The movie that almost made Tim Burton quit directing: “I nearly got out”
Before Tim Burton was a director, he found early success as an animator working for Disney. Yet, Burton had always proved to be full of original ideas that he wanted to transform into films of his own – he made his first short film when he was just 13 – leading him to explore directing more seriously.
He made Vincent and Frankenweenie following his time at Disney, which established him as an exciting new filmmaker with a distinctive, gothic-inspired style. From there, Burton landed his first offer to direct a feature film, the eccentric Pee-wee’s Big Adventure. The filmmaker’s career subsequently took off, with his next film, Beetlejuice, becoming a well-loved classic.
It continued to establish Burton’s gothic-informed style, blending comedy with the supernatural. He then put his own spin on Batman, directing the movie of the same name about the DC character. This was followed by the sequel Batman Returns two years later, but the second film proved to be much less successful than its predecessor. Some viewers simply found that the film bore too much of Burton’s unique style, which they didn’t like.
Still, Burton’s big-budget Batman films remain an important part of his early career. He found much better praise with Edward Scissorhands, widely considered one of his best efforts – despite being made on a considerably lower budget than the two Batman movies it was sandwiched between.
Throughout his career, Burton has moved between projects that feel distinctively ‘him’, like Sleepy Hollow, Corpse Bride, Alice in Wonderland, and Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, and the odd blockbuster that feels less accustomed to his gothic style. He directed Planet of the Apes in 2001, which, yet again, garnered more praise for its visuals rather than the plot. Then, in 2019, he chose to direct Dumbo, starring Michael Keaton, Colin Farrell, Eva Green, and Danny DeVito, most of whom had worked with Burton before.
It was made on a sizable budget of $170million and managed to gross $353m, yet Burton couldn’t help but feel disillusioned. He explained (via JoBlo), “I almost got out of making movies after my last one ’cause I just didn’t feel this whole studio thing. I just didn’t feel [it], you know.” It was made with Disney, who Burton found interfered with his ideas too much.
Dumbo, based on the animated Disney film of the same name, was a big-budget production designed to appeal to a wide audience. Although Burton wanted to have as much control as he could possibly get, when you work for a big studio, it is inevitable that they will want to make changes that you don’t have the final say on.
However, this led him to Netflix, where he created Wednesday, the hit television series starring Jenna Ortega in the role of the titular character from the Addams Family. Possessing his signature gothic style, Wednesday helped Burton feel better about directing again: “So I went off and did the TV thing, Wednesday, in Romania, just to kind of… re-cleanse, so to speak, or re-energise, whatever.”
He has since made Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, too, adding, “So I had no burning desire to make a sequel or anything. I just wanted to make this movie. So I think I’ve recalibrated the way I’m gonna approach things in the future.”
