Tim Burton Survey For Coursework

[Poketom]

I have to do an essay about what makes Tim Burton films successful & it would be really helpful if you could answer a few questions for me as research =)
Just answer whichever you can be bothered to do, doesn't matter too much if you miss one out due to laziness or it not applying.

1) What's the first thing that comes to mind when Tim Burton is mentioned?
2) What would be the main reason for you to go and see a TB film?
3) What is your favourite & least favourite TB film? Why?
4) What do you think of TB's casting choices?
5) What do you think makes a TB film successful?

If you want to add anything else about Tim Burton or his films, feel free - anything's useful.

Thanks in advance.

 

[curlycrouton]

1) Gothic surrealism.
2) Because I like to watch films.
3) Favourite is Nightmare Before Christmas, least favourite is Edward Scissorhands.
4) I can't really comment, I'm not a movie buff.
5) See 1.

 

[Cpt_Oblivious]

[img=inline_caption align='right' src='http://monitos.pcelectronica.cl/albums/userpics/10025/Jack%20Skellington.jpg' height='200']Ok I'll see what I can do.

The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Because it'll probably be good.
Favourite is Sleepy Hollow. Least favourite is Sweeney Todd.
He should find new people instead of jumping on Johnny Depp. Depp's good, but it's like they're married.
Gothic Atmosphere and general madness.

 

[Helmet]

1) What's the first thing that comes to mind when Tim Burton is mentioned?
2) What would be the main reason for you to go and see a TB film?
3) What is your favourite & least favourite TB film? Why?
4) What do you think of TB's casting choices?
5) What do you think makes a TB film successful?

1) Nightmare Before Christmas
2) They are usually entertaining. Out of all of his movies, I've only seen two I didn't care for.
3) Big Fish is my favorite- it just has such a wonderful story to it, and the ending is perfect. My least favorite is Corpse Bride. I just didn't care about it at all.
4) You mean Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter? Yeah sure. I've got no problem with them,.
5) Everybody loved the Nightmare Before Christmas, so they're willing to give his new stuff a shot. they go in with an open mind, and like it more.

 

[DoW Lowen]

1) Irony and gothic
2) His films are unique, which is normally a fresh breathe of air
3) I loved Edward Scissorhands, wasn't too hyped on Willy Wonka
4) Johnny Depp is always a good hoice
5) Originality

 

[BlindTom]

1) ...Top hats...
2) They don't tend to be derivative sequels.
3) Big Fish is my favourite becuase it reminds me of my Uncle, least favourite is Charlie and the chocolate factory becuase it doesn't measure up to the original in any way.
4) They seem a little repetitive but then they get the job done so...
5) It plays around with all that gothic nonsense but still manages to be stylish and reasonably complex.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

1) I'm BATMAN!
2) Gothic/Classy
3) BeetleJuice/Willy Wonka (You were never going to beat the original)
4) Inspired
5) Love, Care, Attention to detail, The character's own world, not being mass-produced, appeals to both genders.

 

[PureChaos]

1) What's the first thing that comes to mind when Tim Burton is mentioned?
Dark horror films
2) What would be the main reason for you to go and see a TB film?
I like horror films and his are usually great
3) What is your favourite & least favourite TB film? Why?
Fav would be either Sleepy Hollow or Sweney Todd, worst would be Charlie and Chocolate Factory.
4) What do you think of TB's casting choices?
great, even though JD is in all of them he is a great actor and is different in all the films. the other cast are always well selected and make the part, too.
5) What do you think makes a TB film successful?
JD and the way the capture the fantasy and darkness of them

 

[Frybird]

1) Bizarre, but tired style
2) If he trys something new...
3) Favorites: Sweeney Todd, Batman, Nightmare before Christmas
Least Favorites: Corpse Bride (surprisingly dull) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory(annoying)
4) The Actors he picks are good, but sometimes you get the feeling they are in it either because of the audience's expectations (Depp in Alice) or because...well, they f*ck him (Bonham Carter does not seem to be...comfortable in some of her more cameo-ish roles in Burton Movies)
5) Having a bizarre style without being too bizarre

 

[electric_warrior]

1) Gothic fairytales
2) because they are almost universally excellent
3) favourite is either edward scissorhands or ed wood because they both have a misfit overcoming adversity (then failing) plus ed wood is as funny as hell, least is mars attacks or planet of the apes because he just can't do sci fi
4) well, it's almost always johnny depp, which is a good thing
5) a sense of wonderment, added to by danny elfman's scoring, undercut with something darker and sadder. the knowledge that the ending will not be a happy one. it's kinda hard to say.

 

[Jumping_Over_Fences]

Nightmare Before Christmas was only produced by Tim Burton, it was not written or directed by him. I doubt that really makes it a Tim Burton movie. I mean you do not consider Pulp Fiction a movie by Danny DeVito. Movies are by the possession of their directors.

Now onto the questions:

1) Pee-Wee's Bike
2) The main reason is because I am still hung up on the films he made in the early to mid-nineties and I am hoping that he can recapture that glory.
3) Pee-Wee's Big Adventure is my favorite. It is amazing to see such a great and quotable film as someone's first real movie. Least favorite has to be Planet of the Apes, it was just a horrible and unnecessary remake. The original was just so amazing.
4) I think that he needs to branch out a bit. Sure Johnny Depp is a good actor, but without switching up some casting choices the movies lose their individuality.
5) I have no idea why people see Tim Burton films anymore.

I think that these days Tim Burton is just going through the motions. He knows what people are looking for, so he does just that. He is lacking the imagination and originality that his old films possessed. I feel like he is just getting lazy, doing it for the money. I don't see the same level of fun that his old films possessed.

 

[Krakyn]

1. Surreal
2. I enjoy uncomfortable/dark humor that isn't bloody or gruesome
3. My favorite film would probably be Nightmare Before Christmas (the music is wonderfully memorable, the humor is dark but wonderful, and the characters motives are so understandable), whereas my least favorite would be Corpse Bride (the plot was poor and muddled, the voice acting was bad, and the characters were entirely unlikable).
4. Too much Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter, though they're both good actors.
5. I guess that his most recent successes come from a mixture of big names and dark humor. While the big names bring in the stupid, average viewer who wouldn't normally see the film, the dark humor draws in yet another crowd that proceed to see the show again in the theater, then buy his DVDs, posters, and watch it every time it runs on TV.

 

[dwightsteel]

1) What's the first thing that comes to mind when Tim Burton is mentioned?
Gothic, but artistic. Johnny Depp.
2) What would be the main reason for you to go and see a TB film?
9 out of 10 times, his movies are fantastic. His unique and easily distinguishable style aside, the stories he tells are often fantastic in nature, and relatable in an odd way. They almost always make me think.
3) What is your favourite & least favourite TB film? Why?
PeeWee's Big Adventure is my least favorite. PeeWee was overdone even before Tim Burton got to him, and the movie really didn't feel like a Tim Burton film. While I would be tempted to say Batman as my favorite, I have to say Big Fish. It was easily the biggest departure for him in terms of style since PeeWee, and I think he really succeeded in telling an amazing, heartfelt story. It worked on a lot of levels. I think a lot of people are going to dispute me on this though.
4) What do you think of TB's casting choices?
He clearly has a comfort level with certain actors (In the 80's is was Michael Keaton, and from the 90's to present, it seems to be Johnny Depp and recently Helena Bonham Carter). I can't complain though. The actors he chooses tend to be well placed to move the story along. I think his casting tends to be a big draw to his movies, despite his unique style.
5) What do you think makes a TB film successful?
A nice blend of that distinctive Tim Burton style, often well directed in many facets, and he tends to get incredibly unique performances out of his actors. And while style can sometimes overshadow the plot, I never feel like plot is ever lost. Even his worst movies have well developed plots. Oh, and Big Fish is one of my top ten movies of all time..

EDIT: I completely forgot that he was the director behind that POS Planet of the Apes remake. That, indeed, would probably be my least favorite TB movie.

 

[Krakyn]

Nightmare Before Christmas was only produced by Tim Burton, it was not written or directed by him.

Wow, that's completely wrong.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107688/

Tim Burton wrote the story and characters. They're his brainchild.

 

[Poketom]

Nightmare Before Christmas was only produced by Tim Burton, it was not written or directed by him. I doubt that really makes it a Tim Burton movie. I mean you do not consider Pulp Fiction a movie by Danny DeVito. Movies are by the possession of their directors.

I've been waiting to see if anyone would say that. In a way I'm glad everyone has been mentioning TNBC though, because it's useful to my essay to say that he seems to be (to an extent) living off the success of TNBC, when that's perhaps unfair. It's similar to how people thought Coraline was his because it said 'from the director of TNBC', which people thought was him so they saw it for that reason.

However, he did co-write TNBC.

& thanks to everyone who's replied so far... keep 'em coming =]

 

[Assassin Xaero]

1) Nightmare Before Christmas
2) My step mom making me watch it... wasn't bad or anything... oh, and 9 looks amazing...
3) Nightmare Before Christmas for both... I've probably seen more by him, but I don't pay attention to who the director is because I really don't care that much... Corpse Bride and that musical one looked stupid...
4) Don't pay attention...
5) I dunno... just something that looks good? There are a lot of people I know that will just see a movie because he directed it...

 

[Bored Tomatoe]

1) Tim Burton is synonomous with Batman in my mind.
2)For the unique art direction and general weirdness that his films have.
3)My favorite would probably be Batman Returns or The Nightmare Before Christmas, while my least favorite would be The Corpse Bride, which is the the only of his movies that I can say was just plain boring.
4)I think he overuses Johnny Depp a bit, but Depp is a good actor for the most part, so I can't say it really bothers me.
5)Because his name is associated with Batman and TNBC. And because in his entire career he's only made one bad movie.

 

[Arrers]

1)Gothic aesthetic.
2)It'll probably be at least Okay
3)Most: Beetlejuice Least: Edward Scissorhands
4)His casting choices are usally good, but I wish he'd stop using Johnny Depp and Helena bonham Cater in everything. It's beyond jokes now.
4)He doesn't sacrfice style over subsatance.

 

[Jumping_Over_Fences]

Nightmare Before Christmas was only produced by Tim Burton, it was not written or directed by him.

Wow, that's completely wrong.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107688/

Tim Burton wrote the story and characters. They're his brainchild.

He came up the the story yes, but someone else actually wrote it. Getting credit for a story is very easy. Different towns based on different holidays. The Halloween town seeks something more than just Halloween. They create a plan to kidnap Santa and hijack Christmas for themselves. Done, I wrote the story. Now someone else will flesh out the actually events when they write the actually script. That is all that means. If it was truly his brainchild, he would have wanted to direct it.

 

[Cairo]

1) Batman!
2) I like Tim Burton's movies.
3) Fave: Big Fish. Least: Planet of the Apes.
4) It's usually interesting, like making Keaton Batman or anything with Helena Bonham Carter. I think he may be a little too enamored with Johnny Depp, but when you compare it to Fellini and Mastoianni, it's not so different.
5) Burton's movies are successful because he has so much fun playing around with "reality." His approach is generally that of a fairy tale, so instead of David Lynch's RAWR EVERYTHING IS EVIL IF YOU LOOK DEEP ENOUGH Tim says, "Everything is strange, but not everything strange is bad." His movies look at what we hold to be true and point out what is really to be had. In many cases, this involves a reexamination of what is actually bizarre/monstrous. The football captain in Edward Scissorhands is a good example. The feminism of Batman Returns is another good one to consider, especially with the character of Max Schreck.
Tim Burton's entire outlook is evidenced in his films, and everything in them conspire to make his point. The world is slanted, so the architecture is slanted. I always liked that.