Celebrate Animation’s Dark Master at the Tim Burton Exhibit
It’s hard to deny the influence visionary director Tim Burton has had within the past 30 years of cinema. Even before revolutionizing superhero movies with his dark 1989 reimagining of Batman, he was changing the face of comedy and horror with 1988’s Beetlejuice. Even before his full embrace of all things macabre, he was still turning heads for his surrealism with the delusional funhouse vision of Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, the dark tranquility of Vincent, and a little short film called Frankenweenie, a film that would go on to make history in the most bizarre way possible. (And Burton wouldn’t have it any other way but bizarre!)
Burton got started in Hollywood by creating short films using amateur stop motion animation. Taking inspiration from Dr. Seuss, Roald Dahl, and Edgar Allan Poe, he quickly established his reputation as an independent-minded auteur. What in Dante’s Inferno was Disney thinking when they hired him as an animator as an apprentice? His name appears as an artist on classic films like The Fox and the Hound, The Black Cauldron and Tron. However, it wasn’t long till Disney fired him, not comprehending the marketing potential of the expensive production Frankenweenie, a short film that was deemed far too dark for children’s sensibilities.
Burton went onto direct major motion pictures, reaching his creative peak with the Oscar-winning Ed Wood, as well as Sleepy Hollow and Sweeney Todd. Perhaps it’s Burton’s career highlight that he is rereleasing Frankenweenie, the little mutt that defied all odds, as a major motion picture in 2012 starring one of his favorites, Winona Ryder and Martin Landau.
However, if you’re an even bigger Tim-head than we are, be sure to catch his art exhibit touring at selected cities in the United States. His exhibit, featuring 700 art pieces, has already made a splash at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art back in 2011. It was an event attended by Burton alumni Danny Elfman, Winona Ryder and Burton himself. The exhibit centers on Burton’s career before becoming a successful film director.
He has also had art shows displayed at the Museum of Modern Art, the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, TIFF Bell Lightbox and the Cinémathèque Française. Come experience Tim Burton’s magic in person!
Categorized in: Theater