WORLD – Today, August 25, is the birthday of the famous Tim Burton, who was born on this day in California in 1958. Director, artist and person who brought gothic to a new interpretation.
If you hear about Tim Burton, you inevitably think of his amazing films that grossed $4 billion, which is not a bad result considering how difficult it is to bring goth to the public.
Tim Burton was born in 1958 in an American town that already promises to be close to the fate of the director – Burbankclose to Hollywood.
Towards cinema
In 1979 he took part in the creation Red and Toby are friends-enemies., which, however, does not please Tim, realizing that his ideal of work is far from this project. However, this is the first step into the world of cinema, which already opens the door to his talent.
But it was in 1982 that he created his first short film: Vincent. Short film 6 minutes long.
Two years later, he gets an opportunity from Disney to make a new short film: Frankenweenie. From the title, you can guess that the main character is actually a reconstruction of Frankenstein. Mary Shelleyhowever, turned into a child who, after the death of his dog Sparky, decides to restore it with embroidery and other electronic gadgets.
However, the film was censored by Disney, which created a rift between Tim himself and the production company.
The turning point was this short film, because it will be released in 1985. Pee Wee’s Big Adventureand, despite a small budget, has a moderate success.
In 1988, under the leadership of Tim, a major project called beetle juice. The main character of this film is Betelgeuse, played by Michael Keaton and with the participation of a very young girl Winona Ryder.
An exceptional cast in just saying those two names led to the film being a great success and winning an Oscar for Best Makeup.
Success and Tim Burton Productions
In 1989, despite difficulties with Warner Bros.coming out Batman.
Again a great cast, I see a dazzling Michael Keaton like a young Bruce Wayne, Jack Nicholson and his epic Joker, e Kim Basinger as Vicki Vale.
The film won the Oscar for Best Production Design.
Burton founded his own production company in 1990 called Tim Burton Productions in which he directs the iconic film Edward Scissorhands.
The now cult film, a success that marked the career of a director who saw the project come to fruition also through the creation of characters and costumes scribbled back in high school by Burton.
Two years later, the Batman sequel comes out, the comeback. As Burton gains full control of the project, which means revisiting the characters in his own way, he takes on a dark and aloof air even out of the Batman comics.
In the same year he resumed his old project: The nightmare before christmasa movie that was a huge success internationally thanks to Jack the Skeleton.
In 1996 “Mars Attacks!” and in 1999 Sleepy Hollow Mystery won an Oscar for Best Set Design.
From the 2000s to today
The remake will be released in 2000. planet of the apeswhich achieves some success despite conflicting reviews.
And two years later it comes out Big fish – stories from an incredible lifewhich earned him four Golden Globe nominations and one Oscar nomination.
A remake was released in 2005 Chocolate Factorywith a darker and different version from the original.
This remake will give life to a cult film that will become one of the director’s all-time favorites, also thanks to Johnny Depp’s spectacular performance as Willy Wonka.
But be careful, because Tim Burton, who releases Corpse Bride this year, is not stopped by anyone. Another cult, another success like Burton.
It will come out in 2007 Sweeney Todd, where we will again see the amazing Helena Bonham Carter and Johnny Depp. Tim Burton would win the Golden Lion the same year.
In two years we will see the release Alice in Wonderlandwith resounding success.
Burton’s many and numerous works show that he has also been active in the film world in recent years; actually in 2022 we see the release of the series Wednesday. Addams Family spin-off released Netflix which tells the story of a young Wednesday Addams.
Gothic, but not commonplace
Tim Burton’s success is largely due to his way of presenting already finished works, giving them a gothic, dark and completely original style. Themes such as loneliness, sadness and depression, implemented in all his films, made the viewer feel less and less alone and understood, perhaps due to the empathic part that was also seen in the characters.
Never trite, that’s what we should remember and say about Tim Burton, so today we are honoring not only the director, but also the legend of gothic cinema.
Graduated from the Faculty of Management Sciences. Grew up on bread and Taylor Swift. Lover of music, cinema and literature. During the pandemic, I started writing and that’s where I met my true passion for writing.