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The birth of Tim Burton
Tim Burton, the son of Jean and William "Bill" Burton, was born on August 25, 1958 in Burbank, California, United States. -
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Early Life
Tim Burton lived with his family in their suburban neighborhood in Burbank California. In the sameness of his life in the suburb he found comfort in the cemetery near his house, Valhalla Memorial park cemetery. Throughout his teenage years he made simple stop motion films with what he could find around the house, or he would make short films with 8mm film.
One of his earliest short films was "The Island of Doctor Agor. -
The Island of Doctor Agor
This was made by Tim Burton when he was 13 years old.
He starred in this film as Doctor Agor. -
Tim Burton attends the California Institute of the Arts
Tim Burton attends the California Institute of the arts, wanting to improve on and, hopefully, have his talents noticed by the instructors that worked there.
One of the short films he made at Cal Arts was Stalk of the Celery Monster. -
Tim burton and the House of Mouse
Tim Burton was approached by Disney upon his graduation from the California Institute of the arts, and was hired almost immediately as an apprentice animator. The first film he worked on was "The Fox and the Hound" as an uncredited animator. Unfortunately, like the next two films, his concept art never made it to the final film. -
Tron and Vincent
Tim Burton worked as a concept artist on Tron, but his art never made the cut for the released film. At this time Tim Burton made his six minute stop motion short film "Vincent". The narrator was non other than Vincent Price, a popular actor, well known in the horror genre.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fq7WkuvO3hM -
Tim Burtons first ever live action film
His first ever live action film was a Japanese adaptation of the Hansel and Gretel fairy tale. The climax of the film had the children Kung Fu fight the witch. It aired once on the eve of the 1983 Halloween at 10:30, failed miserably, and was shelved. -
Frankenweenie
Tim burtons next film, Frankenweenie was made in 1984, foccusing on a boy reviving his dog from a car crash.
Disney fired him after he created Frankenweenie, stating their reasoning that he was wasting company resources on a film that would be scary and uninteresting to children. -
The Black Cauldron
Tim Burtons creative genius unfortunately never made it into this film. -
Beetlejuice
Tim Burtons next major project would be the horror/comedy "Beetlejuice". This film would make 80million and be given an award for best makeup on a low budget. Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ickbVzajrk0 This movie would later be adapted into the T.V cartoon, with Burton as the executive producer. -
BATMAN *Trumpet Noise*
This was Tim Burtons first big budget film, and, it was plagued with problems. almost immediately he was feuding with the producers, Jon Peters and Peter Guber. One of the most notable clashes was with casting Michal Keaton as batman. The producers wanted a more muscular actor, that had experience in action movies to star as Batman. In the end Tim Burton won the argument, and won the fan base over with the largest advertising campaign in history (at the time). The film made 400 million worldwide -
Edward Scissorhands
Burton co-wrote and produced Edward Scissorhands in 1990. Johonny Depp was cast for the lead role, Edward.
Tim Burton has stated that this film is one of the ones that are the most important to him, as it shows and talks about how he felt in his childhood. The film shows how he as a teen couldn't communicate effectively.
Fun Fact: the character Edward is based off a drawing Burton made in high school. -
Batman Returns
Burton accepted Warner Bros offer to direct the Sequel to the movie Batman, "Batman Returns".
Tim Burton made many changes to characters in the film, mainly "The Penguin" played by Danny DeVito. The penguin was turned into a freak of nature, with webbed fingers. a beak like nose, and a penguin like body, resulting in a rather... round man as the final product. -
James and the Giant Peach and Aliens?!
Burton and Selick teamed up to make the fantasy style musical "James and the Giant peach". This film was a combination of stop motion and live shooting. Tim burton and Elfman produced the film Mars Attacks in 1996. It was originally thought to be a spoof of the film "Independence Day" that was released five months before it was. -
Sleepy Hollow
Released in 1999 Sleepy Hollow had a supernatural setting, and, it starred Johnny Depp as Ichabod Crane, a forensic detective. Within this film Burton paid homage to the film company Hammer Films, giving a cameo role to one of Hammer Films Star actors. It won an award for best art direction, best costume design and best production design. -
Big Fish: A novel of Mythic Proportions
The movie Big Fish: A novel of Mythic Proportions, was directed by Tim Burton in 2003. the movie Big Fish is centered around a father telling and showing his son about his life using exaggeration and colour. This film was very successful, getting four golden globe nominations, and an academy award nomination for the films score. -
Billy Raymond Burton
Billy Raymond Burton is the son of Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter. He was their first child. -
Charlie in the Chocolate Factory: 2005 and the Corps bride
In 2005 Tim Burton worked on two projects at the same time . One of these projects was Charlie in the Chocolate Factory. This film was more faithful to the source material than the 1971 film adaptation. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFVGCUIXJls
At the same time Tim Burton was making his first full length stop motion film as a director. -
Bones
The first music video Tim Burton ever directed, Bones. This music video was for the indie rock band, The Killers. -
Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Tim Burton directed the film Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, and won National Board of Review award for Best Director. -
Nell Burton
Nell burton is the daughter of Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter. She is their second child. -
Alice in Wonderland
Tim Burtons 2010 film Alice in Wonderland was a hit in theaters and at home, grossing over 1 billion dollars around the world. This hit film was originally supposed to be released later 2009, but was released later due to fears that it would do poorly in the holiday season. Trailer for the film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMiCJefpn9Q -
Frankenweenie, Remade
Tim Burton decided, that since his skill set had improved since he directed his 1984 short film "Frankenweenie", he would remake it. But, this time as a full length stop motion film. It did very well in the box office. The same can not be said about the 2012 film "Dark Shadows" that despite its fantastic actors, costume design, and large budget, was received poorly at the box office. -
Big Eyes
Tim Burton directed the biography "Big Eyes", based on the messy divorce of Margaret Kean, and her at the time husband Walter Kean. Walter was passing off Margaret's work as his own, while forcing her to stay at home and paint for over half the day. When she found out later she divorced him and took him to court for fraud, she won the case when the judge asked them to both paint in the court. Tim Burton later made the film Big Eyes, retelling these events, in a sort of comedy. -
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
Tim burton directed this film that was an adaptation of Ransom Riggs's novel "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children". -
Dumbo
Burtons live action adaptation Dumbo was released in 2019. Later in the year he stated that he would no longer be working with The Mouse, due to many disagreements, and that he did not like how much they had changed from the past. -
Wednesday
Tim burton was chosen to direct the Netflix show Wednesday, the daughter of the Addams Family.