Tim Burton |

Timothy William Burton was born August 25, 1958 in Burbank, California. Burbank may not ring as many bells as Hollywood, but it is the home to many film and television studios — NBC, Warner Brothers, Disney, and others. Burbank was quintessential 1950s American suburbia, a world in which the shy, artistic Tim was not quite in step with the shiny happy people surrounding him. He was not particularly good in school, and was not a bookworm. Instead, he found his pleasure in painting, drawing, and movies. He loved monster movies: Godzilla, the Hammer horror films from Great Britain, the work of Ray Harryhausen. One of his heroes was actor Vincent Price.After high school in 1976, Burton attended the California Institute of the Arts. Cal Arts had been founded by Disney as a “breeding ground” for new animators, though they did offer other courses of study. Burton entered the Disney animation program in his second year, thinking it would be a good way to make a living. In 1979, he was drafted to join the Disney animation ranks. Burton did not enjoy being an animator, not one little bit.In 1982, Burton made his first short, Vincent, a six-minute stop-motion film about a young boy who fantasizes that he is his (and Burton’s) screen idol Vincent Price, with Price himself providing narration. This was followed by the live-action short Frankenweenie, starring Barret Oliver, Daniel Stern and Shelley Duvall (an early supporter of Burton’s work). Shot in black and white and inspired by James Whale’s Frankenstein, Frankenweenie features a boy who reanimates his dog Sparky who was hit by a car. Although the film won praise at film festivals, Disney was concerned that the film was too scary for children and, not knowing what to do with it, shelved the film. (Frankenweenie later received a video release in 1992). Although Burton’s work had yet to see wide release, he began to attract the attention of the film industry. Actor/producer Griffin Dunne, approached Burton to direct After Hours (1985), a comedy about a bored word processor who survives a crazy night in SoHo that had already been passed over by Martin Scorsese. However, when financing for The Last Temptation of Christ fell through, Burton bowed out of the project out of respect for Scorsese.Not long after, actor Paul Reubens saw Frankenweenie and chose Burton to direct the cinematic spinoff of his popular character Pee-wee Herman. Pee-Wee Herman gained mainstream popularity with a successful stage show at the Roxy which was later turned into an HBO special. The film, 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, a fan of the eccentric musical group Oingo Boingo, asked vocalist/songwriter Danny Elfman to provide the music for the film. Since then, Elfman has provided the score for all but three Burton films, Ed Wood, James and the Giant Peach and Sweeney Todd. After directing episodes for the revitalized TV series Alfred Hitchcock Presents and Shelley Duvall’s Faerie Tale Theatre, Burton received his next big project. Beetlejuice (1988), a supernatural comedy about a young couple forced to cope with life after death, as well as a family of pretentious yuppies invading their treasured New England home. Starring Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis, and featuring Michael Keaton as the famously repulsive bio-exorcist Beetlejuice, the film grossed about $80 million on a relatively low budget. The film also snagged a Best Makeup Design Oscar. Although Burton’s work had yet to see wide release, he began to attract the attention of the film industry. Actor/producer Griffin Dunne, approached Burton to direct After Hours (1985), a comedy about a bored word processor who survives a crazy night in SoHo that had already been passed over by Martin Scorsese. However, when financing for The Last Temptation of Christ fell through, Burton bowed out of the project out of respect for Scorsese.Not long after, actor Paul Reubens saw Frankenweenie and chose Burton to direct the cinematic spinoff of his popular character Pee-wee Herman. Pee-Wee Herman gained mainstream popularity with a successful stage show at the Roxy which was later turned into an HBO special. The film, 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, a fan of the eccentric musical group Oingo Boingo, asked vocalist/songwriter Danny Elfman to provide the music for the film. Since then, Elfman has provided the score for all but three Burton films, Ed Wood, James and the Giant Peach and Sweeney Todd. After directing episodes for the revitalized TV series Alfred Hitchcock Presents and Shelley Duvall’s Faerie Tale Theatre, Burton received his next big project. Beetlejuice (1988), a supernatural comedy about a young couple forced to cope with life after death, as well as a family of pretentious yuppies invading their treasured New England home. Starring Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis, and featuring Michael Keaton as the famously repulsive bio-exorcist Beetlejuice, the film grossed about $80 million on a relatively low budget. The film also snagged a Best Makeup Design Oscar.What interests me in the stories Tim Burton involves himself in is they often feature character duality and fish out of water situations which arguably mirrors his unease at being part of the Disney animation studios. Looking closer, Burton’s use of good hearted characters wrapped in dark imagery and otherworldliness may reflect his feelings of the existence of good within the mundane or unpleasant and perhaps how not to judge a book by its cover.Burtons concepts have spawned countless spin-off character products, T-shirts, toys, cartoons, books and so on.