Tim Burton
Born: August 25, 1958 in Burbank, California
Tim Burton began drawing at an early age, and went on to attend the California Institute of the Arts. There he studied animation after being awarded a fellowship from Disney, where he later went on to work. While at Disney, Burton worked on such movies as The Fox and the Hound (1981), Tron (1982), and The Black Cauldron (1985). He soon decided that these films were far from what he wanted to do, so Disney allowed him the freedom to create his own 6 minute cartoon, Vincent. Black and white, with a decidedly gothic feel, Vincent was narrated by the great Vincent Price. From there he went on to a 30 minute film called Frankenweenie in 1984. Disney deemed it unsuitable for children and delayed release until 1992. It was this film that led Paul Reubens to deciding that Tim would be the perfect person to direct his feature debut, Pee-Wee's Big Adventure. Made in 1985, it began a wonderful partnership between Tim Burton and musical genius Danny Elfman. Pee-Wee's Big Adventure was the surprise hit of the summer.
Next, Burton went on to do Beetlejuice (1988). It is a dark comedy about death and haunting starring Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Catherine O’Hara, Winona Ryder, Jeffery Jones, and Michael Keaton as the titular character. It also led Tim in to directing Batman, the first installment of the new series of Batman films. Although it was his biggest hit to-date, it is his least personal film. Burton again used Michael Keaton, this time as the Dark Knight, and brought in veterans Jack Nicholson as the Joker and Kim Basinger as Vicki Vale.
Edward Scissorhands followed next, and is considered by many to be one of his deepest and greatest films. Starring Johnny Depp and Winona Ryder, it is a wonderful film about a boy with scissors instead of hands that had lived in a castle on a hill his entire life, until one day when he is brought into the town below. His creator was played by Vincent Price in his last on-screen performance. The second installment of Batman followed in 1992 with Batman Returns, introducing the Penguin (Danny DeVito) and Catwoman (Michelle Pfeiffer). Although it did well at the box office, grossing over $150 million, it was not as successful as the first one.
Tim Burton turned to a new medium and wrote a book entitled Nightmare Before Christmas, which later became a movie as well. It was made in claymation and it took four years or so to make. The score, music and lyrics were written by Danny Elfman, who also sang for Jack Skellington. After the film was finished in 1993, Tim and Danny had a sort of falling out and didn't work with each other for a year or so. So in 1995, Tim Burton directed his first and only full length film without the musical help of his friend. Ed Wood tells the story the worst director ever, Edward D. Wood Jr., a man who liked to dress in women's clothing because it made him feel closer to them. Tim's girlfriend at the time, Lisa Marie, plays Vampira. Also in this movie were Johnny Depp (Ed Wood), Martin Landau (Bela Lugosi), Sarah Jessica Parker (Dolores Fuller), and Bill Murray (Bunny Breckinridge) as well as others. It even featured a brief cameo by Tim himself. He is in the scene where Ed is interviewing transvestites. He's the tall gangly one with long black hair.
After Ed Wood, Danny and Tim teamed up again in 1997 to make Mars Attacks!, a comically strange outlook on what might happen if aliens ever attacked. It didn’t fair very well at the box office, despite the long list of Hollywood stars: Jack Nicholson, Glenn Close, Annette Bening, Pierce Brosnan, Sarah Jessica Parker, Martin Short, Michael J. Fox, Rod Steiger, Danny DeVito, Luke Haas, Natalie Portman, Jim Brown, Sylvia Sydney, Tom Jones, and Lisa Marie.
Burton’s next project was a return to his dark roots, Sleepy Hollow. Burton-regulars Johnny Depp, Jeffery Jones, and Lisa Marie are joined by Christina Ricci, Miranda Richardson, Michael Gambon, and legendary actors Christopher Lee, Ian McDiarmid, and Christopher Walken. Depp plays Ichabod Crane, the logical policeman sent to the town of Sleepy Hollow to investigate a series of headless corpses. Venturing again into the world of Sci-Fi, Burton remade the classic Planet of the Apes in 2001.
Next, Burton went on to do Beetlejuice (1988). It is a dark comedy about death and haunting starring Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Catherine O’Hara, Winona Ryder, Jeffery Jones, and Michael Keaton as the titular character. It also led Tim in to directing Batman, the first installment of the new series of Batman films. Although it was his biggest hit to-date, it is his least personal film. Burton again used Michael Keaton, this time as the Dark Knight, and brought in veterans Jack Nicholson as the Joker and Kim Basinger as Vicki Vale.
Edward Scissorhands followed next, and is considered by many to be one of his deepest and greatest films. Starring Johnny Depp and Winona Ryder, it is a wonderful film about a boy with scissors instead of hands that had lived in a castle on a hill his entire life, until one day when he is brought into the town below. His creator was played by Vincent Price in his last on-screen performance. The second installment of Batman followed in 1992 with Batman Returns, introducing the Penguin (Danny DeVito) and Catwoman (Michelle Pfeiffer). Although it did well at the box office, grossing over $150 million, it was not as successful as the first one.
Tim Burton turned to a new medium and wrote a book entitled Nightmare Before Christmas, which later became a movie as well. It was made in claymation and it took four years or so to make. The score, music and lyrics were written by Danny Elfman, who also sang for Jack Skellington. After the film was finished in 1993, Tim and Danny had a sort of falling out and didn't work with each other for a year or so. So in 1995, Tim Burton directed his first and only full length film without the musical help of his friend. Ed Wood tells the story the worst director ever, Edward D. Wood Jr., a man who liked to dress in women's clothing because it made him feel closer to them. Tim's girlfriend at the time, Lisa Marie, plays Vampira. Also in this movie were Johnny Depp (Ed Wood), Martin Landau (Bela Lugosi), Sarah Jessica Parker (Dolores Fuller), and Bill Murray (Bunny Breckinridge) as well as others. It even featured a brief cameo by Tim himself. He is in the scene where Ed is interviewing transvestites. He's the tall gangly one with long black hair.
After Ed Wood, Danny and Tim teamed up again in 1997 to make Mars Attacks!, a comically strange outlook on what might happen if aliens ever attacked. It didn’t fair very well at the box office, despite the long list of Hollywood stars: Jack Nicholson, Glenn Close, Annette Bening, Pierce Brosnan, Sarah Jessica Parker, Martin Short, Michael J. Fox, Rod Steiger, Danny DeVito, Luke Haas, Natalie Portman, Jim Brown, Sylvia Sydney, Tom Jones, and Lisa Marie.
Burton’s next project was a return to his dark roots, Sleepy Hollow. Burton-regulars Johnny Depp, Jeffery Jones, and Lisa Marie are joined by Christina Ricci, Miranda Richardson, Michael Gambon, and legendary actors Christopher Lee, Ian McDiarmid, and Christopher Walken. Depp plays Ichabod Crane, the logical policeman sent to the town of Sleepy Hollow to investigate a series of headless corpses. Venturing again into the world of Sci-Fi, Burton remade the classic Planet of the Apes in 2001.
Frankenweenie (1984)
Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp (1984)
Pee Wee's Big Adventure (1985)
Beetlejuice (1987)
Batman (1989)
Edward Scissorhands (1990)
Batman Returns (1992)
Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
Ed Wood (1994)
Mars Attacks! (1996)
Planet of the Apes (2001)
Big Fish (2003)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)
Corpse Bride (2005)
