Tim Burton

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Timothy William Burton (born August 25, 1958) is an American film director, writer and designer known for his off-beat and quirky style. Especially in his stop-motion animated films, he is known for the exaggerated style of his characters, which still retain their serious, humanlike characteristics. His films often portray a highly stylized world visually reminiscent of cartoons which could be the result of his beginnings as a Disney animator. He came to note on directing the first Warner Brothers Batman film.

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Early Life

Born in Burbank, California, the first of two sons to Bill and Jean Burton. Burton described his childhood self as quirky, self-absorbed and highly imaginative. He found home life and school difficult and he escaped the reality of everyday life by watching horror and low budget films, to which he will later pay tribute in his biography of Edward D. Wood, Jr. Another film figure of importance in Burton's childhood is Vincent Price, whose filmography would deeply influence the upcoming director's career.

Following high school, he won a Disney scholarship to attend the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, California. He studied animation for three years and was then hired by the Walt Disney Studios as an animator apprentice. The first film he worked on was Ralph Bakshi's adaptation of The Lord of the Rings, for which he is uncredited. Later, Burton's job was to draw for "The Fox and the Hound", which wasn't exactly the direction he had wanted to go at the time. He later commented on the refusal of Disney to use his design for "Fox and the Hound" on the fact that contrary to the general cute look of the movie characters, his designs made them "look like roadkills". Burton was not happy during his Disney period, yet it was during this period that he wrote and drew the poem and illustrations that would be the basis for his celebrated Nightmare Before Christmas.

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Early Career

In 1982, Burton made his first short film, Vincent, a six-minute film about a young boy who flashes from reality into a fantasy where he is Vincent Price, with Price himself providing narration. This was followed by the live-action short Frankenweenie, starring a young Barret Oliver (as well as Sofia Coppola in a minor part). The film, shot in black and white, was a reenactment of the story of Frankenstein where the mad scientist was replaced by a young Victor (Oliver) reanimated his dead dog after he was killed in a road accident. The film was deemed unsuitable for children due to its "gruesome" concept and was quickly shelved.

Despite being unknown to the public, Burton's projects attracted the attention of the film industry, and after seeing Frankenweenie, TV-host/Actor Paul Reubens (better known as Pee-Wee Herman), hired Burton to direct the movie rendition of his tv show. The movie, Pee-Wee's Big Adventure (1985), was made on a budget of $7 million and grossed more than $40 million at the box office. Burton was a lifelong fan of art-rock band Oingo Boingo and asked member Danny Elfman to provide the music for the film. Since then Elfman has provided the score for all but one Burton film, Ed Wood, which was scored by Howard Shore.

After "Pee-Wee", Burton participated in the TV series "Alfred Hitchcock Presents", directing the episode "The Jar". He then went on to direct his second movie, Beetlejuice (1988) starring Michael Keaton in the title role. The dark-humour comedy was another hit for Burton, grossing $80 million and bagging an Academy Award for best makeup.

Burton's ability to produce hits with low budgets impressed studio executives and he received his first big budget film Batman (1989). The production of the film, the biggest of all time in 1989, went on with difficulties. Burton's choice of casting Michael Keaton as the caped crusader was not well received by fans. However, by the time film production wrapped, a batmania frenzy took over (thanks to the biggest marketing campain in movie history at this date), and Batman became a huge success, grossing $250 million and spawning 4 sequels.

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The 1990s

In 1990, Burton co-wrote (with Caroline Thompson) and directed Edward Scissorhands, which started his collaboration with Johnny Depp. Depp, a teen idol at the end of the 80s due primarily to his work on the hit TV series 21 Jump Street, was cast in the title role of Edward, who was the creation of an eccentric and old fashioned inventor (played by Vincent Price, in his last appearance on screen before his death). Edward looked human, but because unfinished, was left with scissors in the place of hands. Set in suburbia, the film is largely seen as Burton's autobiography of his own chidhood in Burbank's suburb. Price at one point said, "Tim is Edward."

By the end of Edward, Burton finally agreed to direct a sequel to Batman on the condition that he would be granted total control. The result was the movie Batman Returns, which featured Keaton returning as the Dark Knight, Danny De Vito (as the Penguin), Michelle Pfeiffer (as Catwoman), and Christopher Walken. The movie's dark and gothic feel, as well as the S&M styling of Catwoman's costume left audiences confused and puzzled, which led to a lower box office hit. This was compounded by Burton's decision to focus the storyline more on the villians instead of Batman. Batman Returns grossed $160 million, much less than expected, and Burton left the Batman franchise from this point on (though he returned as a producer for Batman Forever (1995), a movie which he said had a title "like a tattoo you get when you're on drugs").

He wrote the original story for and produced, but did not actually direct, The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), originally meant to be a children's book in rhyme. The film was directed by Henry Selick and written by Michael McDowell and Caroline Thompson, based on Burton's original story. Burton collaborated with Selick again for James and the Giant Peach (1996), which Burton co-produced.

His next film, Ed Wood (1994), was of a much smaller scale, depicting the life of Edward D. Wood Junior, alledgedly the worst movie director of all time. Again starring Depp in the title role, the film is a homage to Burton's childhood full of low budget movies, and was a bit of an autobiography. This is evident in the director's struggle for recognition through adversity. The film was the one and only film which didn't feature an Elfman score.

The creative duo reunited for Mars Attacks (1996). Based on a popular science fiction trading card series, the film was a spoof of blockbusters such as "Independence Day" and used B-movie imagery from 1950s sci-fi films. Panned by critics and audiences alike, the film still managed to gather a fan base from its TV runs and DVD exploitations. The film, along with Burton's next project Sleepy Hollow (1999) are viewed as a turning point in his career and style, leaving his dark themes and gothic imagery to move toward a more Hollywood-friendly style.

"Sleepy Hollow" was released in 1999, again starring Depp (as Constable Ichabod Crane), a host of Burton regulars in supporting roles (Michael Gough, Jeffrey Jones and Christopher Walken among others) and Christina Ricci as Katrina Anne Van Tassel (an obvious addition to Burton actors). Mostly well received by critics, and with a special mention to Elfman's especially gothic score, the film won an Academy Award for best art direction as well as two BAFTAs for best costumes and production designs. A box office success, rebounding after the "Mars Attacks" demise, "Sleepy Hollow" was also a turning point for Burton. Along with change in his personal life (separation from Lisa Marie), Burton changed radically in style for his next project, leaving the haunted forests and colorful outcasts behind to go on to directing a remake of "Planet of the Apes"

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The 2000s

"Apes" was a commercial success, grossing $68 million in its opening weekend, but it also antagonised fans, especially those dating back to the Pee-Wee days. The film was a significant departure from Burton's usual style, and there was much subsequent debate about whether the film was really Burton's, or if he was just a "hired gun" who did what he was asked.

Burton went on to direct Big Fish (2003), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) and Corpse Bride (2005), for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Feature Film.

In addition to his film work, he has also written the book The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy: and Other Stories, a book about misfit children such as Oyster Boy, Match Girl, Stainboy (who used to have his own flash cartoon series on atomfilms.com), the Girl Who Turned into a Bed, and other such outcasts.

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Personal Life

In 1989, he married Lena Gieseke, a German artist. They divorced shortly after the filming of Batman Returns. He also dated Lisa Marie for a time. He is currently engaged to Helena Bonham Carter (since 2001) and lives in London. They have a son, Billy-Ray Burton, born in October 2003.

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The Future

His next film may be an adaptation of a long gestating script called Believe It or Not written by the writers of Ed Wood. It is an adventure story loosely based on the life of Robert Ripley and would star Jim Carrey. It will be produced by long time Burton collaborator Richard Zanuck.

In January 2006, the website Moviemusicals.com reported that Burton may reteam with Johnny Depp on an adaptation of the musical Sweeney Todd. Burton has long had a desire to direct a film based on the musical, which was developed at Warner Bros. when it fell apart. Since then Sam Mendes was attached to an adaptation set up at DreamWorks but then dropped out leaving the way clear for Burton to once again take the reins.

In February 2006, in an interview Tim debunked rumors of Beetlejuice 2, Edward Scissorhands 2, and The Nightmare Before Christmas 2. In that same interview, he also expressed interest in an Edgar Allan Poe film in the near future. [1]

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Trademarks

A few of his trademarks:

  • Frequently shows dead dogs, clowns, sheep, twisted trees, jack-o-lanterns and scarecrows in his films.
  • His films frequently have dinner table scenes.
  • His films often have gothic subtexts.
  • Personalizes the production logo in the beginning of his films.
  • Opening credits usually utilize a tracking shot.
  • His long standing collaboration with Danny Elfman, which scored all his films since Pee-wee's Big Adventure, except Ed Wood, which featured the noted composer Howard Shore. See also List of noted film producer and composer collaborations.
  • His artwork, and lots of his films are notoriously influenced by the artist Edward Gorey, and his pen and ink drawings.
  • Often uses shadows for a scary, ominous effect.
  • His main characters tend to be outsiders, and are usually pale/standoffish.
  • His works contain quite a lot of black-and-white stripes, crooked spirals and curly edges.
  • His holiday films often open with a quiet nighttime snowfall, or right when the festivities begin.
  • He sometimes uses influences from German Expressionist cinema - with very exaggerated sets.
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Frequent Collaborators

Burton often uses the same actors in his productions:

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Filmography

His directorial credits include:

Production credits include:

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Trivia

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External links

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