Blog Post #6: Tim Burton interviewed on 'The Treatment'

This week, I listened to a radio show entitled 'The Treatment.' The guest for that day's interview was none other than the Hollywood Director and Producer, Tim Burton. This interview was on February 16,2006, just after two of his films premiered in theaters. Tim Burton is known for his groundbreaking films such as 'Edward ScissorHands', 'Sleepy Hollow', and 'The Nightmare before Christmas'. During the interview, I picked out some details that I thought were very interesting and especially noteworthy.

During the interview Tim Burton talked about his films, his art direction, and his background in film. There were some things I was surprised at, such as when Tim Burton revealed that he had been working on two films at once ('Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' and the 'Corpse Bride') for the past couple of years. What he did was work on 'Charlie and the Chocolate factory' during the day, and 'Corpse Bride' at night. I was also intrigued to learn that during his tenure in animation school, he had Disney Animators (who had worked on the classic disney films) as professors.

Tim Burton did say in the interview that he was encouraged to experiment through his own artistic lens in school though. In his words: "I was terrible at that, that style, so they let me do my own thing, which was quite lucky." Indeed, Tim's unique sense of Animation style can be seen in his backdrops and character designs for his films such as 'The Corpse Bride', and 'Nightmare Before Christmas'. His creations are often eclectic and bizarre, but Tim's individuality shows through, and his designs only enhance the films that much further for it.

Tim Burton said(in interview) that he doesn't adhere to fads, and is reluctant to waver from his own personal style just because of current trends. According to Tim Burton: "I think other people do things just for reasons of, this is a popular technique." What Tim is referring to in the interview, is the then current(in 2006) of studios trying to emulate Pixar's success with animation by copying that style. What Burton means is that those studios were possibly leaving character and narrative behind, when their plots could have easily been altered to fit into another animation medium.

Also in the interview, Tim Burton declared that he did not really understand the whole concept of social classes. He went on to describe how he took the societal rankings in 'Corpse Bride' and modeled them after his own experiences. According to Tim Burton: "It(social rankings) cuts out people really connecting with each other or seeing things from another perspective." What Tim is trying to say I think is that people just wall off each other, create artificial barriers just so they do not have to mix. Possibly Tim is referring to his own experiences as recounted in the interview, where he felt more connected to social outcasts, rather than the rest of society.

Tim Burton really has some interesting opinions, which really highlight his mind. Mr. Burton really is an individualistic person who does not really fit into the established order. Burton brings his outsider viewpoint into the world of film, and uses it to create a mirror unto society. He brings also from a creative standpoint, rich worlds and designs that are uniquely and surely his. To conclude, in the world of Hollywood, Tim Burton is truly an original, and cannot be matched or copied by any other.