Tim Burton

Tim Burton is a contradiction - a film-maker who has a unique style and yet remains grounded in the Hollywood studio system. How can someone who has such a distinctive personal vision survive in an aggressive and increasingly bland marketplace? How can he command such large budgets to realise his ideas? The answer is simple - Tim Burton may well be a cinematic artist but his films are also financially successful. Burton's world is one of outsiders on the periphery of society. His heroes are psychologically scarred, perpetually naïve and childlike, misunderstood or unintentionally disruptive. They are all figures who upset conventional society and morality. Even his villains are rarely without merit; circumstance and society blur the divide between moral fortitude and personal action. But most of all his films have an overriding aura of the fairy tale, the fantastic and the magical. The Pocket Essential Tim Burton looks at the man and his films, from his early shorts right through to his latest blockbusters. It covers the films, their making and their merit. This is the essential companion to Hollywood's premiere magician.

Tim Burton--Hollywood contradiction: the gothic trappings, themes, motifs and style of Tim Burton's work -- And it all started happily every after: covering the early shorts Vincent (1982), Hansel and Gretel (1982), Frankenweenie (1984) and Faerie Tale Theatre (1984) -- Look bike in anger: Pee-wee's big adventure (1985), Alfred Hitchcock presents: The jar (1985) -- It's showtime: Beetlejuice (1988) -- Holy budgets, Batman!: Batman (1989) -- An uncommonly gentle man: Edward Scissorhands (1992) -- Bats, cats and an army that quacks: Batman returns (1992) -- Angora, Bela, cinema: the ABC of Ed Wood: Ed Wood (1994) -- Do not run, we are your friends: Mars attacks! (1996).

Tackling the classics head on: Sleepy Hollow (1999) -- Monkey business: Planet of the apes (2001) -- Like Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny combined: Big fish (2003) -- Life had never been sweeter: Charlie and the chocolate factory (2005), Tim Burton's Corpse bride (2005) -- Other Skellingtons in the closet : Burton as producer: Family dog (1987-93), The nightmare before Christmas (1993), Cabin boy (1994), Batman forever (1995), James and the giant peach (1996) -- What's this? other projects: Singles (1992), Adverts.