Tim Burton

Tim Burton

Burton at the 64th Venice Film Festival in 2007
Born Timothy William Burton
August 25, 1958 (1958-08-25) (age 53)
Burbank, California, U.S.
Residence London, England
Nationality American
Education Burbank High School
Alma mater California Institute of the Arts
Occupation Film director, film producer, writer, artist
Years active 1982–present
Notable works The Nightmare Before Christmas, Beetlejuice, Batman, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Corpse Bride, Big Fish, Edward Scissorhands
Influenced by Edgar Allan Poe, Stanley Kubrick, Christopher Lee, Wes Craven, Vincent Price, Ray Harryhausen, Roger Corman, Alan Moore, Ed Wood, Stephen King, John Carpenter, Alfred Hitchcock
Influenced Shane Acker, Zack Snyder, Len Wiseman, Daniel Knauf, David Slade, Joss Whedon, Rob Zombie, Christopher Nolan, James Wan
Height 5' 11½" (1.82 m)
Spouse Lena Gieseke (1989–1993)
Partner Lisa Marie (1993–2001)
Helena Bonham Carter (2001–present)
Children Billy Raymond Burton
Nell Burton
Parents Bill Burton
Jean Burton (née Erickson)
Awards See below
Website
timburton.com

Timothy William "Tim" Burton[1] (born August 25, 1958) is an American film director, film producer, writer and artist. He is famous for dark, quirky-themed movies such as Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Corpse Bride and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, and for blockbusters such as Pee-wee's Big Adventure, Batman, Batman Returns, Planet of the Apes, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, 9 and Alice in Wonderland, his most recent film, which was the second highest-grossing film of 2010 as well as the ninth highest-grossing film of all time.[2] Among Burton's many collaborators are Johnny Depp, who became a close friend since their first film together, musician Danny Elfman (who has composed for all but five of the films Burton has directed and/or produced) and domestic partner Helena Bonham Carter. He also wrote and illustrated the poetry book The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories, published in 1997, and a compilation of his drawings, entitled The Art of Tim Burton, was released in 2009.

Burton has directed 14 films as of 2010, and has produced 10 as of 2009. His next films are an adaptation of the soap opera Dark Shadows, scheduled to be released on May 11, 2012,[3] his production Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, based on the novel of the same name, and a remake of his 1984 short, Frankenweenie, scheduled to be released on October 5, 2012.[4]

Early life

Burton was born in 1958, in the city of Burbank, California, to Jean Burton (née Erickson), the owner of a cat-themed gift shop, and Bill Burton, a former minor league baseball player who would later work for the Burbank Park and Recreation Department.[5][6] As a young man, Burton would make short films in his backyard on Evergreen Street using crude stop motion animation techniques or shoot them on 8 mm film without sound. (One of his most famous juvenile films is The Island of Doctor Agor, that he made when he was 13 years old.) Burton studied at the Burbank High School, but he was not a particularly good student. He was a very introspective person, and found his pleasure in painting, drawing and watching films. His future work would be heavily influenced by the works by Edgar Allan Poe he read, and the horror and science fiction films he watched, such as Godzilla, the films made by Hammer Film Productions, the works of Ray Harryhausen and Vincent Price.

After graduating from Burbank High School with Jeff Riekenberg, Burton attended the California Institute of the Arts to study character animation. Some of his classmates were John Lasseter, Brad Bird, John Musker and Henry Selick. (In the future, Selick and Burton would work together in The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach.)

As a student in CalArts, Burton made the shorts Stalk of the Celery Monster and King and Octopus.[7] They remain only in fragments today.

Early career: 1980s

Burton graduated from CalArts in Santa Clarita, CA in 1979. The success of his short film Stalk of the Celery Monster attracted the attention of the Walt Disney Animation Studios, who offered young Burton an animator's apprenticeship at their studio. He worked as an animator, storyboard artist and concept artist in films such as The Fox and the Hound, The Black Cauldron and Tron. However, Burton's personal style clashed with Disney's standards, and he longed to work on solo projects.

While at Disney in 1982, Burton made his first short, Vincent, a six minute black and white stop motion film based on a poem written by the filmmaker, and depicting a young boy who fantasizes that he is his (and Burton's) hero Vincent Price, with Price himself providing narration. The film was produced by Rick Heinrichs, whom Burton had befriended while working in the concept art department at Disney. The film was shown at the Chicago Film Festival and released, alongside the teen drama Tex, for two weeks in one Los Angeles cinema. This was followed by Burton's first live-action production Hansel and Gretel, a Japanese-themed adaptation of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale for the Disney Channel, which climaxes in a kung-fu fight between Hansel and Gretel and the witch. Having aired once at 10:30 pm on Halloween 1983 and promptly shelved, prints of the film are extremely difficult to locate, which contributes to the rumor that this project does not exist. (In 2009, the short went on display in the Museum of Modern Art, and in 2011 the short also played at the Tim Burton art exhibit at the LACMA).

Burton's next live-action short, Frankenweenie, was released in 1984. It tells the story of a young boy who tries to revive his dog after it is run over by a car. Filmed in black-and-white, it stars Barret Oliver, Shelley Duvall (with whom he would work again in 1986, directing an episode of her Faerie Tale Theatre) and Daniel Stern. After Frankenweenie was completed, Disney fired Burton, under the pretext of him spending the company's resources on doing a film that would be too dark and scary for children to see.

Pursuing then an opportunity to make a full-length film, he was approached by Griffin Dunne to direct the black comedy film After Hours. However, after Martin Scorsese's project The Last Temptation of Christ was cancelled, he showed an interest on directing it, and Burton bowed out in respect for Scorsese.

Pee-wee's Big Adventure

Not long after, actor Paul Reubens saw Frankenweenie and chose Burton to direct the cinematic spin-off 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 $8 million and grossed more than $40 million at the box office. Burton, a fan of the eccentric musical group Oingo Boingo, asked songwriter Danny Elfman to provide the music for the film. Since then, Elfman has provided the score for all but five of the films Burton has directed and/or produced, those exceptions being Cabin Boy, Ed Wood, James and the Giant Peach, Batman Forever and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

Beetlejuice

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 horror 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 including their teenage daughter Lydia (Winona Ryder) whose obsession with death allows her to see them. Starring Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis, and featuring Michael Keaton as the obnoxious bio-exorcist Betelgeuse, the film grossed $80 million on a relatively low budget and won an Academy Award for Best Makeup. It would be converted into a cartoon of the same name, with Burton playing a role as executive producer, that ran on ABC and later Fox.

Batman

Burton's ability to produce hits with low budgets impressed studio executives, and he received his first big budget film, Batman. The production was plagued with problems. Burton repeatedly clashed with the film's producers, Jon Peters and Peter Guber, but the most notable debacle involved casting. For the title role, Burton chose to cast Michael Keaton as Batman following their previous collaboration in Beetlejuice, despite Keaton's average physique, inexperience with action films, and reputation as a comic actor. Although Burton won in the end, the furor over the casting provoked enormous fan animosity, to the extent that Warner Brothers' share price slumped. Burton had considered it ridiculous to cast a bulked-up he-man as Batman, insisting that the Caped Crusader should be an ordinary (albeit fabulously wealthy) man who dressed up in an elaborate bat costume to frighten criminals. Burton cast Jack Nicholson as The Joker (Tim Curry being his second choice) in a move that helped assuage fans' fears, as well as attracting older audiences not as interested in a superhero film.

When the film opened in June 1989, it was backed by the biggest marketing and merchandising campaign in film history at the time, and became one of the biggest box office hits of all time, grossing well over US$250 million in the US alone and $400 million worldwide (numbers not adjusted for inflation) and earning critical acclaim for the performances of both Keaton and Nicholson, as well as the film's production aspects, which won the Academy Award for Best Art Direction. The success of the film helped establish Burton as a profitable director, and it also proved to be a huge influence on future superhero films, which eschewed the bright, all-American heroism of Richard Donner's Superman for a grimmer, more realistic look and characters with more psychological depth. It also became a major inspiration for the successful 1990s cartoon Batman: The Animated Series, in as much as the darkness of the picture and its sequel allowed for a darker Batman on television.

Burton claimed that The Killing Joke was a major influence on his film adaptation of Batman:

"I was never a giant comic book fan, but I've always loved the image of Batman and The Joker. The reason I've never been a comic book fan—and I think it started when I was a child—is because I could never tell which box I was supposed to read. I don't know if it was dyslexia or whatever, but that's why I loved The Killing Joke, because for the first time I could tell which one to read. It's my favorite. It's the first comic I've ever loved. And the success of those graphic novels made our ideas more acceptable."[8]

1990s

Edward Scissorhands

In 1990, Burton co-wrote (with Caroline Thompson) and directed Edward Scissorhands, re-uniting with Winona Ryder from Beetlejuice. His friend Johnny Depp, a teen idol at the end of the 1980s 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 one of his last screen appearances). Edward looked human, but was left with scissors in the place of hands due to the untimely death of his creator. Set in suburbia (and shot in Lutz, Florida), the film is largely seen as Burton's autobiography of his childhood in Burbank. Price at one point is said to have remarked, "Tim is Edward." Depp wrote a similar comment in the foreword to Mark Salisbury's book, Burton on Burton, regarding his first meeting with Burton over the casting of the film. Edward is considered one of Burton's best movies by some critics.[1] Following this collaboration with Burton, Depp starred in Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Corpse Bride, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Alice in Wonderland and Dark Shadows.

In 2004, Matthew Bourne came to Burton with the idea to turn the story of Edward into a ballet. In 2005, the ballet first aired. It has now toured the UK, the US, Canada, Australia and parts of Europe.

Batman Returns

The day Warner Brothers had declined to make the more personal Scissorhands even after the success of Batman, Burton finally agreed to direct the sequel for Warner Brothers on the condition that he would be granted total control. The result was Batman Returns which featured Michael Keaton returning as the Dark Knight, and a new triad of villains: Danny DeVito (as the Penguin), Michelle Pfeiffer (as Catwoman) and Christopher Walken as Max Shreck, an evil corporate tycoon and original character created for the film (similar to Superman III's Ross Webster). Darker and considerably more personal than its predecessor, concerns were raised that the film was too scary for children. Audiences were even more uncomfortable at the film's overt sexuality, personified by the sleek, fetish-inspired styling of Catwoman's costume. One critic remarked, "too many villains spoiled the Batman", highlighting Burton's decision to focus the storyline more on the villains instead of Batman. The film also polarized the fanbase, with some loving the darkness and quirkiness, while others felt it was not true to the core aspects of the source material. Burton made many changes to the Penguin which would be applied to the Penguin in both comics and television. While in the comics, he was an ordinary man, Burton created a freak of nature resembling a penguin with webbed, flipper-like fingers, a hooked, beak-like nose, and a penguin-like body. Released in 1992, Batman Returns grossed $282.8 million worldwide, making it another financial success, though not to the extent of its predecessor. Paul Reubens a.k.a. Pee-Wee from Pee-Wee's Big Adventure has a cameo as the Penguin's father.

The Nightmare Before Christmas

Next, Burton wrote and produced (but did not direct, due to schedule constraints on Batman Returns) 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, world and characters. The film received positive reviews for the film's stop motion animation, musical score and original storyline and was a box office success, grossing $50 million. Burton collaborated with Selick again for James and the Giant Peach (1996), which Burton co-produced. The film helped to generate a renewed interest in stop-motion animation.

A deleted scene from The Nightmare Before Christmas features a group of vampires playing hockey on the frozen pond with the decapitated head of Burton. The head was replaced by a jack-o'-lantern in the final version.

Cabin Boy

In 1994, Burton and frequent co-producer Denise Di Novi produced the 1994 fantasy-comedy Cabin Boy, starring comedian Chris Elliott and directed/written by Adam Resnick. Burton was originally supposed to direct the film after seeing Elliott perform on Get a Life, but handed the directing responsibility to Resnick once he was offered Ed Wood. The film was almost entirely panned by critics, even earning Chris Elliott a 1995 Razzie Award for "Worst New Star".[9] The film also has a 45% "rotten" rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Ed Wood

His next film, Ed Wood (1994), was of a much smaller scale, depicting the life of Ed Wood, a filmmaker sometimes called "the worst director of all time". Starring Johnny Depp in the title role, the film is an homage to the low-budget science fiction and horror films of Burton's childhood, and handles its comical protagonist and his motley band of collaborators with surprising fondness and sensitivity. Owing to creative squabbles during the making of The Nightmare Before Christmas, Danny Elfman declined to score Ed Wood, and the assignment went to Howard Shore. While a commercial failure at the time of its release, Ed Wood was well received by critics. Martin Landau received an Academy Award in the Best Supporting Actor category for his portrayal of Béla Lugosi. Gene Siskel once said that two films, Ed Wood and Citizen Kane, should be mandatory films to see in film classes.

Batman Forever

Despite his intention to still lead the Batman franchise, Warner Bros. considered Batman Returns too dark and unsafe for children. To attract the young audience, it was decided that Joel Schumacher, who had directed films like The Client, lead the third film, while Burton would only produce it in conjunction with Peter McGregor-Scott. Following this change and the changes made by the new director, Michael Keaton resigned from the lead role and was replaced by Val Kilmer. Filming began in late 1994 and recognized with new actors: Tommy Lee Jones, Nicole Kidman, Chris O'Donnell and Jim Carrey; the only two actors who returned were Pat Hingle and Michael Gough. The film, a mixture of darkness that characterized the saga with colors and neon signs proposed by Schumacher, was a huge box office success of $336 million, despite controversy over the characters and plot. Despite their friendship, Burton often disagreed with Schumacher's decisions, especially in the filming of several scenes which were removed from the final cut (later added as deleted scenes on the 2005 DVD release). Warner Bros. demanded Schumacher delete those scenes so the film did not have the same tone as its predecessor Batman Returns. According to an interview with Janet Scott Batchler, Burton's only involvement as producer with Batman Forever was approving Schumacher as director and Lee and Janet Scott Batchler as the writers. Burton did not contribute story ideas and the Riddler was not considered for the villain until Schumacher and the Batchlers were at the development stage. Schumacher was rehired to lead another sequel, the infamous Batman & Robin, in which Burton, for unknown reasons, did not participate.

James and the Giant Peach

In 1996, Burton and Selick reunited for the musical fantasy James and the Giant Peach, based on the book by Roald Dahl. The film starred Richard Dreyfuss, Susan Sarandon, David Thewlis, Simon Callow and Jane Leeves among others, with Burton producing and Selick directing. The film was mostly praised by critics, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Musical or Comedy Score (by Randy Newman).

Mars Attacks!

Elfman and Burton reunited for Mars Attacks! (1996). Based on a popular science fiction trading card series, the film was a hybrid of 1950s science fiction and 1970s all-star disaster films. Coincidence made it an inadvertent spoof of the blockbuster, Independence Day, made around the same time and released five months earlier. The film boasted an all-star cast, including Jack Nicholson, Pierce Brosnan, Michael J. Fox, Sarah Jessica Parker, Natalie Portman, Lukas Haas, Glenn Close, Martin Short, Rod Steiger, Christina Applegate, and Jack Black.

Sleepy Hollow

Sleepy Hollow, released in late 1999, had a supernatural setting and another offbeat performance by Johnny Depp as Ichabod Crane, now a detective with an interest in forensic science rather than the schoolteacher of Washington Irving's original tale. With Hollow, Burton paid homage to the horror films of the English company Hammer Films. Christopher Lee, one of Hammer's stars, was given a cameo role. A host of Burton regulars appeared in supporting roles (Michael Gough, Jeffrey Jones and Christopher Walken, among others) and Christina Ricci was cast as Katrina van Tassel. Mostly well-received by critics, and with a special mention to Elfman's Gothic score, the film won an Academy Award for Best Art Direction, as well as two BAFTAs for Best Costume Design and Best Production Design. A box office success, Sleepy Hollow was also a turning point for Burton. Along with change in his personal life (separation from actress Lisa Marie), Burton changed radically in style for his next project, leaving the haunted forests and colorful outcasts behind to go on to directing Planet of the Apes which, as Burton had repeatedly noted, was "not a remake" of the earlier film.

2000s

Planet of the Apes

Planet of the Apes was a commercial success, grossing $68 million in its opening weekend. The film has received mixed reviews and is widely considered inferior to the first adaptation of the novel. One criticism was that the movie went for a more watered down "popcorn" feel than the dark, cerebral and nihilistic tone of the 1968 film. 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.[10] Burton reportedly clashed with the studio during the whole making of the film, once going as far as abruptly leaving the set for the day. There were also many reports about last minute changes in the film. The film enjoyed commercial success and had an ending that clearly suggested the possibility of a sequel, but neither the studio nor Burton gave indications of making another Apes movie (which later became Rise of the Planet of the Apes). The ending was also closer to that of the novel. During the making of the film, Burton met actress Helena Bonham Carter, who would later become his long-term domestic partner.

Big Fish

In 2003, Burton directed Big Fish, based on the novel Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions by Daniel Wallace. The film is about a father telling the story of his life to his son using exaggeration and color. Starring Ewan McGregor as young Edward Bloom and Albert Finney as an older Edward Bloom, the film also stars Jessica Lange, Billy Crudup, Danny DeVito, Alison Lohman and Marion Cotillard. Big Fish received four Golden Globe nominations as well as an Academy Award nomination for the musical score by Danny Elfman. Big Fish was also the second collaboration with Burton and Helena Bonham Carter, who played the characters of Jenny and the Witch.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) is an adaptation of the book of the same name by Roald Dahl. Starring Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka, Freddie Highmore as Charlie Bucket and Helena Bonham Carter as Mrs. Bucket, the film generally took a more faithful approach to the source material than the 1971 adaptation, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, although some liberties were taken, such as adding Wonka's issue with his father (played by Christopher Lee). Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was later nominated for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design. The film made over $207 million domestically. Filming proved difficult as he and Elfman had to work on this and Burton's Corpse Bride at the same time.

Corpse Bride

Corpse Bride (2005) was Burton's first full-length stop-motion film as a director, featuring the voices of Johnny Depp as Victor and Helena Bonham Carter (for whom the project was specifically created) as Emily in the lead roles. In this film, Burton was able again to use his familiar styles and trademarks, such as the complex interaction between light and darkness, and of being caught between two irreconcilable worlds.

"Bones"

"Bones" (2006) is the only music video Burton has directed to date. The song "Bones" is the third single from The Killers, off of their second studio album, Sam's Town. Starring in this video were actors Michael Steger and Devon Aoki. There are various scenes from films like Creature from the Black Lagoon, Jason and the Argonauts and Lolita.

The band, as well as Steger and Aoki, change into partial skeletons through out the video, and everyone is a skeleton by the end of the video. At the 2007 Shockwaves NME Awards it won the award for Best Video.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

The DreamWorks/Warner Bros. production was released on December 21, 2007. Burton's work on Sweeney Todd won the National Board of Review Award for best director[11] and received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Director[12] and won an Academy Award for Best Achievement in Art Direction. Helena Bonham Carter won an Evening Standard British Film Award for her portrayal of Mrs. Lovett, as well as a Golden Globe nomination. The film is a devastating blend of explicit gore and Broadway tunes. Johnny Depp was nominated for the Best Actor Oscar for the role of Sweeney Todd. Depp won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Musical/Comedy, as well as the award for Best Villain as Todd in the 2008 MTV Awards.

9

In 2005, filmmaker Shane Acker released his short film 9, a story about a sentient rag doll living in a post-apocalyptic world who tries to stop machines from destroying the rest of his eight fellow rag dolls called Stitchpunk. The film won numerous awards and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. After seeing the short film, Tim Burton director of Beetlejuice and Timur Bekmambetov, director of Wanted, showed interest in producing a feature-length adaptation of the film. Also directed by Acker, the film was written by Acker (story) & Pamela Pettler (screenplay, co-writer of Corpse Bride) and starred Elijah Wood, John C. Reilly, Jennifer Connelly, Christopher Plummer, Martin Landau, Crispin Glover, and Fred Tatasciore, among others. This was Burton's first animated movie aside from his stop-motion films.

2010s

Alice in Wonderland

In Burton's version, the story is set 13 years after the original Lewis Carroll tales. Mia Wasikowska, who featured in the HBO series In Treatment and Defiance, was cast as Alice. The original start date was May 2008.[13] Torpoint and Plymouth were the locations used for filming from September 1 – October 14, and the film remains set in the Victorian era. During this time, filming took place in Antony House in Torpoint.[14] 250 local extras were chosen in early August.[15][16] Other production work took place in London.[17] The film was originally to be released in 2009, but was pushed to March 5, 2010.[18] Johnny Depp plays the Mad Hatter, Matt Lucas, star of Little Britain, is both Tweedledee and Tweedledum, Helena Bonham Carter portrays Red Queen, Stephen Fry is the Cheshire Cat, Anne Hathaway as The White Queen, Alan Rickman as Absolem the Caterpillar, Michael Sheen as McTwisp the White Rabbit and Crispin Glover as the Knave of Hearts.

Tim Burton appeared at the 2009 Comic-Con in San Diego, California, to promote both 9 and Alice in Wonderland. When asked about the filmmaking process by an attendee, he mentioned his "imaginary friend" who helps him out, prompting Johnny Depp to walk on stage to the applause of the audience. The film won two Academy Awards for Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design

Dark Shadows

Dark Shadows is the next Tim Burton film to once again star Johnny Depp in the leading role. This movie is based on the original Dark Shadows soap opera. A few more members of the cast have been announced such as Helena Bonham Carter, Michelle Pfeiffer, Eva Green, Jackie Earle Haley, Bella Heathcote, Thomas McDonell, Gulliver McGrath and Chloë Moretz. The filming began in April 2011 and will be released on May 11, 2012. Danny Elfman will compose and conduct the score and soundtrack for the film, and Colleen Atwood will be the costume designer.

Future projects

Burton is remaking his 1984 short film Frankenweenie as a feature length stop motion film, distributed by Walt Disney Pictures.[19] The film is set to be released on October 5, 2012.[20]

On January 19, 2010, it was announced that after Dark Shadows, Burton's next project would be a Wicked-like film that showed the origin and the past of Sleeping Beauty's antagonist Maleficent. In an interview with Fandango published February 23, 2010, however, he denied he was directing any upcoming Sleeping Beauty film.[21] However, on November 23, 2010, in an interview with MTV, Burton confirmed that he was indeed putting together a script for Maleficent.[22] It was announced in The Hollywood Reporter on May 16, 2011 that Burton is no longer attached to Maleficent.[23]

Burton will also co-produce Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter with Timur Bekmambetov, who will also serve as director. The film is based on the novel by Seth Grahame-Smith, also author of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, who also wrote the film's screenplay. It has also been reported that Burton will be directing a 3-D stop-motion animation adaptation of The Addams Family, which was confirmed by Christopher Meledandri.[24] On July 19, 2010, he was announced as the director of the upcoming film adaptation of Monsterpocalypse.[25]

Personal life

Burton was married to Lena Gieseke, a German-born artist, for two years, whom he left to live with model and actress Lisa Marie; she acted in the films he made during their relationship from 1992 to 2001, most notably in Ed Wood and Mars Attacks! After leaving her, Burton then developed a romantic liaison with English actress Helena Bonham Carter, whom he met while filming Planet of the Apes. Lisa Marie responded in 2005 by holding an auction of personal belongings that Burton had left behind, much to his dismay.[26]

Burton and Bonham Carter have two children: a son, Billy Raymond, named after his and Bonham Carter's fathers, born October 4, 2003; and a daughter, Nell, born December 15, 2007.[27] Close friend Johnny Depp is a godfather of both of Burton's children. In Burton on Burton, Depp wrote the introduction, stating, "What more can I say about him? He is a brother, a friend, my godson's father. He is a unique and brave soul, someone that I would go to the ends of the earth for, and I know, full and well, he would do the same for me."

Burton was the President of the Jury for the 63rd annual Cannes Film Festival, which was held from May 12 to May 24, 2010 in Cannes, France.[28]

On 15 March 2010, Burton received the insignia of Chevalier of Arts and Letters from Minister of Culture, Frédéric Mitterrand.[29]

Recurring collaborators Director, Producer and Writer

Actor Vincent (1982) Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985) Beetle
juice
(1988)
Batman (1989) Edward Scissorhands (1990) Batman Returns (1992) The Nightmare Before Christmas1 (1993) Ed Wood (1994) Mars Attacks! (1996) Sleepy Hollow (1999) Planet of the Apes (2001) Big Fish (2003) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) Corpse Bride (2005) Sweeney Todd (2007) 9 (2009) Alice in Wonderland (2010) Dark Shadows (2012) Franken
weenie
(2012)
Helena Bonham Carter Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Elijah Wood Y
Johnny Depp Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Danny DeVito Y Y Y
Danny Elfman2 Y Y Y
Conchata Ferrell Y Y
Albert Finney Y Y
Carmen Filpi Y Y Y
Michael Gough Y Y Y Y
Pat Hingle Y Y
Jan Hooks Y Y
Helena Bonham Carter Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Fred Tatasciore Y
Rance Howard Y Y
Jeffrey Jones Y Y Y
O-Lan Jones Y Y
Martin Landau Y Y Y Y
Michael Keaton Y Y Y
Christopher Lee Y Y Y Y Y Y
Lisa Marie Y Y Y Y
Jack Nicholson Y Y
Sarah Jessica Parker Y Y
Catherine O'Hara Y Y Y
Michelle Pfeiffer Y Y
Vincent Price Y Y
Missi Pyle Y Y
Paul Reubens Y Y Y
Alan Rickman Y Y
Deep Roy Y Y Y Y
Crispin Glover Y Y
Winona Ryder Y Y Y
Diane Salinger Y Y
Glenn Shadix Y Y Y
Martin Short Y Y
Timothy Spall Y
Sylvia Sidney Y Y
Christopher Walken Y Y
Frank Welker Y
Paul Whitehouse Y

1Burton isn't responsible for direction of The Nightmare Before Christmas, but only for production and writing.

2While Danny Elfman composed music for most of Burton's films, he is credited in the above table as a (voice) actor.

Exhibitions

"Tim Burton" at Museum of Modern Art

From November 22, 2009 to April 26, 2010, Burton had a retrospective at the MoMA in New York with over 700 "drawings, paintings, photographs, storyboards, moving-image works, puppets, maquettes, costumes, and cinematic ephemera," including many from the filmmaker's personal collection.[30][31] The show also includes amateur and student films, music videos, commercials, and digital slide shows, as well as a complete set of features and shorts.[32]

"Tim Burton" at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI)

From MoMA, the "Tim Burton" exhibition will travel directly to Australian Centre for the Moving Image in Melbourne. Running from June 24 to October 10, 2010, the ACMI exhibition will incorporate additional material from Burton's Alice in Wonderland, which was released in March.[33]

"Tim Burton" at the TIFF Bell Lightbox

The exhibition was displayed at the TIFF Bell Lightbox in Toronto, Ontario, Canada from November 26, 2010 to April 17, 2011. It was accompanied by several personal appearances by Burton as well as a retrospective of his films.

"Tim Burton" at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)

"The Art of Tim Burton" is now being exhibited at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. It will last from May 29 to October 31, 2011 in the Museum's Resnick Pavilion.[34] LACMA has also featured six films of Tim Burton's idol, Vincent Price, for the actor's 100th birthday during the closing weekend of the Exhibit.

Bibliography

Filmography

Year Film Director Producer Writer
1982 Vincent
Y
Y
1984 Frankenweenie
Y
Y
1985 Pee-wee's Big Adventure
Y
1988 Beetlejuice
Y
1989 Batman
Y
1990 Edward Scissorhands
Y
Y
Y
1992 Batman Returns
Y
Y
1993 The Nightmare Before Christmas
Y
Y
1994 Cabin Boy
Y
Ed Wood
Y
Y
1995 Batman Forever
Y
1996 James and the Giant Peach
Y
Mars Attacks!
Y
Y
1999 Sleepy Hollow
Y
2001 Planet of the Apes
Y
2003 Big Fish
Y
2005 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Y
Corpse Bride
Y
Y
2007 Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Y
2009 9
Y
2010 Alice in Wonderland
Y
2012 Dark Shadows
Y
Y
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
Y
Frankenweenie
Y
Y
Y

Short films

Animator filmography

Cameos and other film work

Art filmography

Internet shorts

Television

Music videos

See also

Awards

Academy Awards

BAFTA Awards

Cannes Film Festival

Chicago Film Critics Association Awards

Golden Globe Awards

National Board of Review Awards

Producers Guild of America Awards

64th Venice International Film Festival

Further reading

References

  1. ^ Tim Burton's middle name is cited as Walter by the Museum of Modern Art on its web appearance for a 2009 exhibition on Burton's art work and a book covering Burton's career as an artist and filmmaker, though it is cited as William by other sources, such as the Tim Burton Collective.
  2. ^ Alice in Wonderland at the Internet Movie Database
  3. ^ "Dates Set for Dark Shadows, Journey 2 and Rivals". ComingSoon.net. May 13, 2011. http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=77504. 
  4. ^ "Disney Date Shifts: ‘Frankenweenie’ and ‘John Carter of Mars’ Get New Berths". /Film. http://www.slashfilm.com/disney-date-shifts-frankenweenie-john-carter-mars-berths. 
  5. ^ Morgenstern, Joe (April 9, 1989). "Tim Burton, Batman and The Joker". NYTimes.com. http://www.nytimes.com/1989/04/09/magazine/tim-burton-batman-and-the-joker.html?pagewanted=all. Retrieved March 12, 2010. 
  6. ^ "Tim+Burton". The Times (London). http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/article544489.ece?print=yes&randnum=1151003209000. Retrieved May 25, 2010. 
  7. ^ "Tim Burton's early short: 'King and Octopus' Clip". YouTube. December 5, 2009. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Jo6L9Qzpp0. Retrieved June 4, 2010. 
  8. ^ Tim Burton, Burton on Burton: Revised Edition (London: Faber and Faber, 2006) 71.
  9. ^ Awards for Cabin Boy at the Internet Movie Database
  10. ^ "Tim Burton: Biography from". Answers.com. http://www.answers.com/topic/tim-burton. Retrieved March 12, 2010. 
  11. ^ "Tim Burton (i) – awards". Imdb.com. May 1, 2009. http://imdb.com/name/nm0000318/awards. Retrieved March 12, 2010. 
  12. ^ "65th Annual Golden Globe awards". Imdb.com. May 1, 2009. http://imdb.com/features/rto/2008/globes. Retrieved March 12, 2010. 
  13. ^ Marc Graser (November 15, 2007). "Burton, Disney team on 3D films". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117976106. Retrieved August 15, 2008. 
  14. ^ "Alice in Wonderland — starring Johnny Depp? – to be filmed at National Trust house". The Daily Telegraph (London). August 22, 2008. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/2603396/Alice-in-Wonderland---starring-Johnny-Depp---to-be-filmed-at-National-Trust-house.html. Retrieved September 1, 2008. 
  15. ^ Tristan Nichols (July 31, 2008). "Plymouth in Wonderland". The Herald. 
  16. ^ Tristan Nichols (August 21, 2008). "Historic house unveiled as location for Tim Burton's Alice film". The Herald. 
  17. ^ Army Archerd (April 17, 2008). "1958: Zanuck's Heaven visits Africa". Variety. http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=Variety100&articleid=VR1117984225. Retrieved August 15, 2008. 
  18. ^ Pamela McClintock (February 20, 2008). "Disney unveils 2009 schedule". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117981211. Retrieved August 15, 2008. 
  19. ^ Marc Graser (November 15, 2007). "Burton, Disney team on 3D films". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117976106.html?categoryid=13&cs=1. Retrieved November 16, 2007. 
  20. ^ Russ Fischer (August 9, 2010) "Disney Sets 2012 Release Dates For ‘John Carter of Mars’ and ‘Frankenweenie’".
  21. ^ "Exclusive Interview: Tim Burton Creates a Wonderland". http://www.fandango.com/commentator_exclusiveinterview:timburtoncreatesawonderland_319. Retrieved February 25, 2010. Fandango.com, February 23, 2010, Elisa Osegueda, Fandango Film Commentator.
  22. ^ "Tim Burton Talks Dark Shadows, Frankenweenie, Maleficent and The Addams Family!". MTV Movies Blog. http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2010/11/23/tim-burton-dark-shadows-frankenweenie-maleficent-addams-family. 
  23. ^ "Tim Burton Won't Direct Disney's Maleficent". The Hollywood Reporter. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/tim-burton-wont-direct-disneys-188700. 
  24. ^ Perri Nemiroff. "Tim Burton's Animated Addams Family Confirmed". Cinema Blend. http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Tim-Burton-s-Animated-Addams-Family-Confirmed-19250.html. 
  25. ^ Exclusive: Tim Burton Developing Monsterpocalypse, Full Details Revealed – Exclusive: Tim Burton Developing Monsterpocalypse, Full Details Revealed – /Film
  26. ^ Tim Burton Riled over Sale by Ex Lisa Marie by Stephen M. Silverman for People.com.
  27. ^ Norman, Pete (August 7, 2008 August 2008). "Helena Bonham Carter Reveals Her 7-Month-Old's Name". People. http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20217444,00.html. Retrieved May 3, 2009. 
  28. ^ "Tim Burton, President of the Jury of the 63rd Festival de Cannes". Festival-cannes.com. http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/article/56993.html. Retrieved June 4, 2010. 
  29. ^ "Burton receives the insignia of Chevalier of Arts and Letters from Minister of Culture, Frédéric Mitterrand". Daily Mail. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1258342/Painful-honour-Marion-Cotillard-minister-accidentally-pins-medal-chest.html. Retrieved May 25, 2011. 
  30. ^ Steinhauer, Jillian. "A Sneak Peek Inside Tim Burton’s Head (and MoMA’s Show)." ARTINFO, July 29, 2009.
  31. ^ Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) web appearance for a 2009 exhibition on Tim Burton's art work.
  32. ^ Cashdan, Marina. "Burton: Hailing Filmdom’s Oddest Artist." Modern Painters, November 2009.
  33. ^ Coslovich, Gabriella. "ACMI snares Tim Burton show for Winter Masterpieces, The Age, October 22, 2009.
  34. ^ LACMA. Exhibitions: Tim Burton

External links

Awards and achievements
National Board of Review
Preceded by
Martin Scorsese
for The Departed
Best Director
for Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

2007
Succeeded by
David Fincher
for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Preceded by
Leslie H. Martinson
Batman film director
19891992
Succeeded by
Joel Schumacher