Tim Burton said he probably won’t work for Disney again
Oct 23, 2022, 5:25 PM
Puppet display during a press preview of 'The World of Tim Burton' exhibition on March 27, 2014 in Prague, Czech Republic. (Matej Divizna/Getty Images)
(Matej Divizna/Getty Images)
(CNN) — Tim Burton is sounding off on his previous working relationship with Disney, saying he is unlikely to return to the company as a director in the future.
The filmmaker attended the Lumiere Festival in France over the weekend, where he received the honorary Prix Lumière award. He spoke at a press conference on Saturday where he likened working for the company to the character Dumbo being trapped in “this horrible big circus.”
“It’s gotten to be very homogenized, very consolidated. There’s less room for different types of things,” Burton said, according to Deadline.
Burton noted that Disney is now largely focused on its tentpole franchises mainly within the Star Wars and Marvel cinematic universes and of his potential involvement in the MCU in the future, he said chances were slim.
“I can only deal with one universe, l can’t deal with a multi-universe,” he said.
Sketchbook Series are display during a press preview of ‘The World of Tim Burton’ exhibition. (Matej Divizna/Getty Images)
Burton last collaborated with Disney on 2019’s live-action reimagining of “Dumbo.” The “Beetlejuice” director first worked for the Mouse House as junior animator for films like 1981’s “The Fox and the Hound.” He went on to direct movies like “A Nightmare Before Christmas” (through Touchstone) in 1993, 1996’s “James and the Giant Peach,” 2012’s “Frankenweenie” and “Alice in Wonderland” in 2010 (along with 2016’s sequel) among other titles.
“I was hired and fired like several times throughout my career there,” he added. “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.”
As I’m devouring this CNN MOVIES documentary it really hits me how much of a mad genius Tim Burton is. Yeah, we knew this but for me his vision diminished on his remake marathon in the 21st Century. Those Disney films pale in comparison to his works of the 20th. Man he was good. pic.twitter.com/zu9i3G0ddN
— Dan Veesenmeyer (@dveese) July 25, 2019
The director’s next project, Addams Family spinoff series “Wednesday” for Netflix, is due out on November 23.
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