..Gary Dretzka
..Noah Forrest
..Leonard Klady
..R.J. Matson
..David Poland
..Douglas Pratt
..Ray Pride
..Michael Wilmington

Romance, Passion and a Murder Most Foul

The imagination of Tim Burton is as identifiable as it is in the greatest of auteurs. From Beetlejuice to Big Fish, the sense that "this is a Tim Burton film" is incredibly potent with each passing frame. The director's films have warranted ten Oscar nominations and two wins since the 1985 release of his feature debut, Pee-Wee's Big Adventure. But this is the first year in which Burton himself has received a nomination for his efforts.

Burton's first animated feature film came twelve years ago, when he envisioned the Henry Selick-directed The Nightmare Before Christmas, a film which settled nicely into Burton's peak period of the early 90s. The success of Batman, Edward Scissorhands and Batman Returns had given him the freedom to embark on a truly edgy and risky experience. It was the end of a long road.

"We were first trying to sell A Nightmare Before Christmas as an animated film twelve years before that ever got made," Burton says of the 1993 film. "After that we were looking for something else. A friend of mine, Joe Ramph, mentioned this idea he'd heard of this old folk tale."

And thus began the journey of Tim Burton's Corpse Bride.

Recognition has come this year in the form of a Best Animated Feature Film nomination, and though the odds are stacked against him (Nick Park's Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit is the category favorite), the director notes with characteristic sarcasm that such recognition is not necessarily at the forefront of his mind.

"I've never dreamed about an Oscar nomination. It isn't like I dipped my G.I. Joes in gold as a kid. You just can't put much stock into things like that, I think."

Burton's other 2005 filmmaking effort, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, also received a nomination, in the Best Costume Design category. Interestingly, actor Johnny Depp, a five-time Burton collaborator, worked on Corpse Bride and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory simultaneously, sometimes doing voice recordings for the former during set breaks on the latter.

But news of his films' nominations came to Mr. Burton while reading the newspaper…he thinks. As he tells it, the typical reaction one might expect from a first-time Oscar nominee was not to be had.

"I didn't start crying and hugging everyone around me or anything. And I didn't really celebrate. I just sort of reflected on things and took the opportunity to think about all the people that put the work into the film."

The Corpse Bride was a welcome return to the world of stop-motion animation for Burton fans the world over. It is a medium the director notes may be slipping away, in spite of it taking two of the three feature animation nominations this year, but his passion for it is evergreen.

"That world of animation has gotten to be a smaller one. Hopefully it's not fading into oblivion." He continues, "It was about reaffirming your love of the medium. That's what's exciting, to see and feel a dimensional world before your eyes. The difference was that A Nightmare Before Christmas was a completed package in my mind. I felt more comfortable with it. With Corpse Bride, it was a bit more organic, and I had a great co-director in Mike Johnson."

I also took a moment to ask Burton for his take on Batman Begins. Nearly 17 years ago, he was the one to rediscover the Dark Knight on the big screen with the Michael Keaton-starrer, Batman, and its sequel, Batman Returns. This year, the series has been revamped again, under the helm of Christopher Nolan.

"You know, I don't think the studio had really heard the word franchise before when I did it. On Batman Begins, I think they did a good job. They're good at Warner Bros. for hiring interesting people to take on their projects."

One of those interesting people Warner Bros hires has been Burton himself. Seven of his twelve feature films have been distributed by the studio, where he has obviously developed a strong relationship.

Next on the slate is Believe It Or Not, currently set from release in 2007. Working from a script from the writers of Ed Wood (Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski), Jim Carrey is set to star in the fantastical story of Robert Ripley during the time of his "Believe It Or Not" column, which chronicled a search for the world's greatest oddities. Burton isn't offering any specifics, though he offers with a giggle that "the title sums up a lot of Hollywood, I think."

Nearly two weeks out from this year's Oscar ceremony, Burton, finally a nominee after a twenty year career of crafting memorable and identifiable cinematic adventures, still takes it all in stride. The only question is, should he take the win by surprise, who will he thank? Well, more of that trademark sarcasm is all too inevitable.

"Nobody. It was all me!"

February 21, 2006

Previous Oscartown Columns
02.07.06 - Endurance
02.07.06 - A Civil Year
01.31.06 - Veni, Vidi, Vhatever
01.24.06 - For Your Consideration
01.17.06 - Acquiescence
01.10.06 - What A Difference A Day Makes
01.03.06 - Head First
12.27.05 - Access
12.20.05 - Leaning
12.13.05 - Father Christmas
12.06.05 - National Boring Review
11.29.05 - Breakthrough Gents
11.22.05 - Money Talks
11.15.05 - Where Have All The Cowgirls Gone?
11.08.05 - Imitation of Life
11.01.05 - Suggestion Card
10.25.05 - Youthful Digression
10.18.05 - Nothing New, Nothing Old... A Whole Lot of Nothing
09.01.05 - A Brave New 'Wood?

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