Tim Burton's Obsession

This may not be the right spot for this topic, but it seemed the best choice. My question is to anyone out there that has the knowledge on this. I'm a pretty big fan of Tim Burton's films. I don't think there's one film of his I haven't liked yet. I'm sure most people have noticed that Tim seems to have an obsession with putting something (fairly obvious) in his films that has black and white stripes on it/them. Does anyone know what this is about, or why Tim does this in his films? I've become obsessed with finding the black and white striped item in any film of his I'm seeing for the first time, and won't be able to enjoy the film until I find it... it's become somewhat of a game with my friends and myself. If anyone has any credible information on this, I'd appreciate sharing of the knowledge.

- Josh

Why does John Woo put Doves in? Why did Hitchcock do cameos? It's a style thing, me thinks. He just likes the way it looks, perhaps.

I suppose I was hoping it went a little deeper than that. But, if he likes it, he likes it.

It does seem a bit disappointing, but Justin's probably right.

Still, when John Woo includes doves in movies, there's a point (versus simply liking doves or black-and-white stripes).

I don't know why I thought it might be deeper than this... but I suppose Tim Burton might just be using it as his mark, or sort of his signature in films. It's cool either way. I wonder if it somehow lends to the dark feeling or look in his films? I did some searching on the net to see if there were any interveiws that asked Tim about the black and white stripe thing, but didn't have any luck. Then again, I didn't look all that hard.

- Josh

Tim did work for Disney before he made a success of his own. He had made comments about how he felt surpressed when working for Disney, as though he was in a prison he could not escape. Maybe that has something to do with it, I don't know? I'm just taking a wild guess, Josh. Wish I could be of more help.

Tim Burton is perhaps my fave director, only rivaled by Kubrick, and I have noticed many other consistencies with his films. Most/all of Burton's films have the following:
1. Snow
2. Deep, rich black/blue color throught the films
3. Creepy Danny Elfman score
4. A fantasy element amidst a realistic setting (Edward Scisshorhands in typical suburbia, Edward Bloom's exploits in Big Fish, etc.)
5. Skewed sperspective on certain objects so that they look strange to you but you don't know why (Like the sculptures/furniture in Beetlejuice and pretty much everything in A Nightmare Before Christmas)
6. Clowns (Big Fish, Nightmare Before Christmas, both Batman movies)

There are probably others, but I've noticed these. I love Tim Burton for having an inimitable style while still being fresh with each new film. Planet of the Apes was the only film of his that I would consider bad, and the new Big Fish was perhaps his best yet!

Tim (staff Tim) thanks for the info. I didn't know Burton worked specifically for Disney. I thought maybe they had just contracted him, as they would Pixar to do CGA. I think there may be something to your "Disney imprisonment" comment. When I was a kid, I often wondered what it would happen to you if you were trapped on the "Pirates Of The Carribean" ride for hours on end. Hearing that "it's a small world" song over and over again. Maybe Burton is the answer to that question. lol.

TGP, you got me thinking about his films with the clowns in them. I think there's a significant relevance there! I wonder if Tim has "Coulrophobia" or... the fear of clowns. This may sound simplistic, but earieily enough, there is a good portion of the populous on the planet that for one reason or another has a fear of clowns. I've never been scared of clowns myself perse', but I've always thought they were kind of creapy no matter how cheerful or friendly they seemed. I happened to love Stephen King's "IT". Maybe Tim Burton understands just how many people out there are either scared by clowns, or distrust, or dislike them? Either way, it's brilliant! I never thought about the "snow" or any of the other things you mentioned either. Big fish was a VERY good film in my opinion. I think if I were asked how Burton's films effected me, I'd have to respond... It's like being transported into a dark version of Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory. You've got reality all around you, yet... how could what you're seeing be real? One minute you could be drinking in the fantassy (as it were) with "fizzy lifting drinks", the next you're floating towards your doom that is a 12 foot fan blade!... only Tim might paint the fan blade black and white. It's an amazing world Tim pulls you into. Very much the same reason I like how Tarantino takes you into a drastically different world comparatively to how other standard movie formats take you from point A, to point B, to point C.

Very cool things are happening in the world of movies.

- Josh

Josh,

At one point in time, Tim Burton was just a small potato like most people. He worked in Disney's animation division as just another guy (he wasn't even head of some division or another, which may explain him feeling trapped).

Eddie

P.S. Clowns ARE scary. I dunno who thought that they were funny in the first place. :@