long-awaited feature-length film, the Halloween-themed movie was more than welcome, and it ended up being one of the best British movies of all time. Interestingly, while animated Halloween movies are pretty niche, 2005 saw the release of both Were-Rabbit and Corpse Bride, making it a great year for fans of spooky stop-motion films.
Scooby-Doo On Zombie Island (1998) - 7.7
Stream On Prime Video
When it comes to Scooby-Doo, either the animated series or the live-action 2000s movies are thought of first, but Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island is overlooked and often slips through the cracks. Fans even think of the crossover movies with Batman before the 1998 film. However, Zombie Island is way more than just a direct-to-video release.
The animation is well done, and the story feels like a classic Scooby gang adventure, but it has a surprising amount of production value in other areas, too. Rock bands like Third Eye Blind contribute to the soundtrack, and Mark Hamill even voices a character in the film. There is a sequel, Return to Zombie Island, which arrived 21 years later, but it isn't held anywhere near as high regard.
Coraline (2009) - 7.7
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Coraline is very much a children's film, but it's also extremely creepy, upsetting, and will even spook some adult viewers. The movie follows the titular character, who finds a door that leads to an alternate reality. Everything is similar to the real world, but it's better in a lot of ways. However, Coraline's bizarro family won't let her get back to the real world, and it's surprisingly distressing and features one of the scariest scenes in a children's movie.
The movie is dazzling and visually spectacular, it tells an original story, and it moves audiences, making it as close to perfect as a non-Pixar movie has gotten. And if it wasn't for Up, it would have won the Academy Award for Best Animated Picture.
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) - 7.9
Stream On Disney+
The Nightmare Before Christmas was the very first of Burton's stop-motion Halloween movies, and it remains to be beaten. While, the trilogy of films could all be seen as spiritual siblings, as they share the same themes and aesthetic, the 1993 movie was the only one to become a cult classic. And it's one of the very few movies ever that can be watched at either Halloween or Christmas without it being weird.
It's a mesh that Burton makes work so well and is one of the darkest movie musicals, but, ironically, it wasn't actually directed by Burton, and it's a mistake that most people make. While Burton came up with the story, the film was directed by Henry Selick, a master of stop-motion who also directed James and the Giant Peach and Coraline.