Masters of Cinema : Tim Burton

                                   Tim Burton, who rocketed out of nowhere in the mid-1980s with a series of surreal blockbusters --  "Beetlejuice" and "Batman Returns" -- has long been an enigma to Hollywood. The creator of bizarre, visually enchanting pictures engrossed in far-fetched adolescent fantasies, comic-strip imagery and the macabre sensibility of campy horror classics has often shrunk from the spotlight. 
                                                        In his trademark black clothes and unkempt hair, he seems to have stepped from the frames of one of his own productions. But he's often projected a guilelessness about his work and career at odds with his clever flair for commercial success. Most people would never think of Tim Burton getting older because from his magnificent movies you might say that he has the imagination of a young child. 

• Born in 25 August 1958 in Burbank, California, Burton is, quite literally, a child of Hollywood— a child who was considered by those around him, and by himself, a misfit who spent his days watching on movies of horror and science fiction. His father was a parks department employee and the proprietor of a gift store.

• When he was in the ninth grade, his artistic talent was recognized by a local garbage company when he won a prize for an anti-litter poster he designed. The company placed this poster on all of their garbage trucks for a year. After graduation from high school, he attended California Institute of the Arts. Like so many others who graduated from that school, Burton's first job was as an animator for Disney.

• During his brief stint with Disney, Burton made a six-minute animated short , Vincent. The film portrayed the dual life of a tortured, but seemingly normal suburban child; it won a number of awards and was released commercially in 1982. His next venture , 29 minute live-action film Frankenweenie(1984), was deemed such an unsuitable Disney product that it not receive a properly release until 1992. Nonetheless , this short-grim fairy tale landed Burton his first directing assignment on the superlatively silly Pee-Wee's Big Adventure(1985).

• The 1989 Batman was one of Tim Burtons as well as the 1990 Edward Scissorhands which most people have seen at least once in their lives. Batman Returns follows in 1992 which is his next big success in movie. A nightmare before Christmas was one movie which was completely different totally animated and had ghouls and ghosts as the main character. Taking a Christmas tale and turning it into a nightmare was a very creative spin to which children still watch the story on Christmas eve.  Burton was no longer a cult curiosity but a Hollywood superstar.

• Trade Mark : Often does the beginning credits sequence with the camera going through something or following something. His films often have a Gothic feel to them, often including Christmas and/or Halloween scenes. Many of his films feature townspeople who misunderstand and/or distrust the lead character. Often shows scarecrows in his movies. Black clothing. His Heroes are often neurotic,somewhat cowardly and Bizarre yet also intelligent and highly Moral.

• He has an interest in clowns, and his films will often include them or make reference to them. Is a "Bollywood" fan. Nearly everywhere he goes, he carries a pocket-size sketchbook and a small watercolor kit. 

• Was voted the 49th Greatest Director of all time by Entertainment Weekly, being the youngest director on this list of 50. Member of jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1997. Ranked #6 on Top 25 Most Intriguing People.

•  Has made seven films with Johnny Depp: Edward Scissorhands (1990), Ed Wood (1994), Sleepy Hollow (1999), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), Corpse Bride (2005), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007), and Alice in Wonderland (2010). Dark Shadows (2012) is his eighth collaboration with Depp.

• He has a phobia of chimpanzees. He says, "You don't know whether chimps are going to kill you or kiss you. They're very open on some levels and much more evil in a certain way."

• His favorite films are Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972), The Wicker Man (1973), The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973), Furankenshutain no kaijû: Sanda tai Gaira (1968), and The Omega Man (1971).

Tim Burton Quotes :

"I've always been misrepresented. You know, I could dress in a clown costume and laugh with the happy people but they'd still say I'm a dark personality."

"If you've ever had that feeling of loneliness, of being an outsider, it never quite leaves you. You can be happy or successful or whatever, but that thing still stays within you."

"All these kinds of stories, whether it be The Wizard of Oz (1939) or Alice in Wonderland (2010), are an internal journey. I think that's a fairly universal concept. These characters represent things inside the human psyche. I think that's what every child does. You try to work out problems as you go along. Same thing as an adult. Some people get therapy, some people get to make movies."

"Success is the real reason people try to copy things in Hollywood. Someday someone will do a beautiful cell- animation film that connects with people and then someone will say, `We have to go and do that again.' The number-one priority should be that the story and the medium are compatible."

                                             Tim Burton has been the creator of many marvelous films in the last few decades and his award winning movies are testimony to the great work that he has been doing for the film industry as well as Hollywood.  Admittedly Burton has taken some risks, but we must look back upon what he was trying to accomplish. Burton uses the strange actions of the characters to show the internal childishness of the outcast character. In spite of the charges thrown in his direction, Burton has managed to keep a continuity in his body of work, and is unquestionably an astounding and original visual artist. 

                                            Some directors have a recognizable and distinctive style and/or thematic content and turn themselves into auteur. Burton is one such filmmaker, a director who has earned the status of auteur, although he is not viewed in the same category as, say, Martin Scorsese. Like James Cameron, he works within genres that are not readily accepted as “art,” but by now Burton’s work is so uniquely recognizable that critics are hard put to classify his work. Love him or loath him, Burton is a director who has made an impact—both in the industry and on the cinema-goers.

 

Tim Burton - Wikipedia