El País

Type	Daily newspaper
Format	Tabloid
Owner	PRISA
Founder	José Ortega Spottorno
Publisher	Ediciones El País, S.L.
Editor-in-chief	Javier Moreno
Associate editor	Lluis Bassets
Founded	May 4, 1976 (1976-05-04)
Political alignment	Center-Left, Social Democratic
Language	Spanish
Headquarters	Madrid, Spain
Circulation	369,707 daily in 2011[1]
Sister newspapers	Cinco Días, Diario AS
ISSN	0213-4608
Official website	www.elpais.com

El País ( listen (help·info); literally The Country) is the highest-circulation daily newspaper in Spain^[1], and one of three Madrid dailies considered to be national newspapers of record for Spain (along with El Mundo and ABC).^{[citation needed]} El País, based in Madrid, is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA.

Its headquarters and central editorial staff are located in Madrid, although there are regional offices in the principal Spanish cities (Barcelona, Seville, Valencia, Bilbao, Santiago de Compostela) where regional editions are produced. El País also produces a world edition that is printed and distributed in Latin America.^[2]

History[link]

El País was founded by a team at PRISA which included José Ortega Spottorno and Carlos Mendo.^[3] The paper was designed by Reinhard Gade and Julio Alonso. It was first published on 4 May 1976,^[4] six months after the death of dictator Francisco Franco, and at the beginning of the Spanish transition to democracy. It was the first pro-democracy newspaper within a context where all the other Spanish newspapers were influenced by Franco's ideology. El País filled a gap in the market and became the newspaper of Spanish democracy, for which role El País was awarded the Prince of Asturias Award for Communication and the Humanities in 1983, at a time when the transition from Franco's dictatorship to democracy was still developing. The paper's first Director (until 1988) was Juan Luis Cebrián, who came from the daily newspaper Informaciones. Like many other Spanish journalists of the time he had worked for the Diario Pueblo (People's Daily) which was a mouthpiece for the Francist sindicato vertical.

Its reputation as a bastion of Spanish democracy was established during the attempted coup d'etat by Lieutenant Colonel Antonio Tejero of the Guardia Civil on 23 February 1981. During the uncertain situation of the night of 23 February 1981, with all the members of parliament held hostage in the Congress building and with tanks on the streets of Valencia, and before the state television station could transmit a speech by King Juan Carlos I condemning the coup, El País published a special edition of the newspaper called 'El País, for the Constitution'. It was the first daily paper on the streets that night with a clear pro-democracy position calling on citizens to demonstrate in favour of democracy. It was widely discussed in the news media that the then director of El País, Juan Luis Cebrián, telephoned the then director of Diario 16, Pedro J. Ramírez, in order to propose that both newspapers work on a joint publication in defence of democracy and Ramírez refused, claiming that he would prefer to wait a few hours to see how the situation developed. Diario 16 was not published until after a television broadcast by the king. Along with its commitment to democracy before the attempted coup of 23 February 1981, the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party's election victory in 1982 with an absolute majority and its open support for the government of Felipe González,^{[citation needed]} meant that El País consolidated its position during the 1980s as the Spanish newspaper with the most sales ahead of the conservative leaning ABC.

Both the rigorous journalistic standards and the fact that it was the first Spanish newspaper to establish internal quality control standards have increased the standing of El País. It was also the first Spanish daily to create the role of Reader's Advocate (equivalent to the Press Ombudsman in Britain) and in publishing a "Style Guide" that has become a benchmark for quality amongst journalists.^[5] El País has also established a number of collaborative agreements with other European newspapers with a social democrat viewpoint. In 1989 El País participated in the creation of a common network of information resources with La Repubblica in Italy and Le Monde in France. Since October 2001 an English language supplement of El País has been included in the Spanish version of the International Herald Tribune.

At the beginning of the 1990s El País had to face a new political and journalistic challenge. The increasing political tensions caused by corruption scandals involving the socialist government of Felipe González polarized both the Spanish political classes and the press of the left and right wings. Since that time, both the Partido Popular and the media aligned with it have accused El País and the other companies owned by PRISA^[6][7] along with Sogecable^[8][9] of supporting the interests of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). Despite this El País has managed to maintain its position as the best selling generalist daily in Spain, although its lead over El Mundo has been reduced.

On September 26, 2007 the paper published the Bush-Aznar memo, a leaked transcript of a closed-door meeting between presidents Bush and Aznar shortly before the invasion of Iraq.^[10]

During the premiership of the PSOE's José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero El País published several articles criticising or opposing the policies of the Zapatero government.^{[citation needed]} This provided opportunities for new entrants to represent the centre left, such as the appearance of the daily newspaper Público.

Appearance[link]

The appearance of El País is characterized by its sobriety, both in the treatment of information and in its esthetics. Most pages contain five columns that are arranged in a neat and clear manner with distinct journalistic sub-categories. Photographs and graphics play a secondary, supporting role to the written word. The newspaper has had the same design from its foundation until the end of 2007, with hardly any changes (it only used black and white photographs, although the current format includes colour and more imaginative design, mainly in the varied supplements), and the same Times Roman font.^[11]

The format of the newspaper was revamped on 21 October 2007 with changes to its printed form, its digital presence on the internet and its historical motto of 'Independent morning daily' was changed to 'Global Spanish language newspaper'.^[12] Other notable changes are the inclusion of the acute accent in its title header and the substitution of Times Roman by Majerit.

Opinion polls cited in El País are all carried out by a separate company called Instituto OPINA.

Electronic edition[link]

In the mid-1990s El País was the second Spanish newspaper to publish an internet edition, El País digital (the first was the Catalan newspaper Avui). On 18 November 2002 it became the first Spanish newspaper to introduce a payment system for access to the contents of its electronic version, which drastically reduced the number of visits to the website, to the extent that El Mundo, which maintained open access to the majority of its contents, became the leading Spanish digital newspaper. After taking this decision El País digital was suspended in 2002 by the OJD for four months because of two serious breaches of OJD regulations.^[13] The El País digital website opened again on 3 June 2005 with free access to the majority of the contents. Subscription was required to gain access to multimedia contents and to the newspaper's archive.

Supplements[link]

El País produces a number of supplements:

• Wednesdays:
  • Futuro, (English: Future) supplement on science.
• Thursdays:
  • Ciberpaís, supplement on computing and electronics, and
  • The New York Times, a Spanish language version of the American original.
• Fridays:
  • EP[3], previously known as El País de las Tentaciones, (English: The Country of Temptations) youth supplement.
  • Ocio, (English: Leisure) supplement on cultural activities.
• Saturdays:
  • Babelia', cultural supplement specializing in literature and
  • El Viajero, (English: The Traveller) on travel.
• Sundays:
  • the magazine El País Semanal (English: El País Weekly) previously called EP[S] on fashion, reports and opinion,
  • Negocios, (English: Business) financial supplement.

The supplement designed for children, Pequeño País (English: Small Country), ceased publication in 2009.

A number of publications issued in installments have also been produced throughout its history:

• Classic and Modern Comics (1987).

Ideology[link]

The paper's ideology has always been defined by a leaning towards Europeanism. Politically it is situated in the centre-left and the left.^[14] El País has repeatedly supported King Juan Carlos I for his contribution to the consolidation of democracy, especially, for his decisive intervention in aborting the coup of 23 February 1981.^[15] The paper is characterized by the amount of space it gives to the reporting of international news, culture and information regarding the economy, as well as Spanish news. It has specific columnists and contributors from different social backgrounds contributing to the democratic and pro-European editorial line of the newspaper.

Criticism of Che Guevara, the "populist left" and the Government of Venezuela[link]

The paper has criticized figures such as Che Guevara and his idea of armed struggle.^[16]

El País has also been critical of the so-called "populist left" in Latin America. In April 2002 it termed the failed coup in Venezuela as a "coup against a tyrant" accusing Hugo Chávez of authoritarianism and of eliminating the separation of powers.^[17] The paper criticized Chávez again regarding the Venezuelan constitutional referendum of 2007 accusing him of holding the referendum without the least "minimal guarantees", of restricting the actions of the National Electoral Council and tampering with the electoral roll.^[18] The Venezuelan government, through the Ministry of Popular Power for Communication and Information considers El País to be one of the Spanish newspapers most critical of the left-wing governments of Cuba, Venezuela, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Bolivia.^[19]

Notable contributors[link]

• Ariel Dorfman
• Juan Carlos Gumucio
• Fernando Krahn^[20]
• Elvira Lindo
• Mario Vargas Llosa
• Javier Marías
• Rosa Montero
• Manuel Rivas
• Eduardo Mendoza
• Empar Moliner
• Javier Pradera
• Ignacio Sánchez-Cuenca
• Maruja Torres
• Eduardo Haro Tecglen
• Pilar Rahola
• Juan José Millás
• Manuel Valls

See also[link]

	Spain portal
	Journalism portal

• Ortega y Gasset Awards

References[link]

External links[link]

• Electronic edition of El País (Spanish)
• Mobile edition of El País (Spanish)
• Global edition of El País (Spanish)
• El País in English with International Herald Tribune
• Libro de estilo de El País (Spanish)
• Premio Príncipe de Asturias de Comunicación y Humanidades 1983 (Spanish)

v t e Daily newspapers published in Spain with circulation over 90,000* News ABC   •   El Correo   •   El Mundo   •   El País   •   El Periódico de Catalunya   •   La Razón   •   La Vanguardia   •   La Voz de Galicia Sports Diario AS   •   Marca   •   El Mundo Deportivo   •   Sport List of all newspapers in Spain with over 5,000 daily paid circulation     (* according to Spanish Oficina de Justificación de la Difusión, 2011)

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

Short films[link]

• The Island of Doctor Agor (1971)
• Houdini: The Untold Story (1976)
• Stalk of the Celery Monster (1979)
• Doctor of Doom (1979)
• Luau (1982)

Animator filmography[link]

• The Lord of the Rings (1978) (uncredited)
• Stalk of the Celery Monster (1979)
• The Fox and the Hound (1981) (uncredited)
• Tron (1982) (uncredited)

Cameos and other film work[link]

• Singles (1992)
• Hoffa (1992)
• The Nightmare Before Christmas (deleted scene)
• Men in Black 3 (2012)

Art filmography[link]

• Frankenweenie (1984) (storyboard artist, uncredited)
• The Black Cauldron (1985) (conceptual artist, uncredited)

Internet shorts[link]

• The World of Stainboy (2000)

Television[link]

• Hansel and Gretel (1982) (director)
• Faerie Tale Theatre – episode Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp (1989) (director)
• The New Alfred Hitchcock Presents – episode The Jar (1984) (director)
• Beetlejuice: The Animated Series (1989–1991) (executive producer)
• Family Dog (1993) (animation designer, executive producer)
• Hollywood Gum – French commercial, director (1997)
• Kung Fu and Mannequin – Timex commercials, director (2001)

Music videos[link]

• "Bones" by The Killers (2006)

See also[link]

• List of unproduced Tim Burton projects

Awards[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. (January 2011)

Emmy Award

• (1990) Won — Outstanding Animated Program / Beetlejuice

Academy Awards

• (2006) Nominated — Best Animated Feature / Corpse Bride

BAFTA Awards

• (2004) Nominated — Best Direction / Big Fish

Cannes Film Festival

• (1994) Nominated — Palme d'Or / Ed Wood

Chicago Film Critics Association Awards

• (2004) Nominated — Best Director / Big Fish

Golden Globe Awards

• (2008) Nominated — Best Director – Motion Picture / Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

National Board of Review Awards

• (2008) Won — Best Director / Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Producers Guild of America Awards

• (2006) Nominated — Animated Motion Picture / Corpse Bride
• (2008) Honored — Scream Awards: Scream Immortal Award, for his unique interpretation of horror and fantasy
• (2009) Won — Best Producer / 9

64th Venice International Film Festival

• (2007) Honored — Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement

Lacanian Psychoanalysis Prize

• (2010) Won

the Order of the Arts and Letters

• (2010) Knighted by Culture Minister of France

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Bassil-Morozow, Helena (2010): Tim Burton: The Monster and the Crowd. Routledge, London, ISBN 978-0-415-48971-3 Read Introduction at JungArena.com
• Heger, Christian (2010): Mondbeglänzte Zaubernächte. Das Kino von Tim Burton. Schüren, Marburg, ISBN 978-3-89472-554-9 Read Excerpts at Libreka.de
• Gallo, Leah (2009): The Art of Tim Burton. Steeles Publishing, Los Angeles, ISBN 978-1-935539-01-8
• Magliozzi, Ron / He, Jenny (2009): Tim Burton. The Museum of Modern Art, New York, ISBN 978-0-87070-760-5
• Lynette, Rachel (2006): Tim Burton, Filmmaker. KidHaven Press, San Diego, CA, ISBN 0-7377-3556-2
• Page, Edwin (2006): Gothic Fantasy: The Films of Tim Burton. Marion Boyars Publishers, London, ISBN 0-7145-3132-4
• Salisbury, Mark (2006): Burton on Burton. Revised Edition. Faber and Faber, London, ISBN 0-571-22926-3
• Fraga, Kristian (2005): Tim Burton – Interviews. University Press of Mississippi, Jackson, MS, ISBN 1-57806-758-8
• Odell, Colin / Le Blanc, Michelle (2005): Tim Burton. The Pocket Essentials, Harpenden 2005, ISBN 1-904048-45-5
• McMahan, Alison (2005): The Films of Tim Burton: Animating Live Action in Contemporary Hollywood. Continuum, New York, ISBN 0-8264-1566-0 Read Chapter 3 at FilmsOfTimBurton.com
• Smith, Jim / Matthews, J. Clive (2002): Tim Burton. Virgin, London, ISBN 0-7535-0682-3
• Woods, Paul A, (2002): Tim Burton: A Child's Garden of Nightmares. Plexus, London, ISBN 0-85965-310-2
• Merschmann, Helmut (2000): Tim Burton: The Life and Films of a Visionary Director (translated by Michael Kane). Titan Books, London, ISBN 1-84023-208-0
• Hanke, Ken (1999): Tim Burton: An Unauthorized Biography of the Filmmaker. Renaissance Books, Los Angeles, ISBN 1-58063-046-4

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Tim Burton

• Burton's official website
• A website Burton is mentioned on
• A Fantastic Site For Him
• Senses of Cinema: Great Directors Critical Database – Tim Burton
• Tim Burton at the Internet Movie Database

Gieco in 2005.

Raúl Alberto Antonio Gieco, better known as León Gieco (born on November 20, 1951 on a farm near Cañada Rosquín in northern Santa Fe Province, Argentina) is a pop-folk music composer and interpreter. He is known for mixing popular folkloric genres with Argentine rock, and for lyrics with social and political connotations. This has led to him being called "the Argentine Bob Dylan".

Biography[link]

Leon Gieco was born on November 20, 1951 in Santa Fe Province, Argentina. At 6 years old, Gieco traveled with his family to Rosario due to economic troubles. At age 8, Gieco bought his first guitar on credit, and soon began playing music at local events with his father's band. Throughout his childhood, Gieco played with local bands such as a folkloric group called Los Nocheros (The Night Watchers) and Los Moscos (The Flies), a rock band that gained some popularity within Argentina. In 1965, Gieco traveled to Bolivia as an exchange student. He studied music and played guitar at local festivies.

When Gieco turned 18, he went to Buenos Aires to become a full-time musician. There, he took guitar lessons from Gustavo Santaolalla, who introduced him to important people in the Buenos Aires musical community, such as Raúl Porchetto, Charly García, Nito Mestre, and María Rosa Yorio, members of the Argentine supergroup, Porsuigieco. Gieco was given the opportunity to perform in the Buenos Aires Rock Festival in 1971, 1972, and 1973. In 1973, he recorded his first album, "Leon Gieco" ( it was recorded independently with Santaolalla). En el País de la Libertad ("In the Country of Freedom"), a hit from his album, demonstrated Gieco's concern for change in Argentina, his concern for social justice.

In 1976 Gieco released El Fantasma de Canterville ("The Ghost of Canterville"). The record suffered a great deal of censorship from the military government; he had to change the lyrics of 6 songs and remove 3 others altogether. Nevertheless, the record was a success, and he had concerts not only around Argentina, but also in other countries of South America. Two years later he released IV LP, with one of his most famous songs: Sólo le pido a Dios ("I only ask of God"). Due to the political situation in Argentina, Gieco moved to Los Angeles, California in 1978 for one year.

On December 20, 1979, the Argentine Minister of Education announced the closing of the National University of Lujan in Buenos Aires. Gieco participated in a protest against the closing by singing "La Cultura es la Sonrisa". His lyrics say, "(Culture) only cries in a country where people can't choose it/it only cries its sadness if a minister closes a school..." Gieco was arrested and threatened with death by the military government.

León Gieco in 1980.

In 1981 Gieco started a 3-year, 110,000-kilometre-long series of independent concerts all over Argentina, playing for a total of 420,000 people. He gathered material from the different places he visited during the tour, and recorded the first volume of De Ushuaia a La Quiaca ("From Ushuaia to La Quiaca" in Buenos Aires with various autochthonous musicians in 1985. The following De Ushuaia a La Quiaca 2 and De Ushuaia a La Quiaca 3 were recorded in a mobile studio in different locations of the country.

In 1985, Gieco went to Moscow for the 12th "World Youth and Students' Festival" alongside Juan Carlos Baglietto and Litto Nebbia, representing Argentina. In 1986 and 1987, he held concerts in Germany with his friend Mercedes Sosa, including that of Berlin's Political Song Festival.

Gieco returned to Argentina and performed free concerts, one for 40,000 spectators at the National Flag Memorial in Rosario, and the other for 35,000 people in Buenos Aires. At Boca Juniors' Stadium he had a concert with Pablo Milanés and Chico Buarque, and guest musicians Mercedes Sosa, Fito Páez, Nito Mestre, Juan Carlos Baglietto and Sixto Palavecino. At the end of the year he went on a world tour that included countries such as Mexico, Peru, Brasil, Sweden, Germany and Denmark.

In 1988, Gieco performed in Germany and Austria. Back in Argentina he participated in the final concert of the Amnesty International Human Rights Now! Tour at River Plate Stadium, with Charly García, Peter Gabriel, Bruce Springsteen, Sting, and others.

After eight years of touring, Semillas del corazón ("Seeds of the heart") marked his return to the studio in 1989. That same year he performed at the Teatro Ópera in Buenos Aires with United States folk legend Pete Seeger. The following year, Seeger asked him to join a tour that took him to Washington, D.C., Boston and New York City. There he played with David Byrne, whom he had met in Buenos Aires shortly before.

In 1992, he played with Milton Nascimento, Mercedes Sosa, Os Paralamas do Sucesso, Gilberto Gil and Rubén Rada at the inauguration of the Latin American Parliament in São Paulo. In 1997 he participated in the memorial concert for the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, with bands such as Divididos, La Renga, Los Piojos, and Attaque 77.

Gieco began his most recent national tour for social justice, Mundo Alas, in 2007. Argentine musicians, dancers, singers, and painters, all with disabilities, performed alongside Gieco, expressing their unique talents and communicating with audiences. He gave these artists the opportunity to live out their dreams as he does. Gieco created a documentary from the road tour which was produced in March, 2009. The film features rock music, folk music, and tango, along with Gieco's original hits.

Discography[link]

• León Gieco (1973)
• La Banda de los Caballos Cansados (1974)
• El fantasma de Canterville (1976)
• IV LP (1978)
• Siete años (1980)
• Pensar en nada (1981)
• Corazón americano / El gran concierto (1985)
• De Ushuaia a La Quiaca 1 (1985)
• De Ushuaia a La Quiaca 2 (1985)
• De Ushuaia a La Quiaca 3 (1985)
• Semillas del corazón (1989)
• Ayer y hoy (1989)
• Concierto en vivo con Pete Seeger (1990)
• Mensajes del alma (1992)
• Desenchufado (1994)
• Orozco (1997)
• En el país de la libertad (1999)
• De Ushuaia a La Quiaca 4 (1999)
• 40 obras fundamentales (2000)
• Bandidos rurales (2001)
• Por partida doble (2001)
• El vivo de León (2003)
• De Ushuaia a La Quiaca (re-edition) (2005)
• Por Favor, Perdón y Gracias (2005)
• El Vivo de Leon (2003)
• El Desembarco (2011)

See also[link]

Culture of Argentina

External links[link]

• Gieco's official page
• Biography (Spanish)
• La Cultura es la Sonrisa
• Mundo Alas
• Village Voice

References[link]

Becker, Elizabeth (December 2010). "THE MADRES DE PLAZA DE MAYO, AND LEÓN GIECO" (in Spanish). Master of Arts in History. Graduate College of Bowling Green. pp. 1–147. http://etd.ohiolink.edu/view.cgi/Becker%20Elizabeth%20A.pdf?bgsu1284394753. 

"Leon Gieco". 1996-2011. http://www.rock.com.ar/artistas/leon-gieco. 

Avril Lavigne
Avril Lavigne during a performance in Italy, September 2011.
Background information
Birth name	Avril Ramona Lavigne
Born	(1984-09-27) 27 September 1984 (age 27) Belleville, Ontario, Canada
Origin	Napanee, Ontario, Canada
Genres	Pop rock, power pop, pop punk
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, Fashion Designer
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, piano, drums
Years active	2000–present
Labels	Epic, RCA, Arista
Associated acts	Evan Taubenfeld, Deryck Whibley
Website	www.avrillavigne.com
Notable instruments
Squier Signature Telecaster model guitar

Avril Ramona Lavigne (pronunciation: /ˈævrɨl ləˈviːn/; AV-ril lə-VEEN; born 27 September 1984) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. She was born in Belleville, Ontario, but spent most of her youth in the small town of Napanee. By the age of 15, she had appeared on stage with Shania Twain; by 16, she had signed a two-album recording contract with Arista Records worth more than $2 million. In 2002, when she was 17 years old, Lavigne broke onto the music scene with her debut album Let Go.