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Tim Burton Biography

His early film career was fueled by almost unbelievable good luck, but it`s his talent and originality that have kept him at the top of the Hollywood tree. Tim Burton began drawing at an early age, going on to attend the California Institute of the Arts, studying animation after being awarded a fellowship from Disney, for whom he went on to work. Although he found that the mainstream Disney films he worked on (The Fox and the Hound (1981)) were far removed from his own sensibility, Disney let him have the freedom to work on his own personal projects, the six-minute animated black-and-white Gothic Vincent Price tribute Vincent (1982), and the 27-minute live-action Frankenweenie (1984), which was judged unsuitable for children and never released. However, Paul Reubens (aka Pee-Wee Herman) saw it and decided that Burton, still only in his mid-twenties, would be the ideal person to direct his feature debut, Pee-wee`s Big Adventure (1985). An enormous (and surprise) box-office hit, it led to the supernatural comedy Beetle Juice (1988), which in turn led to Burton being entrusted with the reins on the hugely expensive Batman (1989). Although his least personal film, it was one of the most successful films of all time, and gave him unprecedented power in Hollywood considering the originality and adventurousness of his work thus far. Edward Scissorhands (1990), another hit, saw him at the peak of his creative powers and established a fruitful working relationship with actor Johnny Depp. Batman Returns (1992) was a far darker and quirkier film than the original, a reflection of how much creative freedom Burton had won (though Warner Bros were reputedly unhappy with the final result). And although Ed Wood (1994), his loving tribute to the life and work of the legendary Worst Director of All Time, Edward D. Wood Jr., was a box-office disaster, it garnered some of the best reviews of Burton`s career, and suggests that he`ll continue dazzling audiences for many years to come.

Biography Credit: www.imdb.com/name/nm0000318/bio
 

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Trivia

Quotes
  • I always liked strange characters.
  • I grew up watching things like The Brain That Wouldn`t Die (1962) on Saturday afternoon television. There`s a guy with his arm ripped off and blood smeared all over the wall. I never saw it as negative. I find that stuff, when it`s not rooted in reality, to be cathartic.
  • It is unfortunate that Disney closed down its drawn-animation unit. I find it quite upsetting, because they made a few drawn movies that weren`t successful and they went, `Well, that is dead, so we have to go to computers.` They forget that the reason that they have been successful is because Pixar [whose films Disney distributes] makes good 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.
  • 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.
  • I`ve always loved the idea of fairy tales, but somehow I never managed to completely connect with them. What interests me is taking those classic images and themes and trying to contemporize them a bit. I believe folk tales and fairy tales have some sort of psychological foundation that makes that possible.
  • [on Batman Begins (2005)] "I saw a tape of it. It was very touching. Very good."
  • Anybody who knows me knows I would never read a comic book. And I certainly would never read anything written by Kevin Smith.
  • 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.
  • [About working with Jack Nicholson on Batman (1989)] "By the time Jack walks onto the set, he feels very clear and strong about the character. So when you`re shooting it`s great, because that`s when you toy around with the levels of how broad to go."
  • [commenting on the demolition of the Landmark casino in Las Vegas for the film Mars Attacks! (1996)] "It was like watching something die."
  • [genres] "I had never really done something that was more of a horror film, and it`s funny, because those are the kind of movies that I like probably more than any other genre. The script had images in it that I liked ."
  • [memories] "I remember when I was younger, I had these two windows in my room, nice windows that looked out onto the lawn, and for some reason my parents walled them up and gave me this little slit window that I had to climb up on a desk to see out of. To this day I never asked them why; I should ask them."
  • [on picking screenplays] I wouldn`t know a good script if it bit me in the face.
  • [on the stress of delivering a summer movie in an era when release dates are often set by studios before a script is finished] It`s like you`re a runner and they beat the shit out of you and break your legs right before you`re supposed to race, and then they say, `Now go win the race.`
  • [Talking about the Batman characters]: "These are some of the wildest characters in comics and yet, they seem the most real to me."
  • [the approach you have to take in movies] " . . . you always have to feel like it`s gonna be the greatest, even if it`s a . . . you know . . . piece of crap."
    Trivia
  • Engaged to Helena Bonham Carter [2001-present] 2 children.
    (imdb.com)
  • Grew up in Burbank on Evergreen Street, and his family lived in the 2000 block, near Valhalla Cemetary. Attended Providencia Elementary School in Burbank, California.
    (imdb.com)
  • He once said he never remembers his dreams, apart from five recurring dreams, one of them involving the girl he was in love with when he was a teenager and another involving his parents` bedroom.
    (imdb.com)
  • Is a "Bollywood" fan.
    (imdb.com)
  • Is a big fan of "nudie" director Russ Meyer.
    (imdb.com)
  • Is a big fan of Italian director Mario Bava. He once said he would like to remake Bava`s classic Maschera del demonio, La (1960) with his former partner Lisa Marie. He also appeared in two documentaries about Bava.
    (imdb.com)
  • Johnny Depp is a godfather of his son Billy Ray Burton.
    (imdb.com)
  • Nearly everywhere he goes, he carries a pocket-size sketchbook and a small watercolor kit.
    (imdb.com)
  • Played water polo and swam for Burbank High School in California.
    (imdb.com)
  • Usually dresses in black, because he doesn`t like spending too much time matching colors.
    (imdb.com)
  • Younger brother Daniel Burton is also an artist.
    (imdb.com)
  • At the end of Beetle Juice (1988), Beetlejuice metamorphoses into a bizarre creature with a merry-go-round on his head. On the top of this merry-go-round is a smiling skull which became Jack Skellington in The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993). The latter movie had been a pet project of Burton`s since his days as an animator at Disney.
    (imdb.com)
  • Engaged to Lisa Marie from 1992-2001.
    (imdb.com)
  • He has an interest in clowns, and his films will often include them or make reference to them.
    (imdb.com)
  • His movies always opens with a personal version of the studio`s logo.
    (imdb.com)
  • Lives in Ojai (California) and New York.
    (imdb.com)
  • Obsession with horror actors: he makes movies about them (Vincent (1982), Ed Wood (1994)), or he actually casts them in his films (e.g. Vincent Price, Michael Gough, Christopher Lee, Christopher Walken).
    (imdb.com)
  • Often looks into the main character`s past through a series offlashbacks (i.e.Edward Scissorhands (1990), Sleepy Hollow (1999), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)).
    (imdb.com)
  • Often shows scarecrows in his movies.
    (imdb.com)
  • Used the song "It`s Not Unusual", performed by Tom Jones, in Edward Scissorhands (1990) and then in Mars Attacks! (1996).
    (imdb.com)
  • Usually includes fantasy elements in his films.
    (imdb.com)
  • Born in Burbank, California, USA
    (imdb.com)
  • Frequently casts Jeffrey Jones, Paul Reubens, Glenn Shadix, Michael Keaton, Lisa Marie, Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Michael Gough, Deep Roy and Christopher Lee.
    (imdb.com)
  • Frequently features dead or dismembered dogs.
    (imdb.com)
  • Frequently uses composer Danny Elfman.
    (imdb.com)
  • He often likes to open his films with a quiet night time snowfall.
    (imdb.com)
  • His films often have a Gothic feel to them, often including Christmas and/or Halloween scenes.
    (imdb.com)
  • Many of his films feature townspeople who misunderstand and/ordistrust the lead character.
    (imdb.com)
  • Often does the beginning credits sequence with the camera going through something (Batman (1989),Beetle Juice (1988),Edward Scissorhands (1990), orfollowing something(Batman Returns (1992),Mars Attacks! (1996),Sleepy Hollow (1999) , Charlie and The Chocolate Factory (2005) _,_and SweeneyTodd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)).
    (imdb.com)
  • Plot often focuses around a misunderstood outcast.
    (imdb.com)
  • Spouse: Lena Gieseke (24 February 1989 - 31 December 1991) (divorced)
    (imdb.com)
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