Vincent (film)
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Vincent is a 1982 stop-motion short film written, designed and directed by Tim Burton and Rick Heinrichs. At approximately six minutes in length, there is currently no individual release of the film. It can be found on the Special Edition DVD of The Nightmare Before Christmas as a bonus feature.
The film was narrated by Vincent Price, a life-long idol and inspiration for Burton. From this relationship, Price would go on to appear in Burton's Edward Scissorhands. Vincent Price later said that the film was "the most gratifying thing that ever happened. It was immortality - better than a star on Hollywood Boulevard." (Frierson)
The movie will be adapted into a live version by Benjamin Lemaire in 2006.
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[edit] Plot
Vincent is the story of a young boy, Vincent Malloy, who pretends to be like the actor Vincent Price. He is obsessed with the tales of Edgar Allan Poe, and it is his detachment from reality when reading them that leads to his delusions that he is in fact a tortured artist, deprived of the woman he loves, mirroring very much certain parts of Poe's The Raven. The film ends with Vincent being tortured by the goings-on of his make-believe world, quoting The Raven as he falls to the floor in frailty, believing himself to be dead.
[edit] Vincent
Vincent Malloy is seven-years-old,
He's always polite and does what he's told,
For a boy his age, he's considerate and nice,
But he wants to be just like Vincent Price.
He doesn't mind living with his sister dog and cats,
Though he'd rather share a home with spiders and bats,
There, he could reflect on the horrors he's invented,
And wander dark hallways alone and tormented.
Vincent is nice when his Aunt comes to see him,
But imagines dipping her in wax for his wax museum.
He likes to experiment on his dog Abercrombie,
In the hopes of creating a horrible zombie,
So he and his horrible zombie dog,
Could go searching for victims in the London fog.
His thoughts though aren't always of ghoulish crime,
He likes to paint and read to pass some of the time,
While other kids read books like Go Jane Go,
Vincent's favourite author is Edgar Allen Poe.
One night, while reading a gruesome tale,
He read a passage that made him turn pale,
Such horrible news, he could not survive,
For his beautiful wife had been buried alive!
He dug out her grave to make sure she was dead,
Unaware that her grave was his mother's flowerbed.
His mother sent Vincent off to his room,
He knew he'd been banished to the Tower Of Doom.
Where he was sentenced to spend the rest of his life,
Alone with the portrait of his beautiful wife.
All alone and insane, incased in his doom,
Vincent's mother burst suddenly into the room.
She said, "If you want to, you can go out and play"
"It's sunny outside, and a beautiful day."
Vincent tried to talk, but he just couldn't speak,
The years of isolation had made him quite weak,
So he took out some paper, and scrawled with a pen,
"I am possessed by this house, and can never leave it again."
His mother said, "You're not possessed, and you're not almost dead!"
"These games that you play are all in your head!"
"You're not Vincent Price, you're Vincent Malloy!"
"You're not tormented and insane, you're just a young boy!"
"You're seven-years-old and you are my son,"
"I want you to get outside and have some real fun."
Her anger now spent, she walked out through the hall,
And while Vincent backed slowly against the wall,
The room started to sway, to shiver and creak,
His horrid insanity had reached it's peak!
He saw Abercrombie, his zombie slave,
And heard his wife call from beyond the grave,
She spoke from her coffin, and made ghoulish demands,
While through crackly walls, reached skeleton hands.
Every horror in his life, that had crept through his dreams,
Swept his mad laughter to terrified screams!
To escape the madness, he reached for the door,
But fell limp and lifeless down on the floor.
His voice was soft and very slow,
As he quoted The Raven, from Edgar Allen Poe,
"And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor,
Shall be lifted--Nevermore!"
[edit] Trivia
- At 4:45 in the movie on Youtube, if you look in the upper left corner you can see an early form of Jack from The Nightmare Before Christmas. Jack also appeared in Tim Burton's Beetlejuice. Both cameos were years before production of The Nightmare Before Christmas, though Burton had toyed with the original concept while still an animator at Disney.
[edit] References
- Frierson, Michael. Tim Burton's Vincent - A Matter of Pastiche. Animation World Magazine, Issue 1.9. available online
[edit] External links
| Tim Burton ( ) |
|---|
| Director |
| The Island of Doctor Agor • Stalk of the Celery • Vincent • Frankenweenie • Pee-wee's Big Adventure • Beetlejuice • Batman • Edward Scissorhands • Batman Returns • Ed Wood • Mars Attacks! • Sleepy Hollow • Planet of the Apes • Big Fish • Charlie and the Chocolate Factory • Corpse Bride • Sweeney Todd |
| Producer |
| The Nightmare Before Christmas • James and the Giant Peach • Batman Forever • 9 |
