Long before establishing his image as a visionary director and producer, Tim Burton kickstarted his career as an animator at Disney. However, in 1984, after making a short movie, Frankenweenie, Disney fired Burton as it believed that the movie was too scary for children.
In a candid interaction, Burton opened up about his tumultuous relationship with Disney. However, he admitted that he should have seen the signs earlier.
Tim Burton opened up about his roller coaster journey with Disney
During his interview with The Independent, Tim Burton shed light on the ups and downs of his career with Disney. While discussing his time at the iconic studio, Burton described it as a ‘mixed bag’ of experience.
“I should have known early on that I had a troubled relationship with Disney. That should have been the first sign. I guess it’s like Burbank, only worse… it’s like a family. I can look back and recognize the many, many positives of working there, and all the opportunities I’ve had. I can acknowledge each and every one of those very deeply, and very positively. Equally, on the other side, I can identify the negative, soul-destroying side. As in life, it’s a mixed bag.”
Ironically, Burton, who was fired for his project Frankenweenie did not give up on his idea. In 2012, the filmmaker resurrected his dog-centric Frankenstein adaptation into a black-and-white feature film. His movie Frankenweenie, classified as a stop-motion animated science fiction horror comedy performed moderately at the box office and received mostly positive reviews.
Tim Burton claims he probably will never work for Disney again
As a director, Tim Burton has collaborated with Disney on multiple occasions. Throughout the years, this partnership has brought forth some amazing projects including the 2010 Johnny Depp starring, $1 billion grossing movie Alice in Wonderland, the 2019 film Dumbo, 2012’s Frankenweenie, and Burton’s most acclaimed 1993 movie The Nightmare Before Christmas among many others.
However, in 2022, the director voiced his skepticism regarding the possibility of him returning to the iconic studio in the future. While sharing his thoughts at the Lumiere Festival in France, Burton said, “It’s gotten to be very homogenized, very consolidated. There’s less room for different types of things.” Furthermore, when asked if he would be open to work on a Marvel movie, the filmmaker continued, “I can only deal with one universe, l can’t deal with a multi-universe.”
Comparing himself with the character Dumbo from his movie, Burton went on to explain why he would probably not return to the studio as a director.
“My history is that I started out there. I was hired and fired like several times throughout my career there. The thing about Dumbo, is that’s why I think my days with Disney are done, I realized 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.”
In 2022, Burton directed a Netflix series, an Addams Family (1991) spinoff titled Wednesday. The series received predominantly positive reviews and became the second most-watched series on Netflix. Moreover, having received two Golden Globe Awards, the series was renewed for a second season in January 2023.
Source: Deadline
