'I was Dumbo': Tim Burton on escaping 'horrible' Disney

Tim Burton calls Johnny Depp 'white trash' that he connects with on some level while lashing the House of Mouse as 'very homogenised'.

Tim Burton. Picture: Jeff Pachoud/AFP

Tim Burton calls Johnny Depp 'white trash' that he connects with on some level while lashing the House of Mouse as 'very homogenised'.

Tim Burton says he thinks his days working with longtime collaborator Disney are done. 

The filmmaker revealed his disillusion with the "horrible" House of Mouse just hours before he graciously accepted the Prix Lumière lifetime achievement award in Lyon in front of peers.

US director Tim Burton receives the Lumiere Award during the award ceremony of the 14th edition of the Lumiere Film Festival in Lyon, central-eastern France, on October 21, 2022. Picture: Jeff Pachoud/AFP

“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 realised that I was Dumbo, that I was working in this horrible big circus and I needed to escape,” he said. “That movie is quite autobiographical at a certain level.” 

Eva Green as Colette and Dumbo in a scene from the movie Dumbo. Supplied by Disney.

The 2019 remake of Dumbo fell short of box office expectations, but earlier collaborations such as The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) and Alice in Wonderland  (2010) are considered classics.

"[Disney] has gotten to be very homogenised, very consolidated. There's less room for different types of things."

Would he return for the chance to work on a Marvel blockbuster? 

"I can only deal with one universe, I can't deal with a multi-universe." So, no. 

Burton admitted he was shocked to see himself plastered all over the city of Lyon for the festival, where clips of his films like Beetlejuice (1988), Batman (1989) and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) played as he received the lifetime achievement award.

“I don't really watch my movies but seeing the clips made me quite emotional and energised because each film that you do is a part of your life,” Burton said the following day. “It is very deep and meaningful. So it’s kind of like watching your life flash before your eyes. It was like a funeral in a way.”

Burton of course made the stop-motion animated film Corpse Bride in 2015, so such a comment is not unusual (on this topic: here are some Australian films to binge on for Halloween). He says many of his lead characters refer to the alienation he experienced in his youth, most famously Edwards Scissorhands starring his frequent collaborator Johnny Depp, Alice in Wonderland starring Mia Wasikowska, Batman with Michael Keaton, and even Dumbo.

When he accepted his award he burst into tears and then danced around like a big kid. The fans screamed in approval, something which would never happen in the formality of Cannes.

Tim Burton learning he has received the lifetime achievement award. Picture: Jeff Pachoud/AFP

“All my movies are therapy, expensive therapy and are a way to explore my feelings.”

He stopped making films during the pandemic and now has filmed the Netflix series, Wednesday, based on the character from The Addams Family. 

“I didn't really have a desire to make an Addams Family thing, but I like the Wednesday character,” he says. “She’s very pure and spoke to me as a teenager. Even if I was male, it was like I could have been that person. I liked her attitude about school and parents and people, about society in general.”

Burton has directed four of the eight episodes so far and is still working on the series.  

Even if there was a rumour that he would re-team with Depp for a film featuring a gay character, he says he has no plans to work with the actor at the moment.

“My films have to start with ideas; they have to start from the beginning. I'm never going to do something to work with that person or whatever.”  

London-based Burton has no future projects that he is prepared to discuss, explaining that Beetlejuice 2 will not happen as has been reported, but says he has been invigorated by his visit to Lyon. “I was feeling a bit uneasy about where the film industry was going with the advent of streaming. But at this festival you realise that cinema is always important, it's always going to be there.”

The festival closed on Sunday with a screening of Edward Scissorhands at another incredible cinema to another screaming throng as music from the film by Burton’s regular composer, Danny Elfman, boomed around the auditorium. 

It was a treat to then view the film in pristine condition on a huge screen, which is where the Lumiere Festival excels. Watching Depp alongside his former flame Winona Ryder was a heart-breaking experience, even if I’d seen the film many times. There’s no doubting that Burton and Depp wield a certain magic when they work together. 

Johnny Depp in scene from film "Edward Scissorhands".

Last Friday the director spoke about Depp at a public conversation.

“I first met Johnny on Edward Scissorhands and he was a bit similar to me, kind of suburban, white trash and we connected on some level. It wasn’t even a verbal understanding, I felt he was somebody who liked to do different characters, who was interested in acting for the art of it and not so much for the business of it. His transformation from film to film has always excited me.”

Wednesday screens on Netflix from Nov 23.

Helen Barlow is reporting from Lyon, France.