Timothy William "Tim" Burton 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 asPee-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, that was the second highest-grossing film of 2010 as well as the ninth highest-grossing film of all time. 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) anddomestic 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, and a remake of his 1984 short, Frankenweenie, scheduled to be released on October 5, 2012.
"Vincent"
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.
Personally, this video was one of the many reasons that made me want to study animation. Tim burton is one of my biggest inspirations. He is the master in combining charm and innocence with mystery and darkness. Regardless how child like the story line is, he somehow is always able to bring this dark humour feel to the screen through his highly original characters and gory backgrounds.
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.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.
Edward scissorhands trailer
This is personally my favourite scene of the film. It has all the "Tim Burton" style on it, and it's rich in crazy original ideas that makes us want to jump into the scene and do something of this kind.
And then there is
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 asWilly 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
.
.
I give you here the trailer of the film for you to have an idea of how amazing it looks like, but I strongly recommend you to watch the whole film. I would describe it as magical and dream like.
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.
Personally, this film has everything to be successful, it's emotional, it's humorous, it's mysterious and it's all combined in a charming fantasy musical film. I leave you here the trailer and hope it will excite you to watch the film.
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 and received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Director 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.
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, Burton 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 and Christopher Plummer, among others. This was Burton's first animated movie aside from his stop-motion films
.
.
Beautifully captured, Sweeney Todd is mind blowing, in fact, I have to admit that after watching the film, it made me appreciate being a vegetarian…Anyway, it's a must for dark gory musical lovers to watch.
Alice in Wonderland
In Burton's version, the story is set 13 years after the original Lewis Carroll tales. Mia Wasikowska was cast as Alice, 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
Alice in wonderland - trailer
When I saw this film at the local cinema, to my surprise people were dressed up as some of the characters in the film. There were 2 Mad Hatters, an Alice and the Cat. I have to admit it was very entertaining.
No comments:
Post a Comment