The Films of Tim Burton: Animating Live Action in Contemporary Hollywood

by Alison McMahan

Most Tim Burton films are huge box-office successes, and several are already classics. The director's mysterious and eccentric public persona attracts a lot of attention, while the films themselves have been somewhat overlooked. Here, Alison McMahan redresses this imbalance through a close analysis of Burton's key films () and their industrial context. She argues that Burton has been a crucial figure behind many of the transformations taking place in horror, fantasy, and sci-fi films over the last two decades, and demonstrates how his own work draws on a huge range of artistic the films of George Melies, surrealism, installation art, computer games, and many more. The Films of Tim Burton is the most in-depth analysis so far of the work of this unusual filmmaker - a director who has shown repeatedly that it is possible to reject mainstream Hollywood contentions while maintaining critical popularrity and commercial success.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction

276 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Alison McMahan is an award-winning screenwriter and author. Alice Guy Blaché, Lost Visionary of the Cinema (Bloomsbury 2002), won two awards, was translated into Spanish, adapted into a play, and was adapted into the documentary Be Natural (2018).

McMahan has trudged through the jungles of Honduras and Cambodia, through the favelas of Brazil and from race tracks to drag strips in the U.S. in search of footage for her documentaries. Her first novel, The Saffron Crocus, a historical YA mystery, was released by Black Opal Books December 2014. She has stories in anthologies published by Wild Rose Press, LevelBest Books, Down & Out Books, and HarperCollins. FollowAlison on Facebook.

Reviews

[Kailyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, I found certain sections interesting and mostly enjoyed the author's take on Burton's films and the pataphysical genre. The writing style was rather dry and it took more motivation than normal to finish this book.

[Luke Devenish · Rating 4 out of 5]

As Olivia Newton John so memorably said, let's get pataphysical. This book has been so useful for everything I'm pondering at the moment. It has realigned my thinking. Thank you, Alison McMahan. A fine piece of scholarship.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

someone to finally write about Tim Burton's films in an intelligent way

[Butts McKenzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little esoteric but overall, I'm glad I read it.