If the idea of a man with blades for hands makes you think of Halloween horror movies and Freddy Krueger, you might not be a '90s kid — who knows the awesome, eerie quirkiness that is Edward Scissorhands, starring the one and only Johnny Depp (in his younger years). For the generation that’s now raising kids of their own, it’s time to share the mysterious magnetism of a man with sharp blades for fingers with their own children, and it’s not a Halloween tradition but a Christmas one. In one of those odd perspectives on reality and fantasy that only Tim Burton can deliver, Edward Scissorhands became a beloved annual holiday movie watch for an entire generation. It’s a story of selfless love, the vulnerability of being a leather-clad outsider in the pastel world of suburban America, and the magic of Christmas snow.
As the holiday season begins, it’s the perfect time to revisit the gothic fairytale that mesmerized a generation. Learn where to watch Edward Scissorhands and enjoy sharing Johnny Depp’s most memorable character with a new generation, or for the simple nostalgic joy of watching a unique holiday story of unrequited love. Here's the great news: You can watch this quirky classic now on Disney+.
Watch Edward Scissorhands on Disney+
“Avon Calling…” at a Gothic Castle Overlooking a Candy-Colored Suburban Community
Written and produced by Tim Burton together with co-writer Caroline Thompson, Edward Scissorhands is a visual holiday treat, offering a timeless glimpse into a suburban town heading into the holiday season. The film offers the startling contrast of blocks of square houses in pastel colors and a bob-haired, bespectacled Avon lady ringing musical doorbells all the way up the hill to the gray, gothic castle oddly overlooking the community. In search of a customer for her cosmetics sales, Peg Boggs instead finds a leather-clad humanoid “young man” abandoned in the decaying castle by his father/creator, an inventor who fashioned Edward to be the son he never had but sadly died before he could complete Edward’s hands. Edward’s fingers are long, sharp, scissor blades.
Despite the black leather and razor-sharp blades, kind-hearted Peg sees something in Edward’s soulful eyes and invites the white-faced, black-clad stranger to come to live with her and her traditional American family — because who wouldn’t?
There Edward quickly goes from being the talk of the town to the toast of the town, and then to the town pariah hunted with proverbial torches and pitchforks after he turns down the sexual advances of a desperate divorcee and wins the heart of Peg’s teen daughter away from her popular but cruel-hearted jock boyfriend.
Will Edward and Kim’s love win out over the inevitable clash that comes from being an outsider in small-town America, or will the small-minded neighbors drive Edward back to carving ice sculptures alone in his castle to make Christmas snow float down to the community below?
Learn Where to Watch Edward Scissorhands
Edward Scissorhands also stars Winona Rider as Kim, Anthony Michael Hall of The Breakfast Club and 16 Candles as Jim the jock, and Diane Wiest as Peg. In one of the first of the expressionist-style Burton films to win critical acclaim, you could describe Edward Scissorhands as a haunting and romantic revamp of the original, hand-crafted human, Frankenstein, with an enchanting musical score and a deeply emotional performance by Depp.
With the Christmas season already underway, it’s time to revisit the gothic magic of Edward Scissorhands. Though not a traditional Christmas classic, the movie’s snowy ending, as well as the setting of the film's climatic scenes during the Boggs’ annual Christmas party, made it a seasonal favorite watch for many families for decades. You can enjoy the magic of an inhuman man with more heart than the humans who reject him when you watch Edward Scissorhands, streaming right now on Disney+.