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Johnny Depp in “Sweeney Todd: The
Demon Barber of Fleet Street.”
Photo: respective film studios
He made his big screen debut in 1985 with “Pee-Wee’s
Big Adventure.” From that, Burton has built a remarkable
career. His visual style is unique, bringing together
19th and 20th century European art aesthetics and
American kitsch. Stories very often focused on freaks and
loners that should, in theory, make studio executives run a
mile. But they don’t. Burton’s brand of quirkiness connects
with millions and his films have universal appeal.
I have finally finished watching all of the films that Tim Burton
directed, and all of the ones he produced, except for Cabin
Boy which I cannot seem to find anywhere. Over the course of
watching the films Burton directed, I have discovered several
major similarities or themes and some minor ones. I will discuss
here a couple of the major ones that I found.
Outcast/Rebel main character: Nearly all of Tim Burton’s
films contained a main character that does not fit in with the
society in which they exist. I believe the best example of this
is Edward from Edward Scissorhands. The character of Edward
is both an outcast in the sense that he is not even human,
but is also a social outcast that has trouble fitting in with
the suburban society in which he is thrown into. Other good
examples of this theme include Sweeney Todd, Ichabod Crane,
and Batman. The movie Ed Wood is a biopic about the filmmaker
who refused to adhere to film conventions even in the
face of extreme criticism of his work. All of these characters
in some for are not fully accepted by society or choose not to
conform to the accepted norm. I also feel that these characters
represent Tim Burton’s experiences as a child and teenager, in
that he too did not fully fit in.
Use of bright, vibrant colors in contrast with bleak settings:
This is a fascinating trait of Burton’s film. While most of his
settings are rather bleak and contain few if any colors, when
there is color, it is usually very bright and stands out. The
color red is especially prevalent. Burton uses this for variety
of purposes. In the films Sweeney Todd and Sleepy Hollow,
he uses (unrealistically) vivid red blood in order to emphasize
the bleakness of the setting as well as to enhance the violence
of the attacks presented. In Mars Attacks! the use of florescent
reds and greens provides an unnatural feel to the Martians
weapons as well the dead bodies that would not be present
if their bones were normally colored. In other movies there
seems to be no purpose to Burtons excessive use of vibrant
colors other than to add a surreal feel to the setting or to draw
the viewers attention to a particular item or section of the film.
Death: Although death occurs in the films of almost any
director, in Tim Burton’s films death is often highly significant.
In Batman, the murder of Bruce Wayne’s parents is
what drives him to become Batman. The death of the scientist
in Edward Scissorhands represents a loss of innocence for
Edward and is what ultimately allows him to experience the
outside world. The thought of Lucy’s death drives Sweeney
Todd to murder, and those murders further represent Todd’s
cleansing of the evils of society. In Beetlejuice, death is the
basis of the movie and represents a second chance at life. Life
through death is also present in the film Corpse Bride, where
the afterlife is much more alive then the real world, and only by
entering it is Vincent able to truly learn to live his own life. ➤