Tim Burton is known for his unique filmmaking style that blends dark, gothic elements with fantastical themes. He is renowned for making iconic projects like Edward Scissorhands (1990), Beetlejuice (1988), and Wednesday series, bringing a visually pleasant and compelling narrative that appeals to wider audiences.
However, there was a specific Disney project that almost ended up making him lose his filmmaking spark but things eventually worked out in his favor when he was attached to Jenna Ortega’s Beetlejuice 2.
Tim Burton Considered Retiring After Working in Disney’s Dumbo
Tim Burton is a renowned name in the entertainment world, thanks to his classic films, which continue to remain a topic of discussion among audiences. However, his one disaster project with Disney almost led him to retire, but fate had different plans.
He recalled considering retiring from filmmaking after his experience working on Disney’s live-action remake of Dumbo in 2019. It is quite ironic that the House of Mouse is the studio where he started his career as an animator straight out of college.
Talking with Variety, the filmmaker got candid about having thoughts of retirement after working on the 2019 film.
Honestly, after ‘Dumbo,’ I really didn’t know. I thought that could have been it, really. I could have retired, or become… well, I wouldn’t have become an animator again, that’s over.
This is not the first time when Burton made that candid admission regarding this project. In a Deadline interview back in 2022, he reflected on how working on Colin Farrell’s project made him realize that the industry has changed a lot as he felt disconnected from the creative process.
The thing about ‘Dumbo’ is that’s why I think my days with Disney are done: I realised that I was Dumbo, that I was working in this horrible big circus, and I needed to escape. That movie is quite autobiographical at a certain level.
The movie ended up garnering moderate success at the box office but ended up getting polarized responses from the critics. Despite how things went with the project, he eventually got his spark back again thanks to Beetlejuice 2.
Beetlejuice 2 Helped Tim Burton Find His Filmmaking Spark
After his experience working on the Disney project, the Edward Scissorhands director questioned whether he had the passion and drive to continue creating movies or not.
While things sounded difficult for him, it was the return to one of his most beloved projects, Beetlejuice 2 that helped him reignite his creative spark.
In the same Variety interview, he affirmed the same, as working on Winona Ryder‘s project reconnected him with the offbeat storytelling that defined his early career. He shared,
But this [Beetlejuice Beetlejuice] did reenergize me.
He continued to reflect on how meeting external expectations for a project took a toll on his artistic spirit, but with Michael Keaton’s new movie, his creative vision re-emerged, making him do things how he wanted it to be.
Oftentimes, when you get into Hollywood, you try to be responsible to what you’re doing with the budget and everything else but sometimes you might lose yourself a little bit. This reinforced the feeling for me that it’s important that I do what I want to do, because then everybody will benefit.
After the 1988 hit, Ryder and Keaton’s character will hit the screen once again. Ryder’s character, Lydia will once again find herself tackling underworld chaos as her rebellious daughter, Astrid (Jenna Ortega) opens the portal.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is releasing in theatres on September 6.
