On Tim Burton

Happy Birthday, Tim Burton!

I've been a Tim Burton fan for quite some time. I went through an obnoxious "goth" phase when I was fifteen, and did a school project on his films. I carried a Nightmare Before Christmas lunchbox, had an Edward Scissorhands poster over my bed, and wore my black and white kneesocks with pride. I loved all things dark and twisted and Burton's work spoke to my angsty teenage soul.

It was more than that. His films had a lovingly homemade quality to them, and an emotional pulse beneath their kooky exteriors. Think of Edward Scissorhands' eyes filling with tears as he tells the girl he loves that he can't hold her, of Pee Wee's utter glee over his bicycle, of Bela Lugosi weeping about his morphine addiction. His films, despite somewhat outlandish settings, felt real. His early use of stop-motion effects, creatively built sets and fun sense of humor injected life and spirit into his movies.

I still go see his films, but something has happened to his work. Corpse Bride? Meh. Planet of the Apes? Atrocious. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Sweeney Todd? Just okay. Alice in Wonderland? Don't get me started. I love and rewatch many of his movies (Edward Scissorhands, Beetlejuice, Ed Wood, Batman Returns, Pee Wee's Big Adventure, Sleepy Hollow and Big Fish are some of my favorite movies ever!) and it makes me sad that I don't enjoy his more recent output. Did I outgrow him somehow? Maybe. These days his movies are smothered by CGI, and Johnny Depp gets more and more exhausting in his frantic performances. Burton's lost that spark. I'm not saying directors aren't allowed to evolve, but his recent movies just seem...empty. They lack the playful quality and instead we get green screens, flat stories, and Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter. Every. Single. Time.

I don't know what would need to change in order for his films to capture that original magic for me again. Maybe that chapter in my life is done. Maybe I'm wasting time fretting about the decline in quality of a creative filmmaker's work, a filmmaker who really spoke to me in my teen years. All I can do is be grateful for his early work, and the beautiful characters and stories that were shared with us all.

So thanks, Tim. Thank you for the ice sculptures, for Large Marge, for iron maidens, for resurrected dogs, for siamese twins, for angora sweaters, and for absoutely everything I hold dear in my cinema-lovin' heart.