Tim Burton is the master of macabre
No one does weird like Tim Burton. The first time I saw a Tim
Burton film, it was 1988 and I was 10 years old. My parents let us
watch a movie that was just a little bit racy and a little bit
scary.
It was
”
Beetle Juice.
”
”
Beetle Juice
”
Tim Burton is the master of macabre
No one does weird like Tim Burton. The first time I saw a Tim Burton film, it was 1988 and I was 10 years old. My parents let us watch a movie that was just a little bit racy and a little bit scary.
It was “Beetle Juice.”
“Beetle Juice”
My sister and younger cousin loved the movie so much, we bought a used copy at National Video and watched it over and over. Looking back now, the plot is a horrible one for kids. At the beginning of the movie, Adam (Alec Baldwin) and Barbara (Geena Davis) crash off a covered bridge. They head home after the accident and have no scratches on them. But soon they discover they are no longer with the living when a new family starts to move into the house.
The afterlife for the couple, however, is not all angels and harp music. Instead they are stuck in their own home and a no-good con man by the name of Beetle Juice (Michael Keaton) is making things worse. Beetle Juice promises to help them get rid of the new occupants, which includes a teenager named Lydia who is obsessed with death.
Burton’s version of the afterlife turns it from the scary unknown to an extension of the same old tedious things we hate about life. When Adam and Barbara need help, they have to take a number and wait in line. It’s no wonder that they take the wrong turn and end up taking Beetle Juice’s advice.
Keaton plays Beetle Juice as a lecherous, dirty old man who falls for teenage Lydia, who happens to be the only living person who can see the dead. It works out in the end, of course, and one of my favorite parts of the movie is when they sing the “Banana Boat” song at the end. What 10-year-old kid doesn’t want to watch ghosts sing “Day-O?”
Since then, Burton has branched out from his macabre, independent roots with a few blockbuster films – “Batman,” “Batman Returns,” and “Sleepy Hollow.” But he is at his best when he tackles off the wall such as “Edward Scissorhands” and “Ed Wood.”
Still my favorite Burton films are the ones where he creates his own world – literally. With stop motion animation, he creates dark and muted worlds with interesting characters. “The Nightmare Before Christmas” is part horror film, part musical.
“The Nightmare Before Christmas”
In the movie, Jack the pumpkin king finds himself longing for something more just after the year-long Halloween preparations end. Halloween town is filled with plenty of characters – though they are muted rather than colorful – including Sally, a sad servant girl, and Jack’s faithful ghost dog Nero.
Jack turns the holidays upside-down when he discovers Christmas Town and makes a play to take over from Santa Claus – who he thinks is named Sandy Claws.
The last time I saw the movie, I saw it a few days before Halloween at the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood. The El Capitan is owned by Disney, and has been renovated back to its glory as an old movie house with a stage and organ grinder. It is a tradition to show the film in October. Kids line up dressed in their Halloween best. The feature film is preceded by at least one short from early in Burton’s career.
Those who own the collector’s edition DVD probably have already seen them. The first is “Vincent,” a short animation about a depressed little boy. The clay model of Vincent looks very much like Tim Burton, with his wild black hair and long face. The second movie is a live-action about a boy who brings his dog back to life. It is aptly titled “Frankenweenie.”
The most recent Burton film is done in the stop action style of “Nightmare,” but it tackles the topic of the afterlife much like “Beetle Juice.”
“Corpse Bride”
One great thing about Burton films is that he has a strong cast of actors who have worked with him through the years. Johnny Depp and Burton’s fiancee Helena Bonham Carter have appeared in several films. They do voiceover for two of the main characters in the animation. Victor Van Dort (Depp) is nervous about marrying Victoria Everglot (Emily Watson). The night after his wedding rehearsal, he inadvertently promises to marry a Corpse Bride (Carter.) Victor has to find a way to appease both women and marry the one he really loves. As with all Burton movies, everything is not what it seems.
With Halloween on the horizon, Burton is the man to see.
