WTF Happened to Tim Burton?

Tim Burton is one of the greatest directors of our era. A former animator for Disney, his early shorts, Vincent and Frankenweenie, marked him as one of the most promising up-and-comers in the business. His first film, Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure, helped turn Paul Reubens’ Pee-Wee Herman into a household name. It would mark his first collaboration with composer Danny Elfman, who would remain one of his most frequent collaborators. His next film, Beetlejuice, was an even bigger hit, but when Burton was chosen to direct Batman and picked the star of Beetlejuice, Michael Keaton, to be his Caped Crusader, people were wary. However, the resulting film became one of the biggest hits of the eighties and changed the superhero film forever, with many still counting Keaton as the definitive Batman.

In the years that followed, Burton’s creativity was in full swing, with him delivering the classic Edward Scissorhands, Batman Returns (which ranks as one of the most unusual blockbuster sequels ever), The Nightmare Before Christmas, Ed Wood, and so many more. In recent years, Burton has swung between big-budget movies, such as his Dumbo and Dark Shadows remakes, and more personal fare, such as Big Eyes. Most recently, he had one of the biggest hits of his career by directing episodes and producing Netflix’s Addams Family series, Wednesday, which has become one of Netflix’s most-watched shows ever. Yet, all is quiet on the feature film front from Burton, who’s gone on record criticizing Disney and the over-reliance on franchises. As we all eagerly await his next project, we take a look at Burton’s career in this episode of WTF Happened to this Celebrity, which is written (with Mathew Plale), edited, produced and narrated by Taylor James Johnson.

What’s your favorite Tim Burton movie? Let us know in the comments below!

#TimBurton #wtfhappenedtothiscelebrity #wednesday

[contrabandresearch]

Burton had such a strong style that I hope he makes another personal film that's strange, weird and haunting.

[BernardJMorgan]

Sleepy Hollow is insanely underrated. Wish he would have done more folk/horror. Scenes in that movie are creepier than a lot of lazy scary movies today

[isaac_alexander_v]

He became a director for hire. Artists don’t make movies anymore, it’s the studio heads

[MyLadyPanda]

Big Fish is actually one of my all time favorite movies. I cried so hard, and I don't cry during films usually. It got me in the feels big time.

[believeinmatter]

Tim Burton movies and pretty much anything he produces, has this vibe that’s hard to describe. It’s like if Halloween could be a person lol

[phiberoptik]

You have to give it to Tim. He has the courage of his own artistic vision and the conviction to stand by it regardless of what others think. It's worked out pretty well I'd say.

[wstine]

I love Tim Burton's movies. Batman, Beetlejuice, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Big Fish, & Edward Scissorhands were awesome.

[elie]

Corps bride and Charlie and the chocolate factory are the popular ones to hate on nowadays, but they changed me (and many) kids’s lives. I think they are fantastic movies!

[windnchgo]

Is Tim Burton just a style? If so, what a style! So original and unique. Even his lesser movies are better than than the vast majority of movies out there.

[lea-anne]

I don't think Tim has gone downhill. Every piece of film he creates is watchable and enjoyable. I love that he makes films HE wants to make, not what he thinks the movie industry wants. Kudos to him for that 👏🏻

[ethanaleman]

I'm proud of him he said f you to Disney

[cassiel.]

The thing about being a risk taker is that sometimes you fail. What I like about Tim Burton is that he shows up and takes those big risks, even if they don’t pay off half of the time, but when they do, it was all worth it.

[blackphillip]

It doesn't matter what Tim Burton makes at this point, his status as a legendary filmmaker is cemented at this point. And he deserves his legendary status in my opinion. He could've called it quits after Batman '89 and Edward Scissorhands and still be called a genius in '22. The rest is all cream cheese Scotty. Love that guy.

[BoyNamedSue]

He’s made some of the best movies I’ve ever seen and some of the worst I’ve ever seen.

[CaptainRetroStation]

I saw "Edward Scissorhands" on opening night with my friend. We were regulars to the cinema back in the early 90s. High school. About once a week, we'd hit the theaters to see what was new. "Batman" was already a global sensation, and we both liked Tim Burton's previous works. Let's see what this "Scissorhands" thing is going to be all about!
The marketing was brilliant, by the way. They didn't reveal HOW touching it would be. It just looked like it was going to be a quirky fish-out-of-water comedy with a sweet little heart of gold. My friend and I thought that it would be neat.
We were not ready. The AUDIENCE wasn't ready.
You see, normally when a movie finished, the audience would applaud and start leaving. This was before Marvel, so it was usually just me and my friend who were left by the time the closing credits were done. We'd sit there and chat about the movie until the curtain went back down and the house lights went back up.
Anyway, you all saw the movie. You know how WONDERFUL it is. I don't know how many of you saw it back in 1990 when nothing like that had been seen before. But, no one in the audience was ready. I mean NO ONE. The closing credits started rolling, and everyone sat frozen. No buzzing of conversation. No shuffling of feet. Just Danny Elfman.
The house lights went back on, and still, no one spoke. There was a thick awkward quiet that hung in the air. It took a moment for everyone to start wandering out in silence.
My friend and I walked back to her car without saying a word. The snow was gently falling. When we got to the car, we both looked at each other, and realized that our eyes were over-spilling with tears. Immediately, we hugged, and I mean we held each other for a good 30 seconds. Just sobbing. BAWLING our eyes out!
We broke our embrace when we realized that a lone man was looking at us as he was making his way across the parking lot. I was happy that my friend and I didn't explode away from each other to show this total stranger that we were just friends. We just kept an arm around each other, and gave him a friendly nod. Without stopping, he called out over to us, "Edward Scissorhands?"
The two of us started laughing with new tears streaming down our faces. "Yup, " we both managed to reply simultaneously. "Beautiful, " was the man's reply. "Night, " he said, and vanished off into the night.

One of my all time favorite memories attached to one of my all time favorite movies!

[xxQrchinaxx]

Michael Keaton is still the best batman to be put on a screen

[snarkus]

Hey, nobody stays on top forever. And he's already made his mark several times.

[Locadel]

His style sometimes it doesnt work but sometimes it works so well like for example Sleepy Hollow & Ed wood are extremely underrated movies

[bobcobb]

Tim Burton created most of the set and character designs for Nightmare Before Christmas, along with developing the story. Henry Selick directed it because, since it was stop motion and would take a lot longer to complete, it started shooting while Burton was shooting and editing Batman Returns and still took another year to finish. But make no mistake, Burton was heavily involved.

[sevaughnparsons]

You think corspe bride is forgettable .... *starts screaming* " Die, Die. We all past away, don't frown cause its really okay, you might try to hide, you might try to pray but we all end of the remains of the day"