Look up Vincent in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Vincent is the French version of a masculine name. As the Spanish Vicente, it is derived from the Latin name Vincentius meaning "conquering" (from Latin vincere, "to conquer" and Vincent "He/She/It is conquering).^[1] Vincent may refer to:

Saints[link]

• Vincent de Paul, 16th-century French priest
• Vincent Ferrer, 14th-century Valencian Dominican missionary and logician

First name[link]

Many people named Vincent are better known by the diminutives "Vince", "Vinny", or "Vinnie".

• Vince Cable, British politician
• Vince Carter, NBA player
• Vincent Cassel, French actor
• Vince Coleman, American baseball player
• Vin Diesel, American actor
• Vincent D'Onofrio, American actor
• Vincent Gallo, American director, actor, and musician
• Vince Gill, American country singer
• Vincent Hancock, Olympic shooter
• Vinnie Jones, British footballer-turned-actor
• Vincent Kartheiser, American actor
• Vincent Kompany, Belgian EPL footballer (soccor)
• Vincent Lange, German volleyball player
• Vincent Lecavalier, Canadian professional hockey centre and captain for the Tampa Bay Lightning
• Vincent Massey, Canadian lawyer and diplomat
• Vince McMahon, billionaire owner of a publicly traded company (WWE)
• Vinnie Moore, American guitarist
• Vince O'Sullivan, American racewalker
• Vince Offer, American-Israeli infomercial salesman
• Vinnie Paul, American rock/metal drummer (Pantera, Damageplan and HellYeah)
• Prince Vincent of Denmark
• Vincent Persichetti, American composer
• Vincent Pontare, a Swedish singer, songwriter (known as Vincent)
• Vince Powell (1928–2009), British sitcom writer
• Vincent Price, American actor
• Vincent Morris Scheer (Mushy Callahan), light welterweight champion boxer
• Vincent Sherman, American director and actor
• Vinny Testaverde, former NFL quarterback
• Vincent van Gogh, Dutch painter
• Vincent Zhao, Chinese martial artist and actor
• Vince Lombardi, American Former NFL football coach
• Vince Vaughn, American Actor

Surname[link]

• A. Vincent, Malayalam film director and cinematographer.
• Alex Vincent (actor)
• Alex Vincent (drummer)
• Angela Vincent, biologist
• Ava Vincent, porn star
• Beverly M. Vincent
• Bev Vincent
• Brooke Vincent
• Cerina Vincent
• Clinton D. "Casey" Vincent, USAF general, fighter ace
• Colin Vincent
• Cyril Vincent
• David Vincent
• Edgar Vincent, 1st Viscount D'Abernon
• Fay Vincent
• Francis Thomas Vincent, Jr.
• François-Elie Vincent
• Frank Vincent
• Gene Vincent
• George Vincent (English)
• George Robert Vincent
• Georgette Vincent, All-American Girls Professional Baseball League player
• H. Vincent
• Holly Vincent
• Hugh Vincent (1862–1931), Welsh rugby player
• Innocent Vincent
• Isabel Vincent
• Jamie Vincent
• Jan-Michael Vincent
• Jay Vincent
• Jean Vincent (footballer)
• John Vincent (general), British general
• John Vincent (historian), British historian
• John Carter Vincent
• June Vincent
• Justin Vincent
• Keydrick Vincent
• Kira Vincent-Davis
• Kyle Vincent
• Lou Vincent
• Marcel Vincent
• Mark Sinclair Vincent or Vin Diesel
• Marjorie Vincent
• Mary Ann Vincent
• Nick Vincent
• Norah Vincent
• Phil Vincent, British motorcycle pioneer
• Pierre H. Vincent
• Pierre L. J. Vincent
• Rhonda Vincent
• Richard Vincent, Baron Vincent of Coleshill
• Richard Vincent (playwright)
• Robert Vincent
• Sam Vincent (basketball)
• Samuel Vincent
• Sonny Vincent
• Stanley Vincent (1897–1976), senior commander in the Royal Air Force
• Sténio Vincent
• Steven Vincent
• Strong Vincent
• Tim Vincent
• Tony Vincent
• Troy Vincent
• Vinnie Vincent
• Vincent (Surrey cricketer), English cricketer
• Vincent (singer), Swedish

Organizations[link]

• Vincent Motorcycles, a defunct English motorcycle manufacturer
• The Vincent Club of Boston, USA

Aircraft[link]

• Vickers Vincent

Ships[link]

• USS Vincent (SP-3246), a United States Navy patrol boat in commission from 1917 or 1918 to 1919

Popular culture[link]

• Vincent, a song by Don McLean
• Vincent, a short film by Tim Burton
• Vincent Valentine, a fictional character from Final Fantasy VII
• Vincent Vega, a fictional character in the film Pulp Fiction
• V.I.N.CENT "Vital Information Necessary CENTralized" a robot in the 1979 Disney film The Black Hole

References[link]

1. ^ MFnames.com – Origin and Meaning of Vincent

This page or section lists people that share the same given name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change that link to point directly to the intended article.

This page or section lists people with the surname Vincent. If an internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name(s) to the link.

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2011)

Don McLean
Don McLean performing at Westport in 2009
Background information
Birth name	Donald McLean
Born	(1945-10-02) October 2, 1945 (age 66)
Genres	Folk, folk rock
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, musician
Instruments	Vocals, guitar banjo, piano
Years active	1969–present
Labels	United Artists EMI America
Website	www.don-mclean.com

Donald "Don" McLean (born October 2, 1945, New Rochelle, New York) is an American singer-songwriter. He is most famous for the 1971 album American Pie, containing the renowned songs "American Pie" and "Vincent".

Musical roots[link]

This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (June 2011)

Both McLean's grandfather and father were also named Donald McLean. The Buccis, the family of McLean's mother, Elizabeth, came from Abruzzo in central Italy. They left Italy and settled in Port Chester, New York, at the end of the 19th century. He has other extended family in Los Angeles and Boston.^[1]

As a teenager, McLean became interested in folk music, particularly the Weavers' 1955 recording At Carnegie Hall. Childhood asthma meant that McLean missed long periods of school, particularly music lessons, and although he slipped back in his studies, his love of music was allowed to flourish. He often performed shows for family and friends. By age 16 he had bought his first guitar (a Harmony acoustic archtop with a sunburst finish) and begun making contacts in the music business, becoming friends with folk singer Erik Darling, a latter-day member of the Weavers.^[1] McLean recorded his first studio sessions (with singer Lisa Kindred) while still in prep school.

McLean graduated from Iona Preparatory School in 1963, and briefly attended Villanova University, dropping out after four months. While at Villanova he became friends with singer/songwriter Jim Croce.

After leaving Villanova, McLean became associated with famed folk music agent Harold Leventhal, and for the next six years performed at venues and events including the Bitter End and the Gaslight Cafe in New York, the Newport Folk Festival, the Cellar Door in Washington, D.C., and the Troubadour in Los Angeles.^[1] Concurrently, McLean attended night school at Iona College and received a bachelor's degree in business administration in 1968. He turned down a scholarship to Columbia University Graduate School in favor of becoming resident singer at Caffè Lena in Saratoga Springs, New York.

In 1968, with the help of a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts, McLean began reaching a wider public, with visits to towns up and down the Hudson River.^[1] He learned the art of performing from his friend and mentor Pete Seeger. McLean accompanied Seeger on his Clearwater boat trip up the Hudson River in 1969 to raise awareness about environmental pollution in the river. During this time McLean wrote songs that would appear on his first album, Tapestry. McLean co-edited the book Songs and Sketches of the First Clearwater Crew with sketches by Thomas B. Allen for which Pete Seeger wrote the foreword. Seeger and McLean sang "Shenandoah" on the 1974 Clearwater album.

Recording career[link]

Early breakthrough[link]

McLean recorded his first album, Tapestry, in 1969 in Berkeley, California during the student riots. After being rejected by 34 labels, the album was released by Mediarts and attracted good reviews but little notice outside the folk community.

McLean's major break came when Mediarts was taken over by United Artists Records thus securing for his second album, American Pie, the promotion of a major label. The album spawned two No. 1 hits in the title song and "Vincent". American Pie's success made McLean an international star and renewed interest in his first album, which charted more than two years after its initial release.

American Pie[link]

McLean's magnum opus, "American Pie", is a sprawling, impressionistic ballad inspired partly by the deaths of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J. P. Richardson (The Big Bopper) in a plane crash on 3 February 1959. The song popularized the expression "The Day the Music Died" in reference to this event. WCFL DJ Bob Dearborn unraveled the lyrics and first published his interpretation on 7 January 1972, eight days before the song reached #1 nationally (see "Further reading" under American Pie). Numerous other interpretations, which together largely converged on Dearborn's interpretation, quickly followed. McLean declined to say anything definitive about the lyrics until 1978. Since then McLean has stated that the lyrics are also somewhat autobiographical and present an abstract story of his life from the mid-1950s until the time he wrote the song in the late 1960s.^[2]

The song was recorded on 26 May 1971 and a month later received its first radio airplay on New York’s WNEW-FM and WPLJ-FM to mark the closing of The Fillmore East, a famous New York concert hall. "American Pie" reached number one on the U.S. Billboard magazine charts for four weeks in 1972, and remains McLean's most successful single release. The single also topped the Billboard Easy Listening survey. With a running time of 8:36, it is also the longest song to reach No. 1. Some stations played only part one of the original split-sided single release.

In 2001 "American Pie" was voted No. 5 in a poll of the 365 Songs of the Century compiled by the Recording Industry Association of America and the National Endowment for the Arts. The top five were: "Over the Rainbow" written by Harold Arlen and E.Y. "Yip" Harburg (performed by Judy Garland in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz), "White Christmas" written by Irving Berlin (best-known performance by Bing Crosby), "This Land Is Your Land" written and performed by Woody Guthrie, "Respect" written by Otis Redding (best-known performance by Aretha Franklin), and "American Pie".

Subsequent recordings[link]

Personnel from the American Pie album sessions were retained for his third album Don McLean, including producer, Ed Freeman, Rob Rothstein on bass and Warren Bernhardt on piano. The song "The Pride Parade" provides an insight into McLean’s immediate reaction to stardom. McLean told Melody Maker magazine in 1973 that Tapestry was an album by someone previously concerned with external situations. American Pie combines externals with internals and the resultant success of that album makes the third one (Don McLean) entirely introspective."

Other songs written by McLean for the album included “Dreidel” (number 21 on the Billboard chart) and “If We Try” (number 58), which was subsequently recorded by Olivia Newton-John.^[3] “On the Amazon” from the 1920s musical Mr Cinders was an unusual choice but became an audience favorite in concerts and featured in “Till Tomorrow”, a documentary film about McLean produced by Bob Elfstrom. The film shows McLean in concert at Columbia University as he was interrupted by a bomb scare. He left the stage while the audience stood up and checked under their seats for anything that resembled a bomb. After the all-clear, McLean re-appeared and sang “On the Amazon” from exactly where he had left off. Don Heckman reported the bomb scare in his review for the New York Times entitled “Don McLean Survives Two Obstacles.”^[4]

The fourth album, Playin' Favorites was a top-40 hit in the UK in 1973 and included the Irish folk classic, "Mountains of Mourne" and Buddy Holly’s "Everyday", a live rendition of which returned McLean to the UK Singles Chart. McLean said, "The last album (Don McLean) was a study in depression whereas the new one (Playin' Favorites) is almost the quintessence of optimism, with a feeling of "Wow, I just woke up from a bad dream."

The 1974 album Homeless Brother, produced by Joel Dorn, was McLean’s final studio collaboration with United Artists. The album featured fine New York session musicians, including Ralph McDonald on percussion, Hugh McKracken on guitar and a guest appearance by Yusef Lateef on flute. The Persuasions sang the background vocals on “Crying in the Chapel” and Cissy Houston provided a backing vocal on “La La Love You”.

The album’s title song was inspired by Jack Kerouac’s book, The Lonesome Traveller in which Kerouac tells the story of America’s “homeless brothers,” or hobos. The song features background vocals by Pete Seeger.

The song “The Legend of Andrew McCrew” was based on an article published in the New York Times.^[1] concerning a black Dallas hobo named Anderson McCrew who was killed when he leapt from a moving train. No one claimed him, so a carnival took his body, mummified it, and toured all over the South with him, calling him the “The Famous Mummy Man.” McLean’s song inspired radio station WGN in Chicago to tell the story and give the song airplay in order to raise money for a headstone for Anderson McCrew’s grave. Their campaign was successful and McCrew’s body was exhumed and buried in the Lincoln Cemetery in Dallas.^[5] The tombstone had an inscription with words from the fourth verse of McLean’s song:

What a way to live a life, and what a way to die
Left to live a living death with no one left to cry
A petrified amazement, a wonder beyond worth
A man who found more life in death than life gave him at birth

Joel Dorn later collaborated on the Don McLean career retrospective Rearview Mirror released in 2005 on Dorn’s own label Hyena Records. In 2006, Dorn reflected on working with McLean:^[1]

Of the more than 200 studio albums I’ve produced in the past forty plus years, there is a handful; maybe fifteen or so that I can actually listen to from top to bottom. Homeless Brother is one of them. It accomplished everything I set out to do. And it did so because it was a true collaboration. Don brought so much to the project that all I really had to do was capture what he did, and complement it properly when necessary.

Also from the Homeless Brother album, "Wonderful Baby" was a number 1 on the AOR chart in 1975^[6] and was later recorded by Fred Astaire. The song had been inspired by Joel Dorn’s son^[1] and reflected McLean’s interest in 1930s music.

1977 saw a brief liaison with Arista Records that yielded the Prime Time album and, in October 1978, the single "It Doesn’t Matter Anymore". This was a track from the Chain Lightning album that should have been the second of four with Arista.^[1] McLean had started recording in Nashville, with Elvis Presley’s backing singers, The Jordanaires, and many of Elvis’s musicians. However the Arista deal broke down following artistic disagreements between McLean and the Arista chief, Clive Davis. Consequently McLean was left without a record contract in the USA, but through continuing deals the Chain Lightning album was released by EMI in Europe and by Festival Records in Australia. In April 1980, the track "Crying” from the album began picking up airplay on Dutch radio stations and McLean was called to Europe to appear on several important musical variety shows to plug the song and support its release as a single by EMI. The song achieved number 1 status in Holland first, followed by the UK and then Australia.

Don’s number 1 successes in Europe and Australia led to a new deal in the USA with Millennium Records. They issued the Chain Lightning album two and a half years after it had been recorded in Nashville, and two years after its release in Europe. It charted on February 14th, 1981 and reached number 28 while "Crying" climbed to number 5 on the pop singles chart.

The early 1980s saw further chart successes in the US with "Since I Don't Have You", a new recording of "Castles in the Air" and "It's Just the Sun".

In 1987, the release of the country-based Love Tracks album gave rise to the hit singles "Love in My Heart" (a top-10 in Australia), "Can't Blame the Wreck on the Train" (US country No. 49), and "Eventually". The latter two songs were written by Houston native Terri Sharp.

In 1991, EMI reissued the "American Pie" single in the United Kingdom and McLean performed on Top of the Pops.

In 1992, previously unreleased songs became available on Favorites and Rarities while Don McLean Classics featured new studio recordings of "Vincent" and "American Pie".

Don McLean has continued to record new material including River of Love in 1995 on Curb Records and, more recently, the albums You've Got to Share, Don McLean Sings Marty Robbins and The Western Album on his own Don McLean Music label.

A new album, Addicted to Black, was released in May 2009 and is available for purchase at his North American concert performances and is available on his website. In addition, McLean is expecting to tour in Europe and Australia in 2010.^[7]

Other songs[link]

McLean's other well-known songs include:

• "And I Love You So" was covered by Elvis Presley, Helen Reddy, Shirley Bassey, Glen Campbell, Engelbert Humperdinck, Howard Keel and a 1973 hit for Perry Como
• "Vincent", a tribute to the 19th century Dutch painter, Vincent van Gogh. Although it only reached #12 on the Billboard Hot 100, it proved to be a huge hit worldwide.^{[citation needed]} It was a #1 hit single in the UK Singles Chart.^[8] This song was covered by NOFX on their album titled 45 or 46 Songs That Weren't Good Enough to Go on Our Other Records, and also appears on the Fat Wreck Chords compilation Survival of the Fattest. "Vincent" was also covered by Josh Groban on his 2001 debut album.^[9]
• "Castles in the Air", which McLean recorded twice. His 1981 re-recording was a top-40 hit, reaching #36 on the Billboard Hot 100 in late 1981.^[10]
• "Wonderful Baby", a tribute to Fred Astaire that Astaire himself recorded. Primarily rejected by pop stations, it reached #1 on the Billboard Easy Listening survey.^[11]
• "Superman's Ghost", a tribute to George Reeves, who portrayed Superman on television in the 1950s
• "The Grave", a song that McLean had written about the Vietnam War, was covered by George Michael in 2003 in protest against the Iraq War.

The American Pie album features a version of Psalm 137, entitled "Babylon". The song is based on a canon by Philip Hayes^[12] and was arranged by McLean and Lee Hays (of The Weavers).^[13] Boney M had a number one hit in the UK with a similar song in 1978 under the title Rivers of Babylon, which was not based on this one, although using the same text from Psalm 137.

In 1980, McLean had an international number one hit with a cover of the Roy Orbison classic, "Crying". It was only after the record became a success overseas that it was released in the U.S.^{[citation needed]} The single hit #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1981.^[10] Orbison himself once described McLean as "the voice of the century",^{[citation needed]} and a subsequent re-recording of the song saw Orbison incorporate elements of McLean's version.

For the 1982 animated cult-movie The Flight of Dragons produced by Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin, Jr., McLean sang the opening theme. Unfortunately, no soundtrack has ever been released.

Another hit song associated with McLean (though never recorded by him) is "Killing Me Softly with His Song", which was written about McLean after Lori Lieberman, also a singer/songwriter, saw him singing his composition "Empty Chairs" in concert.^[14] Afterwards, Lieberman wrote a poem about the experience and shared it with Norman Gimbel, who had long been searching for a way to use a phrase he had copied from a novel badly translated from Spanish to English, "killing me softly with his blues".^[15] Gimbel and Charles Fox reworked the poem and the phrase into the song "Killing Me Softly with His Song",^[16] recorded by Roberta Flack (and later covered by The Fugees).

Concerts[link]

McLean’s subsequent albums did not match the commercial success of American Pie but he became a major concert attraction in the US and overseas. His repertoire included old concert hall numbers and the catalogues of singers such as Buddy Holly, and another McLean influence, Frank Sinatra. The years spent playing gigs in small clubs and coffee houses in the 1960s transformed into well-paced performances. McLean's first concerts at Carnegie Hall in New York and the Albert Hall in London in 1972 were critically acclaimed.

In the 1970s, McLean usually toured solo but from 1981 to 1996 was accompanied by John Platania on guitar. He now tours with his own band of Nashville musicians: Tony Migliore, Jerry Kroon, Ralph Childs and Carl "VIP" Viperman.

In 1997, McLean performed "American Pie" with Garth Brooks at Brooks' free concert in Central Park in New York City. CNN reported that "Brooks was joined on stage by two surprise guest stars, Billy Joel and Don McLean, who brought down the house with an acoustic rendition of 'American Pie'."^{[citation needed]}

Two years later, Brooks repaid the favor by appearing as a special guest (with Nanci Griffith) on McLean's first American TV special, broadcast as the PBS special Starry Starry Night. A month later, McLean wound up the 20th century by performing "American Pie" at the Lincoln Memorial Gala in Washington D.C. Brooks again played "American Pie" during We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial on January 18, 2009.

In 2007 Don McLean signed with the Asgard Agency in London giving them responsibility for booking concert tours outside North America. Since then McLean has performed tours of the UK (2007, 2008 (one appearance), 2010, 2011), Ireland (2007, 2010, 2011), mainland Europe (2008, 2010), Australia and New Zealand (2008, 2011) and South East Asia (2011). On June 26, 2011, Don McLean performed on the Pyramid Stage at the Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts.

McLean had a series of conflicts with Saturday Night Live writer Andy Breckman, starting when Breckman opened for McLean on tour in 1980.^[17] Breckman and McLean have penned competing renditions of the origins of this feud, both of which are available online.^[18]

Later work and honors[link]

In 1991, Don McLean returned to the UK top 20 with a re-issue of "American Pie".

Iona College conferred an honorary doctorate on McLean in 2001.^{[citation needed]}

In February 2002, "American Pie" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

In 2004, McLean was inaugurated into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Garth Brooks presented the award and said "Don McLean: his work, like the man himself, is very deep and very compassionate. His pop anthem 'American Pie' is a cultural phenomenon".^{[citation needed]}

In 2007, the biography The Don McLean Story: Killing Us Softly With His Songs was published. Biographer Alan Howard conducted extensive interviews for this, the only book-length biography of the often reclusive McLean to date.

In 2008, New York City radio station Q104.3 FM WAXQ named Don McLean's "American Pie" number 37 in their 2008 Top 1,043 Songs Of All Time listener-generated countdown.

In February 2012 McLean won the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards Life Time Achievement award^[19]

In March 2012 the PBS network broadcast a feature length documentary about the life and music of Don McLean called "American Troubadour" produced by 4-time Emmy Award winning film maker Jim Brown.

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• ^AChain Lightning also peaked at #3 on the RPM Country Albums chart in Canada.

Compilations[link]

Singles[link]

Notes

• ^AThe original version of "Castles in the Air" was included on the Tapestry album. In February 1971, it was released as the first single from the album and reached #40 on the Billboard Easy Listening / Adult Contemporary chart. After the success of the "American Pie" single, "Castles in the Air" was included as the B-side to its follow-up, "Vincent", and received enough radio airplay to reach the Hot 100 chart as a "flip". McLean's 1981 version of the song first appeared on his album Believers, and later replaced the original version on some copies of Tapestry.

Rarities[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• The Official Web Site of Don McLean and American Pie
• Allmusic Entry
• Tom Redmond - Working with Chet Atkins: an interview with Don McLean

Tim Burton
Burton at the 64th Venice Film Festival in 2007
Born	Timothy Walter Burton (1958-08-25) August 25, 1958 (age 53) Burbank, California, U.S.
Nationality	American
Education	Burbank High School
Alma mater	California Institute of the Arts
Occupation	Film director, film producer, writer, artist
Years active	1982–present
Notable work(s)	The Nightmare Before Christmas, Beetlejuice, Batman, Edward Scissorhands, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Corpse Bride, Dark Shadows (film), Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (film)
Influenced by	Edgar Allan Poe, Stanley Kubrick, Christopher Lee, Wes Craven, Vincent Price, Ray Harryhausen, Roger Corman, Alan Moore, Ed Wood, Stephen King, John Carpenter, Alfred Hitchcock, Charles Addams, Steven Spielberg
Influenced	Shane Acker, Zack Snyder, Len Wiseman, Daniel Knauf, David Slade, Joss Whedon, Rob Zombie, James Wan
Spouse	Lena Gieseke (1989–1993)
Partner	Lisa Marie (1993–2001) Helena Bonham Carter (2001–present)
Children	Billy Ray Burton (2003–) Nell Burton (2007–)
Awards	See below
Website
timburton.com

Timothy Walter "Tim" Burton^[1] (born August 25, 1958) is an American film director, film producer, writer and artist. He is famous for quirky-themed movies such as Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Corpse Bride, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, and Dark Shadows and for blockbusters such as Pee-wee's Big Adventure, Batman, Batman Returns, Planet of the Apes, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Alice in Wonderland, which was the second highest-grossing film of 2010, and the tenth highest-grossing film of all time.^[2]

Burton is known for using recurring collaborators on his works; among them are Johnny Depp, who has become a close friend of Burton since their first film together; musician Danny Elfman, who has composed for all but five of the films Burton has directed or produced; and domestic partner Helena Bonham Carter. He also wrote and illustrated the poetry book The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories, published in 1997, and a compilation of his drawings, entitled The Art of Tim Burton, was released in 2009. Burton has directed 16 films and produced 12, as of 2012. His latest films are an adaptation of the soap opera Dark Shadows, released on May 10, 2012,^[3] and a remake of his 1984 short, Frankenweenie, scheduled to be released on October 5, 2012.^[4]

Early life[link]

Burton was born in 1958, in the city of Burbank, California, to Jean Burton (née Erickson), the owner of a cat-themed gift shop, and Bill Burton, a former minor league baseball player who would later work for the Burbank Park and Recreation Department.^[5][6] As a preteen, Burton would make short films in his backyard on Evergreen Street using crude stop motion animation techniques or shoot them on 8 mm film without sound. (One of his oldest known juvenile films is The Island of Doctor Agor, that he made when he was 13 years old.) Burton studied at Burbank High School, but he was not a particularly good student. He was a very introspective person, and found his pleasure in painting, drawing and watching films. His future work would be heavily influenced by the works of such childhood heroes as Dr. Seuss and Roald Dahl,^[7] as well as Edgar Allan Poe and the horror and science fiction films he watched, such as Godzilla, and films made by Hammer Film Productions, the works of Ray Harryhausen and Vincent Price.

After graduating from Burbank High School with Jeff Riekenberg, Burton attended the California Institute of the Arts to study character animation. Some of his classmates were John Lasseter, Brad Bird, John Musker and Henry Selick. (In the future, Selick and Burton would work together in The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach.)

As a student in CalArts, Burton made the shorts Stalk of the Celery Monster and King and Octopus.^[8] They remain only in fragments today.

Early career: 1980s[link]

Burton graduated from CalArts in Santa Clarita, California in 1979. The success of his short film Stalk of the Celery Monster attracted the attention of Walt Disney Productions' animation studio, who offered young Burton an animator's apprenticeship at their studio. He worked as an animator, storyboard artist and concept artist on films such as The Fox and the Hound, The Black Cauldron and Tron. However, Burton's personal style clashed with Disney's standards, and he longed to work on solo projects.

While at Disney in 1982, Burton made his first short, Vincent, a six-minute black-and-white stop motion film based on a poem written by the filmmaker, and depicting a young boy who fantasizes that he is his (and Burton's) hero Vincent Price, with Price himself providing narration. The film was produced by Rick Heinrichs, whom Burton had befriended while working in the concept art department at Disney. The film was shown at the Chicago Film Festival and released, alongside the teen drama Tex, for two weeks in one Los Angeles cinema. This was followed by Burton's first live-action production Hansel and Gretel, a Japanese-themed adaptation of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale for the Disney Channel, which climaxes in a kung-fu fight between Hansel and Gretel and the witch. Having aired once at 10:30 pm on Halloween 1983 and promptly shelved, prints of the film are extremely difficult to locate, which contributes to the rumor that this project does not exist. (In 2009, the short went on display in the Museum of Modern Art, and in 2011 the short also played at the Tim Burton art exhibit at the LACMA).

Burton's next live-action short, Frankenweenie, was released in 1984. It tells the story of a young boy who tries to revive his dog after it is run over by a car. Filmed in black-and-white, it stars Barret Oliver, Shelley Duvall (with whom he would work again in 1986, directing an episode of her Faerie Tale Theatre) and Daniel Stern. After Frankenweenie was completed, Disney fired Burton, under the pretext of him spending the company's resources on doing a film that would be too dark and scary for children to see.

Pursuing then an opportunity to make a full-length film, he was approached by Griffin Dunne to direct the black comedy film After Hours. However, after Martin Scorsese's project The Last Temptation of Christ was cancelled (although it would later be completed and released in 1988), he showed an interest in directing it. Respectfully, Burton bowed out.

[edit] Pee-wee's Big Adventure

Not long after, actor Paul Reubens saw Frankenweenie and chose Burton to direct the cinematic spin-off of his popular character Pee-wee Herman. Pee-wee Herman gained mainstream popularity with a successful stage show at The Groundlings and then the Roxy which was later turned into an HBO special. The film, Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985), was made on a budget of $8 million and grossed more than $40 million at the box office. Burton, a fan of the eccentric musical group Oingo Boingo, asked songwriter Danny Elfman to provide the music for the film. Since then, Elfman has provided the score for all but five of the films Burton has directed and/or produced, those exceptions being Cabin Boy, Ed Wood, James and the Giant Peach and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

[edit] Beetlejuice

After directing episodes for the revitalized version of TV series of '50s/'60s anthology horror series Alfred Hitchcock Presents and Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre, Burton received his next big project: Beetlejuice (1988), a supernatural comedy horror about a young couple forced to cope with life after death, as well as a family of pretentious yuppies invading their treasured New England home including their teenage daughter Lydia (Winona Ryder) whose obsession with death allows her to see them. Starring Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis, and featuring Michael Keaton as the obnoxious bio-exorcist Beetlejuice, the film grossed $80 million on a relatively low budget and won an Academy Award for Best Makeup. It would be converted into a cartoon of the same name, with Burton playing a role as executive producer, that ran on ABC and later Fox.

[edit] Batman

Burton's ability to produce hits with low budgets impressed studio executives, and he received his first big budget film, Batman. The production was plagued with problems. Burton repeatedly clashed with the film's producers, Jon Peters and Peter Guber, but the most notable debacle involved casting. For the title role, Burton chose to cast Michael Keaton as Batman following their previous collaboration in Beetlejuice, despite Keaton's average physique, inexperience with action films, and reputation as a comic actor. Although Burton won in the end, the furor over the casting provoked enormous fan animosity, to the extent that Warner Brothers' share price slumped.^{[citation needed]} Burton had considered it ridiculous to cast a "bulked-up" ultra-masculine man as Batman, insisting that the Caped Crusader should be an ordinary (albeit fabulously wealthy) man who dressed up in an elaborate bat costume to frighten criminals. Burton cast Jack Nicholson as The Joker (Tim Curry being his second choice) in a move that helped assuage fans' fears, as well as attracting older audiences not as interested in a superhero film.^{[citation needed]}

When the film opened in June 1989, it was backed by the biggest marketing and merchandising campaign in film history at the time, and became one of the biggest box office hits of all time, grossing well over US$250 million in the US alone and $400 million worldwide (numbers not adjusted for inflation) and earning critical acclaim for the performances of both Keaton and Nicholson, as well as the film's production aspects, which won the Academy Award for Best Art Direction. The success of the film helped establish Burton as a profitable director, and it also proved to be a huge influence on future superhero films, which eschewed the bright, all-American heroism of Richard Donner's Superman for a grimmer, more realistic look and characters with more psychological depth. It also became a major inspiration for the successful 1990s cartoon Batman: The Animated Series, in as much as the darkness of the picture and its sequel allowed for a darker Batman on television.

Burton claimed that The Killing Joke was a major influence on his film adaptation of Batman:

"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, but that's why I loved The Killing Joke, because for the first time I could tell which one to read. It's my favorite. It's the first comic I've ever loved. And the success of those graphic novels made our ideas more acceptable."^[9]

1990s[link]

[edit] Edward Scissorhands

In 1990, Burton co-wrote (with Caroline Thompson) and directed Edward Scissorhands, re-uniting with Winona Ryder from Beetlejuice. His friend Johnny Depp, a teen idol at the end of the 1980s due primarily to his work on the hit TV series 21 Jump Street, was cast in the title role of Edward, who was the creation of an eccentric and old-fashioned inventor (played by Vincent Price in one of his last screen appearances). Edward looked human, but was left with scissors in the place of hands due to the untimely death of his creator. Set in suburbia (and shot in Lutz, Florida), the film is largely seen as Burton's autobiography of his childhood in Burbank. Price at one point is said to have remarked, "Tim is Edward." Depp wrote a similar comment in the foreword to Mark Salisbury's book, Burton on Burton, regarding his first meeting with Burton over the casting of the film. Edward is considered one of Burton's best movies by some critics.^[10] Following this collaboration with Burton, Depp starred in Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Corpse Bride, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Alice in Wonderland, and Dark Shadows.

In 2004, Matthew Bourne came to Burton with the idea to turn the story of Edward into a ballet. In 2005, the ballet first aired. It has now toured the UK, the US, Canada, Australia and parts of Europe.

[edit] Batman Returns

The day Warner Brothers had declined to make the more personal Scissorhands even after the success of Batman, Burton finally agreed to direct the sequel for Warner Brothers on the condition that he would be granted total control. The result was Batman Returns which featured Michael Keaton returning as the Dark Knight, and a new triad of villains: Danny DeVito (as the Penguin), Michelle Pfeiffer (as Catwoman) and Christopher Walken as Max Shreck, an evil corporate tycoon and original character created for the film (similar to Superman III's Ross Webster). Darker and considerably more personal than its predecessor, concerns were raised that the film was too scary for children. Audiences were even more uncomfortable at the film's overt sexuality, personified by the sleek, fetish-inspired styling of Catwoman's costume. One critic remarked, "too many villains spoiled the Batman", highlighting Burton's decision to focus the storyline more on the villains instead of Batman. The film also polarized the fanbase, with some loving the darkness and quirkiness, while others felt it was not true to the core aspects of the source material. Burton made many changes to the Penguin which would be applied to the Penguin in both comics and television. While in the comics, he was an ordinary man, Burton created a freak of nature resembling a penguin with webbed, flipper-like fingers, a hooked, beak-like nose, and a penguin-like body (resulting in a rotund, obese man). Released in 1992, Batman Returns grossed $282.8 million worldwide, making it another financial success, though not to the extent of its predecessor. Paul Reubens a.k.a. Pee-Wee from Pee-wee's Big Adventure has a cameo as the Penguin's father.

[edit] The Nightmare Before Christmas

Next, Burton wrote and produced (but did not direct, due to schedule constraints on Batman Returns) The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), originally meant to be a children's book in rhyme. The film was directed by Henry Selick and written by Caroline Thompson, based on Burton's original story, world and characters. The film received positive reviews for the film's stop motion animation, musical score and original storyline and was a box office success, grossing $50 million. Burton collaborated with Selick again for James and the Giant Peach (1996), which Burton co-produced. The film helped to generate a renewed interest in stop-motion animation.

A deleted scene from The Nightmare Before Christmas features a group of vampires playing hockey on the frozen pond with the decapitated head of Burton. The head was replaced by a jack-o'-lantern in the final version.

[edit] Cabin Boy

In 1994, Burton and frequent co-producer Denise Di Novi produced the 1994 fantasy-comedy Cabin Boy, starring comedian Chris Elliott and directed/written by Adam Resnick. Burton was originally supposed to direct the film after seeing Elliott perform on Get a Life, but handed the directing responsibility to Resnick once he was offered Ed Wood. The film was almost entirely panned by critics, even earning Chris Elliott a 1995 Razzie Award for "Worst New Star".^[11] The film also has a 45% "rotten" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, indicating more mixed contemporary reviews.

[edit] Ed Wood

His next film, Ed Wood (1994), was of a much smaller scale, depicting the life of Ed Wood, a filmmaker sometimes called "the worst director of all time". Starring Johnny Depp in the title role, the film is an homage to the low-budget science fiction and horror films of Burton's childhood, and handles its comical protagonist and his motley band of collaborators with surprising fondness and sensitivity. Owing to creative squabbles during the making of The Nightmare Before Christmas, Danny Elfman declined to score Ed Wood, and the assignment went to Howard Shore. While a commercial failure at the time of its release, Ed Wood was well-received by critics. Martin Landau received an Academy Award in the Best Supporting Actor category for his portrayal of Bela Lugosi, as well as the Academy Award for Best Makeup.

[edit] Batman Forever

Despite his intention to still lead the Batman franchise, Warner Bros. considered Batman Returns too dark and unsafe for children. To attract the young audience, it was decided that Joel Schumacher, who had directed films like The Client, lead the third film, while Burton would only produce it in conjunction with Peter McGregor-Scott. Following this change and the changes made by the new director, Michael Keaton resigned from the lead role and was replaced by Val Kilmer. Filming began in late 1994 and recognized with new actors: Tommy Lee Jones, Nicole Kidman, Chris O'Donnell and Jim Carrey; the only two actors who returned were Pat Hingle and Michael Gough. The film, a mixture of darkness that characterized the saga with colors and neon signs proposed by Schumacher, was a huge box office success of $336 million, despite controversy over the characters and plot. Despite their friendship, Burton often disagreed with Schumacher's decisions, especially in the filming of several scenes which were removed from the final cut (later added as deleted scenes on the 2005 DVD release). Warner Bros. demanded Schumacher delete those scenes so the film did not have the same tone as its predecessor Batman Returns. According to an interview with Janet Scott Batchler, Burton's only involvement as producer with Batman Forever was approving Schumacher as director and Lee and Janet Scott Batchler as the writers. Burton did not contribute story ideas and the Riddler was not considered for the villain until Schumacher and the Batchlers were at the development stage. Schumacher was rehired to lead another sequel, the infamous Batman & Robin, in which Burton, for unknown reasons, did not participate.

[edit] James and the Giant Peach

In 1996, Burton and Selick reunited for the musical fantasy James and the Giant Peach, based on the book by Roald Dahl. The film, a combination of live action and stop motion footage, starred Richard Dreyfuss, Susan Sarandon, David Thewlis, Simon Callow and Jane Leeves among others, with Burton producing and Selick directing. The film was mostly praised by critics, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Musical or Comedy Score (by Randy Newman).

[edit] Mars Attacks!

Elfman and Burton reunited for Mars Attacks! (1996). Based on a popular science fiction trading card series, the film was a hybrid of 1950s science fiction and 1970s all-star disaster films. Coincidence made it an inadvertent spoof of the blockbuster, Independence Day, made around the same time and released five months earlier. The film boasted an all-star cast, including Jack Nicholson, Glenn Close, Anette Bening, Danny DeVito, Pierce Brosnan, Michael J. Fox, Sarah Jessica Parker, Natalie Portman, Lukas Haas, Martin Short, Rod Steiger, Christina Applegate, and Jack Black.

[edit] Sleepy Hollow

Sleepy Hollow, released in late 1999, had a supernatural setting and another offbeat performance by Johnny Depp as Ichabod Crane, now a detective with an interest in forensic science rather than the schoolteacher of Washington Irving's original tale. With Hollow, Burton paid homage to the horror films of the English company Hammer Films. Christopher Lee, one of Hammer's stars, was given a cameo role. A host of Burton regulars appeared in supporting roles (Michael Gough, Jeffrey Jones and Christopher Walken, among others) and Christina Ricci was cast as Katrina van Tassel. A well-regarded supporting cast was headed by Miranda Richardson, Michael Gambon, Richard Griffiths and Ian McDiarmid. Mostly well-received by critics, and with a special mention to Elfman's Gothic score, the film won an Academy Award for Best Art Direction, as well as two BAFTAs for Best Costume Design and Best Production Design. A box office success, Sleepy Hollow was also a turning point for Burton. Along with change in his personal life (separation from actress Lisa Marie), Burton changed radically in style for his next project, leaving the haunted forests and colorful outcasts behind to go on to directing Planet of the Apes which, as Burton had repeatedly noted, was "not a remake" of the earlier film.

2000s[link]

[edit] Planet of the Apes

Planet of the Apes was a commercial success, grossing $68 million in its opening weekend. The film has received mixed reviews and is widely considered inferior to the first adaptation of the novel. One criticism was that the movie went for a more watered down "popcorn" feel than the dark, cerebral and nihilistic tone of the 1968 film. The film was a significant departure from Burton's usual style, and there was much subsequent debate about whether the film was really Burton's, or if he was just a "hired gun" who did what he was asked.^[12] Burton reportedly clashed with the studio during the whole making of the film, once going as far as abruptly leaving the set for the day. There were also many reports about last-minute changes in the film. The film enjoyed commercial success and had an ending that clearly suggested the possibility of a sequel, but neither the studio nor Burton gave indications of making another Apes movie. During the making of the film, Burton met actress Helena Bonham Carter, who would later become his long-term domestic partner. In 2011, Rise of the Planet of the Apes was released without Burton's involvement.

[edit] Big Fish

In 2003, Burton directed Big Fish, based on the novel Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions by Daniel Wallace. The film is about a father telling the story of his life to his son using exaggeration and color. Starring Ewan McGregor as young Edward Bloom and Albert Finney as an older Edward Bloom, the film also stars Jessica Lange, Billy Crudup, Danny DeVito, Alison Lohman and Marion Cotillard. Big Fish is also notable as the first role, playing "Young Ruthie", of Miley Cyrus, credited under her birth name, Destiny Hope Cyrus. Big Fish received four Golden Globe nominations as well as an Academy Award nomination for the musical score by Danny Elfman. Big Fish was also the second collaboration with Burton and Helena Bonham Carter, who played the characters of Jenny and the Witch.

[edit] Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Burton at premiere of the film in 2005.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) is an adaptation of the book of the same name by Roald Dahl. Starring Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka, Freddie Highmore as Charlie Bucket and Helena Bonham Carter as Mrs. Bucket, the film generally took a more faithful approach to the source material than the 1971 adaptation, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, although some liberties were taken, such as adding Wonka's issue with his father (played by Christopher Lee). Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was later nominated for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design. The film made over $207 million domestically. Filming proved difficult as Burton and Danny Elfman had to work on this and Burton's Corpse Bride at the same time.

[edit] Corpse Bride

Corpse Bride (2005) was Burton's first full-length stop-motion film as a director, featuring the voices of Johnny Depp as Victor and Helena Bonham Carter (for whom the project was specifically created) as Emily in the lead roles. In this film, Burton was able again to use his familiar styles and trademarks, such as the complex interaction between light and darkness, and of being caught between two irreconcilable worlds.

"Bones"[link]

"Bones" (2006) is the only music video Burton has directed to date. The song "Bones" is the sixth overall single by American indie rock band The Killers, the second released from their second studio album, Sam's Town. Starring in this video were actors Michael Steger and Devon Aoki. Also featured in the video are scenes from films like Creature from the Black Lagoon, Jason and the Argonauts and Lolita.

The band, as well as Steger and Aoki, change temporarily into partial CG skeletal versions of themselves, before becoming complete skeletons by the end of the video. At the 2007 Shockwaves NME Awards, it won the award for Best Video.

[edit] Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Tim Burton (right) and Pedro Almodóvar (left) at the première of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street in Madrid, in 2007

The DreamWorks/Warner Bros. production was released on December 21, 2007. Burton's work on Sweeney Todd won the National Board of Review Award for Best Director,^[13] received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Director^[14] and won an Academy Award for Best Art Direction. Helena Bonham Carter won an Evening Standard British Film Award for her portrayal of Mrs. Lovett, as well as a Golden Globe nomination. The film blends explicit gore and Broadway tunes, and was well received by critics. Johnny Depp was nominated for the Best Actor Oscar for the role of Sweeney Todd. Depp also won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Musical/Comedy, as well as the award for Best Villain as Todd in the 2008 MTV Awards.

[edit] 9

Tim Burton speaking about 9 at Comic-Con, 2009.

In 2005, filmmaker Shane Acker released his short film 9, a story about a sentient rag doll living in a post-apocalyptic world who tries to stop machines from destroying the rest of his eight fellow rag dolls. The film won numerous awards and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. After seeing the short film, Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov, director of Wanted, showed interest in producing a feature-length adaptation of the film. Directed by Acker, the full-length film was produced by Burton, written by Acker (story) and Pamela Pettler (screenplay, co-writer of Corpse Bride) and featured the voice work of Elijah Wood, John C. Reilly, Jennifer Connelly, Christopher Plummer, Martin Landau, Crispin Glover and Fred Tatasciore, among others. This was Burton's first animated movie aside from his stop-motion films.

2010s[link]

[edit] Alice in Wonderland

In Burton's version, the story is set 13 years after the original Lewis Carroll tales. Mia Wasikowska, who featured in the HBO series In Treatment and Defiance, was cast as Alice. The original start date was May 2008.^[15] Torpoint and Plymouth were the locations used for filming from September 1 – October 14, and the film remains set in the Victorian era. During this time, filming took place in Antony House in Torpoint.^[16] 250 local extras were chosen in early August.^[17][18] Other production work took place in London.^[19] The film was originally to be released in 2009, but was pushed to March 5, 2010.^[20] Johnny Depp plays the Mad Hatter, while Matt Lucas, star of Little Britain, is both Tweedledee and Tweedledum; Helena Bonham Carter portrays the Red Queen; Stephen Fry is the Cheshire Cat; Anne Hathaway stars as the The White Queen; Alan Rickman voices Absolem the Caterpillar, Michael Sheen voices McTwisp the White Rabbit and Crispin Glover's head and voice were added onto a CGI body to play the Knave of Hearts.

Tim Burton appeared at the 2009 Comic-Con in San Diego, California, to promote both 9 and Alice in Wonderland. When asked about the filmmaking process by an attendee, he mentioned his "imaginary friend" who helps him out, prompting Johnny Depp to walk on stage to the applause of the audience. The film won two Academy Awards for Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design.

[edit] Dark Shadows

Burton's film Dark Shadows once again starred Johnny Depp in the leading role. The film was based on the original Dark Shadows gothic soap opera, which aired on ABC from 1966 to 1971. Members of the cast included Helena Bonham Carter, Michelle Pfeiffer, Eva Green, Jackie Earle Haley, Bella Heathcote, Gulliver McGrath, and Chloë Grace Moretz. The filming began in April 2011, with the film released on May 11, 2012. Danny Elfman once again composed and conducted the score and soundtrack for the film, and Colleen Atwood was the costume designer. It has received mixed to negative reviews from critics, some of whom think it is a tongue-in-cheek gothic comedy, visually appealing and fitting as an adaptation of the melodramatic soap opera, whereas others think the film has a very loose plot, is not particularly humorous, and that Burton and Depp's collaborative efforts have worn thin. Depp's performance has also had a mixed reception, with some claiming his performance is the best thing about the film, while others have accused him of overacting.

Future projects[link]

Burton is remaking his 1984 short film Frankenweenie as a feature-length stop motion film, distributed by Walt Disney Pictures.^[21] The film is set to be released on October 5, 2012.^[22]

On January 19, 2010, it was announced that after Dark Shadows, Burton's next project would be a Wicked-like film that showed the origin and the past of Sleeping Beauty's antagonist Maleficent. In an interview with Fandango published February 23, 2010, however, he denied he was directing any upcoming Sleeping Beauty film.^[23] However, on November 23, 2010, in an interview with MTV, Burton confirmed that he was indeed putting together a script for Maleficent.^[24] It was announced in The Hollywood Reporter on May 16, 2011 that Burton was no longer attached to Maleficent.^[25]

Burton will also co-produce Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter with Timur Bekmambetov, who will also serve as director. The film, set to be released on June 22, 2012, is based on the novel by Seth Grahame-Smith, also author of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, who also wrote the film's screenplay. It has also been reported that Burton will be directing a 3-D stop-motion animation adaptation of The Addams Family, which was confirmed by Christopher Meledandri.^[26] On July 19, 2010, he was announced as the director of the upcoming film adaptation of Monsterpocalypse.^[27]

Personal life[link]

Burton was married to Lena Gieseke, a German-born artist, for two years, whom he left to live with model and actress Lisa Marie; she acted in the films he made during their relationship from 1992 to 2001, most notably in Ed Wood and Mars Attacks!. After leaving her, Burton then developed a romantic liaison with English actress Helena Bonham Carter, whom he met while filming Planet of the Apes. Lisa Marie responded in 2005 by holding an auction of personal belongings that Burton had left behind, much to his dismay.^[28]

Burton and Bonham Carter have two children: a son, Billy Raymond, named after his and Bonham Carter's fathers, born October 4, 2003; and a daughter, Nell, born December 15, 2007.^[29] Close friend Johnny Depp is a godfather of both of Burton's children. In Burton on Burton, Depp wrote the introduction, stating, "What more can I say about him? He is a brother, a friend, my godson's father. He is a unique and brave soul, someone that I would go to the ends of the earth for, and I know, full and well, he would do the same for me."

Burton was the President of the Jury for the 63rd annual Cannes Film Festival, which was held from May 12 to May 24, 2010 in Cannes, France.^[30]

On March 15, 2010, Burton received the insignia of Chevalier of Arts and Letters from Minister of Culture, Frédéric Mitterrand.^[31]

Burton has stated his favorite films are Dracula AD 1972, The Wicker Man, The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, The War of the Gargantuas, and The Omega Man.^[32]

Recurring collaborators[link]

Burton often casts certain actors in multiple directing projects. This includes Helena Bonham Carter, Johnny Depp, Danny DeVito, Conchata Ferrell, Albert Finney, Carmen Filpi, Michael Gough, Pat Hingle, Jan Hooks, Rance Howard, Jeffrey Jones, O-Lan Jones, Michael Keaton, Christopher Lee, Lisa Marie, Catherine O'Hara, Michelle Pfeiffer, Vincent Price, Missi Pyle, Paul Reubens, Alan Rickman, Deep Roy, Winona Ryder, Diane Salinger, Glenn Shadix, Martin Short, Timothy Spall, Sylvia Sidney, Christopher Walken, Frank Welker, and Paul Whitehouse.

Burton also often works with certain crew members in multiple directing projects. This includes composer Danny Elfman, screenwriters Caroline Thompson, John August, and Seth Grahame-Smith, producers Denise Di Novi, Allison Abbate, and Richard D. Zanuck, costume designer Colleen Atwood, production designers Bo Welch, Alex McDowell, and Rick Heinrichs, cinematographers Philippe Rousselot and Dariusz Wolski, and editor/executive producer Chris Lebenzon.

Exhibitions[link]

"Tim Burton" at Museum of Modern Art[link]

From November 22, 2009 to April 26, 2010, Burton had a retrospective at the MoMA in New York with over 700 "drawings, paintings, photographs, storyboards, moving-image works, puppets, maquettes, costumes, and cinematic ephemera," including many from the filmmaker's personal collection.^[33][34] The show also includes amateur and student films, music videos, commercials, and digital slide shows, as well as a complete set of features and shorts.^[35]

"Tim Burton" at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI)[link]

From MoMA, the "Tim Burton" exhibition traveled directly to Australian Centre for the Moving Image in Melbourne. Running from June 24 to October 10, 2010, the ACMI exhibition will incorporate additional material from Burton's Alice in Wonderland, which was released in March.^[36]

"Tim Burton" at the TIFF Bell Lightbox[link]

The exhibition was displayed at the TIFF Bell Lightbox in Toronto, Ontario, Canada from November 26, 2010 to April 17, 2011. It was accompanied by several personal appearances by Burton as well as a retrospective of his films.

"Tim Burton" at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)[link]

"The Art of Tim Burton" was exhibited at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art from May 29 to October 31, 2011 in the Museum's Resnick Pavilion.^[37] LACMA has also featured six films of Tim Burton's idol, Vincent Price, for the actor's 100th birthday during the closing weekend of the Exhibit.

"Tim Burton" at the Cinémathèque Française[link]

"Tim Burton, the exhibition/Tim Burton, l'exposition" is exhibiting at the Cinémathèque Française from March 7 to August 5, 2012 in Paris, France.^[38] All Tim Burton's movies are programmed during the exhibition.

Bibliography[link]

• Burton on Burton, edited by Mark Salisbury (1995, revised editions 2000, 2006)
• The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories (1997)
• The Art of Tim Burton, written by Leah Gallo (2009)

Filmography[link]

Year	Film	Director	Producer	Writer
1982	Vincent	Y		Y
1984	Frankenweenie	Y		Y
1985	Pee-wee's Big Adventure	Y
1988	Beetlejuice	Y
1989	Batman	Y
1990	Edward Scissorhands	Y	Y	Y
1992	Batman Returns	Y	Y
1993	The Nightmare Before Christmas		Y	Y
1994	Cabin Boy		Y
	Ed Wood	Y	Y
1995	Batman Forever		Y
1996	James and the Giant Peach		Y
	Mars Attacks!	Y	Y
1999	Sleepy Hollow	Y
2001	Planet of the Apes	Y
2003	Big Fish	Y
2005	Charlie and the Chocolate Factory	Y
	Corpse Bride	Y	Y
2007	Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street	Y
2009	9		Y
2010	Alice in Wonderland	Y
2012	Dark Shadows	Y
	Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter		Y
	Frankenweenie	Y	Y	Y