Big Eyes, Beetlejuice and Batman: Tim Burton on Finding His Voice
In person, Tim Burton looks a bit like a sketch out of a Tim Burton movie. His hair is frizzled, his clothes are dark; he speaks in quiet but rushed tones, with a slightly manic gleam in his eyes. This description has undoubtedly been made before, but it’s worth repeating here, particularly since Burton’s new film, Big Eyes, looks so very un-Tim Burton-like. Gone are the macabre backdrops and characters, instead replaced with the bright, picturesque landscape of 1950s San Francisco. But underneath those pastels and shots of the Golden Gate Bridge, you’ll find the same things that made Burton’s earlier worlds so memorable: isolation, sadness, and that fish-out-of-water, outside-looking-in mentality.
Based on a true story, Big Eyes follows painter Margaret Keane (Amy Adams) — best known for her iconic portraits of children with, yep, big eyes — and the years of psychological abuse she suffered at the hands of her husband, Walter (Django Unchained‘s Christoph Waltz), who took credit for her work. The paintings eventually became a worldwide phenomenon, hated by the critical elite but beloved by millions of fans, who happily threw down money for reprints. Years later, Margaret would finally admit the truth: She was the one behind the art, not her husband. Her forced seclusion and willingness to fight back via a lengthy court battle were two of the things that initially attracted Burton to the story. The 56-year-old director also loved the challenge of taking on an independent movie with a smaller budget. (A $200 million bells-and-whistles fantasy blockbuster a la Alice in Wonderland this is not.)
Burton sat down with Rolling Stone right before Big Eyes hit theaters to discuss the new film, why a sequel to Beetlejuice would work, the critical backlash he faced regarding his recent work and how he feels about Batman 25 years after its release.
Big Eyes lacks the darker cues people usually associate you with. But there are a lot of “Burton-esque” qualities to the movie, specifically with the main character being so isolated.
Absolutely. I tend to be very quiet, very internal; back when I was an animator, a lot of people didn’t even know that I could speak, you know? So I identified with Margaret. Unfortunately, I understood certain aspects of Walter as well — the Jekyll and Hyde nature of the character, the ups and the downs. But in a sense, the style of the film…[the screenwriters] Scott [Alexander] and Larry [Karaszewski], who wrote Ed Wood, they specialize in these sort of truth-are-stranger-than-fiction-type people. So the story itself is so outlandish, so weird and so unbelievable, it felt like the best way to do it was to just play it straight. It was a change for me. It was the first real independent thing I’d ever done.