Tim Burton

Performer

Tim Burton

Director in the Nutevio catalogue.

Born
25 August 1958
Age
67
Active
1982 — 2024
Known for
Edward Scissorhands, Big Fish, Corpse Bride
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The essay

Reading Tim Burton

Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.

Why this filmmaker matters

Tim Burton has 0 directed films in the Nutevio catalogue. Timothy Walter Burton (born August 25, 1958) is an American filmmaker and animator. He is known for pioneering goth subculture in Hollywood, with his films employing a distinctive style that blends gothic horror and dark fantasy aesthetics with whimsical and surreal elements. He has received numerous accolades, including one Emmy Award and nominations for two Academy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and three BAFTA Awards. He was honoured with the Venice International Film Festival's Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in 2007 and France's Order of Arts and Letters in 2010. Burton made his directorial debut with the comedy film Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985). He gained wider prominence for directing Beetlejuice (1988) and Edward Scissorhands (1990), as well as producing The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), which was based on a poem he wrote. He had directed films spanning a variety of genres such as animation, biopic, drama, fantasy, musical, science fiction, superhero, and supernatural horror; these include Batman (1989), Batman Returns (1992), Ed Wood (1994), Mars Attacks! (1996), Sleepy Hollow (1999), Planet of the Apes (2001), Big Fish (2003), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), Corpse Bride (2005), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007), Alice in Wonderland (2010), Dark Shadows (2012), Frankenweenie (2012), Big Eyes (2014), Dumbo (2019), and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024). Burton has directed several episodes of the Netflix series Wednesday (2022–present), for which he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series. He frequently collaborates with musician Danny Elfman, who has scored all but three of his films. He has also published several books, including The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories (1997). Description above from the Wikipedia article Tim Burton, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Signature style

The recognisable elements are rewatchability, visual style, originality. Watch two of these films back to back and the method separates from the material — the same eye, re-tuned for different registers. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is staged.

Legacy

Burton set terms other filmmakers now work against: the structures, the pacing and the refusal to explain. Awards bodies have often been slower than the work, which is usually the sign of a career built on choices rather than campaigns.

Best known for

Catalogue work still being written up by our editors.

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Complete credits

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Quick facts

Born
25 August 1958
Age
67
Active
1982 — 2024
Films directed
0
In the Nutevio catalogue
Known for
Edward Scissorhands, Big Fish, Corpse Bride
Directing score
6.6
Nutevio editorial metric
Collection appearances
0
Across the library
Films rated 8+
0

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