Burton Calling Disney a 'Horrible Circus' is The Peak Drama You'll Get This Week
Comparing himself to Dumbo and Disney to a "horrible circus", Tim Burton explained why he is no longer interested in working with Disney.
Tim Burton is being Tim Burton again. The popular gothic director had a lot to say about his early works, artistic plans, partnerships with different studios, and the state of the film industry at the Lumière Festival in Lyon (via Deadline).
The harshest revelation was Burton's public disapproval of The Walt Disney Studios. When asked if we are to look forward to Dumbo 2, Burton stunned many fans with the confession that he was probably never to do a project with Disney again.
The filmmaker who started as an animator at Disney Productions has had an on-and-off relationship with the studio. He was hired and fired and then hired again by the Disney Studio several times during his career. The animator even compared his work situation to that of Dumbo's and Disney to a "horrible circus".
"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."
Looks like the time has come for Dumbo-Burton to say goodbye to his circus-Disney. Burton has created such iconic films with Disney as Ed Wood, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Alice in Wonderland, Frankenweenie, etc.
The main reason for him to leave now, according to the director, is the tendency for sameness and depersonalization of projects and their creators. The studio is focused on huge projects and franchises like Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar and gives little support to independent artists, an opinion many cinephiles agree with.
When asked if he would be interested to direct for Marvel, Burton shook off this idea with a joke that one universe is quite enough for him, let alone a multiverse. At the same time, Burton said he was interested to see how superhero movies have developed. While proud of his Batman movies and their role at the beginning of it all, the director said that he finds it amazing how present-day superhero films are allowed to become darker and darker.
No new projects with Disney may be a big disappointment for Tim Burton's fans, but the director is not done doing his magic with other studios. When asked if he would be interested in going independent, the director said he had been working with different studios his whole life and didn't even know what independent meant. Though Burton didn't say much about his creative plans, the director mentioned he is now working on finishing touches for Netflix 's Wednesday. When asked about his participation in Beetlejuice 2, announced in February by Plan B, Burton gave a none-answer by saying anything is possible.