Happy 62nd Birthday, Tim Burton! Born today in 1958 as Timothy Walter Burton, this American artist, animator, writer, producer and film director is best known for his dark, gothic, and eccentric horror and fantasy films.
Burton spent most of his childhood as a recluse, drawing cartoons, and watching old movies (he was especially fond of films with Vincent Price).
When he was in the ninth grade, Burton's artistic talent was recognized by a local garbage company, when he won a prize for an anti-litter poster he designed. The company later placed this poster on all of their garbage trucks for a year.
After graduating from high school, Burton attended California Institute of the Arts. Like so many others who graduated from that school, his first job was as an animator for Disney.
In the late 1970s, Burton performed in the finale shot of the 1979 American musical road comedy family film 'The Muppet Movie'. He served as one of many dozens of puppeteers.
His early film career was fueled by almost unbelievable good luck, but it is his talent and originality that have kept him at the top of the Hollywood tree.
Burton worked on such films as 'The Fox and the Hound' (1981) and 'The Black Cauldron' (1985), but had some creative differences with his colleagues.
In the late 1980s, he directed the first film of which he is best known. This was the 1989 American superhero action/adventure film 'Batman'.
The film was a critical and financial success, earning $411.6 million in box office totals against a budget of $35 million. At the time of its release, 'Batman' was the fifth-highest-grossing film in history.
The film had been based on characters that appeared in the magazines published by DC Comics, with the Batman characters created by American comic book writer, animator and artist Bob Kane.
The following year, 'Batman' won the Oscar for Best Art Direction. This occurred at the 62nd Academy Awards in late March 1990.
'Batman' also inspired the equally successful Batman: The Animated Series, paving the way for the DC animated universe.
The film has also influenced Hollywood's modern marketing and development techniques of the superhero film genre.
Three sequels, 'Batman Returns' (1992), 'Batman Forever' (1995) and 'Batman & Robin' (1997), were released.
The last two films were directed by American film director, screenwriter, and producer Joel Schumacher. For Schumacher, Burton only co-produced 'Batman Forever'.
Later the same year after the 62nd Academy Awards, Burton co-conceived, co-produced and directed the second and final film of which he is best known.
This was the 1990 American romance/fantasy film 'Edward Scissorhands'. The film was the final appearance of Vincent Price, credited as The Inventor. Burton had conceived 'Edward Scissorhands' from his childhood upbringing in suburban Burbank, California.
The character of The Inventor was devised specifically for Price, and would be his last major role. Edward's scissor hands were created and designed by American television and film special make-up effects creator Stan Winston.
'Edward Scissorhands' was released to a positive reception from critics and was a financial success, grossing over four times its $20 million budget. The film received numerous nominations at the
During pre-production of 'Beetlejuice' (1988), American novelist, screenwriter, film director, and producer. Caroline Thompson was hired to adapt Burton's story into a screenplay, and the film began development at 20th Century Fox, after Warner Bros. declined.
Upon release, 'Edward Scissorhands' was then fast tracked after Burton's critical and financial success with 'Batman'. The film also marks the fourth collaboration between Burton and American composer, singer, and songwriter Danny Elfman.
The leading role of Edward had been connected to several actors prior to Depp's casting: a meeting between Burton and the preferred choice of the studio, Tom Cruise, was not fruitful, and Tom Hanks and Gary Oldman turned down the part.
Released in early December, 'Edward Scissorhands' was released to a positive reception from critics and was a financial success, grossing over four times its $20 million budget with $86 million at the box office.
The film received numerous nominations at the Academy Awards, British Academy Film Awards, and the Saturn Awards, as well as winning the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation. Both Burton and Elfman consider 'Edward Scissorhands' their most personal and favorite work.
Burton has often worked with Johnny Depp and American composer, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor Danny Elman, who has composed scores for all but three of the films Burton has directed. Helena Bonham Carter, Burton's former domestic partner, has appeared in many of his films.
Burton wrote and illustrated the dark comedy speculative fiction poetry book The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories, published in 1997 by the independent British publishing house Faber and Faber.
The poems, which are full of black humor, tell stories of hybrid kids, spontaneous transformers, and women who have babies to win over men.
Burton also has a compilation of his drawings, sketches and other artwork, entitled The Art of Tim Burton. It was released in 2009.
A follow-up to that book, entitled The Napkin Art of Tim Burton: Things You Think About in a Bar, containing sketches made by Burton on napkins at bars and restaurants he visited, was released in 2015.
The book is a definitive compilation of forty years of his artistry, including film concepts and hundreds of illustrations from his personal archives, edited under the creative guidance of Burton himself.
Among his credits of the 1980s, Burton is known for directing 'Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985) and 'Beetlejuice' (1988).
Among his credits of the 1990s, Burton is known for directing 'Batman Returns' (1992), 'Ed Wood' (1994), 'Mars Attacks' (1996), and 'Sleepy Hollow' (1999).
Also, during the 1990s, Burton was known for collaborating with American stop motion director, producer, and writer Henry Selick.
This was on creating the characters, conceiving and co-producing Selick's 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' (1993), and co-producing 'James and the Giant Peach' (1996).
Among his credits of the 2000s, Burton is known for directing 'Planet of the Apes' (2001), 'Big Fish' (2003), 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' (2005), 'Corpse Bride' (2005), and 'Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street' (2007).
Two years after 'Sweeney Todd', Burton served as co-producer on the 2009 American computer-animated post-apocalyptic science fiction film '9'.
Among his credits of the 2010s, Burton is known for directing 'Alice in Wonderland' (2010), 'Dark Shadows' (2012), 'Frankenweenie' (2012), 'Big Eyes' (2014), 'Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children' (2016), and 'Dumbo' (2019).
The same year before Burton directed 'Miss Peregrine', he served as co-producer on 'Alice Through the Looking Glass' (2016).
According to Burton's personal life, he has been married three times.
Most notably, his last two wives were American actress and model Lisa Marie Smith (1993–2001) and Helena Bonham Carter (2001–2014). Burton and Carter have two children together.
Despite the fluctuations in his career, Burton proved himself to be one of the most popular directors of the late 20th century. This is due to a few of the personal trademarks that he uses in his features.
Not only does Burton use lighting to achieve a desired effect on the audience's feelings, he also uses music and sound to mold the mood of the films.
Flashbacks are also essential for defining Burton's style because they are necessary to the plot, or give characters depth and meaning.
Good directors use cinematic elements to create mood and tone, and Burton is one of the best.
He effectively uses lighting/color, camera/movement, and sound/music to create mood and tone in his features. This cinematic technique made the characters seem bored and depressed.
Burton is known for his original quirky style that frequently drew on elements of the fantastic and the macabre. He is one of those directors who has an easily identifiable visual style.
Almost all of his films revel in gothic imagery. From the characters themselves, to the props, to the houses and cities where the films take place are sculpted in an exaggerated, almost cartoonish way to emphasize “goth” features.
Burton has been active from 1971–present.
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If Burton was a chef...
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