There is a place, like no place on Earth; a land full of wonder, mystery and danger. Some say to survive it, you need to be as mad as a hatter.
These opening utterances of the Alice in Wonderland trailer hint at the kooky nature of Tim Burton, and what exactly makes this mysterious man tick.
Looking back over Burton’s various cinematic adventures, Alice in Wonderland is the latest in his list of novel (in both senses of the word) adaptations. In each one, Burton cooks up a fantastical and often macabre reflection of the original story. Examples include Sweeney Todd, Alice in Wonderland, Big Fish, Sleepy Hollow and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. When looking at these adaptations, we can see a recurring theme in Tim Burton’s films: that of the outsider, ostracized and misunderstood by society. Even in his own life, Burton found it difficult to relate to others and became somewhat of a recluse. Growing up in sunny California, Burton preferred drawing cartoons and watching old movies to going out to play with other children. Throughout his films pathos and humour surround and suffuse his characters. Burton takes each one under his wing, giving them the attention they deserve. Perhaps the same attention not shown to the young Burton, one might argue.
Whatever may be said, Tim Burton always forges a deep connection with these literary characters. One such connection that springs to mind is of course Willy Wonka from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Played by Johnny Depp (a veteran of Burton’s work), he is presented to us in such a way that makes the viewer want to stand back and gasp, and yet equally take him out in the sunshine for some good old vitamin D. Though Burton must be credited for returning the film to the book’s original title, using ‘Charlie’ and the Chocolate Factory, the real star of the book in Burton’s eyes is clearly Mr Wonka himself. The finale deviates from the book because it seems that Burton himself needs to identify with Wonka. It has even been claimed Tim Burton sees himself represented in his leading characters, particularly those played by Depp. Indeed the detailed portrayal and de-mystifying of Willy Wonka highlights Burton’s personal attachment to the material here.
And of course, there is Big Fish, an adaptation of the novel by Daniel Wallace, about a son trying to reconcile with his father. The lead character’s desire to learn what his father was really like before his death is basically a plot device that Burton and adapter John August (Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle, Charlie’s Angels) use to allow them to tell a variety of stories from the narrator’s past. Supposed to be the film of most personal significance for Burton because of the age old father-son story, he really nurtures the plot with his visual imagination. Without a doubt, here is a director that values composition of shot and highlights this with an expert focus on colour and movement. Burton makes the words jump off the page in a way that other directors would never dream of. When the character Edward Bloom sees his beloved Sandra Timpleton for the first time, time stands still. In the film, time literally stands still as Edward Bloom walks through a circus frozen in time, brushing aside popcorn in the air. It is Tim Burton’s unique ability to capture our imagination and transform it into celluloid magic that makes him a worthy crusader for novel adaptations.
Surprisingly enough, Burton was not a fan of the comic book as a child. He had famously never read one Batman comic before making 1989’s adaptation Batman. As Burton himself said: “I was never a giant comic book fan, but I’ve always loved the image of Batman and The Joker. The reason I’ve never been a comic book fan—and I think it started when I was a child—is because I could never tell which box I was supposed to read. I don’t know if it was dyslexia or whatever”. It was his attraction to the lead character of Bruce Wayne that led him to the project. The idea of a superhero plagued by so many demons, and loved yet feared by society, spawned his own love for this complex and troubled protagonist. Michael Keaton, especially chosen for this role by Burton, despite his largely comedic history, is surprisingly effective as the brooding Batman. The city of Gotham evoked Burton’s Gothic sensibility, and portrays excellently the cynicism and angst of a generation. Batman remains one of the better adaptations of a comic book character to the screen, and certainly one of the most stylized.
It must be said that Burton showed true confidence in his talents when undertaking his adaptation of Washington Irving’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”, a short story which is among the earliest examples of American fiction still read today. Johnny Depp has been quoted as calling Burton “first and foremost, an artist”, and this artist’s approach can be seen everywhere in his attention to detail. Again Tim Burton enlists Depp, this time in the role as Ichabod Crane. The beautiful Christina Ricci plays the beautiful Katrina Van Tassel. The essence of the slumbering village of Sleepy Hollow almost transcends the screen with the help of spectacular cinematography and production design. Tim Burton’s direction is wonderfully focused and enables the film to become truly atmospheric. He is truly the master craftsman of the dark, macabre spectacles and his taking to certain literary characters ensures their safe passage from book to screen.
More often than not, Burton has an invested personal interest in the characters he portrays, and will nurture their story with an eccentric yet thought-provoking touch. Not to suggest, however, that his self-contained features, not adapted from literary sources, are less successful. Edward Scissorhands, Beetlejuice and the somewhat overlooked Mars Attacks are classics on their own terms, however the heavily artistic communion between literary sources and adaptations speaks to the variety of ways in which often classic texts can be interpreted and re-imagined, often centuries after the original source.
