In this essay, I will be discussing the relevance of the auteur theory for understanding and interpreting Tim Burton's work. Auteur theory is a term coined by the French director Francois Truffaut in an essay, “Une certaine tendance du cinema francais” (A certain tendency in French cinema), for the French magazine ‘Cahiers du cinema’. This term was created by French filmmakers who after the German occupation had 5 years of film to catch up on. The filmmakers were able to identify reoccurring themes in certain directors' work that were influenced by the director's life experience rather than a story with no meaning. This then created the French New Wave in cinema where films were seen as an art form instead of mass entertainment. The theory can be summed up as films being a reflection of the director’s artistic vision, they will have recognisable, recurring themes and visual cues that will inform the audience who the director is and shows a consistent artistic identity throughout that director's filmography (Indie Film Hustle 2019). If you watch many films across a director's body of work, you will either recognise a signature style or ‘worldview’ or you won't. I will be looking at Tim Burton’s Edward Scissorhands (1990), Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (2016) and Henry Selick’s The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) which was created by Burton.
Before looking into those films, we must first discuss what makes a Tim Burton film, a Tim Burton film. Many of his films feature gothic visuals like a graveyard, decrepit houses and old churches and these are often juxtaposing very idyllic settings like Edwards castle in the suburb of Burbank, California. Burton likes to contrast his dark imagery and themes with more typical visuals and themes as it emphasises the statements he tries to make in his films. Like in Edward Scissorhands, the perfect houses in the perfect neighbourhood housing doesn’t mean the people inside them are perfect. Burton will also use common archetypes like the evil witch and ambitious female character to connect his world and the real world. His films also have other reoccurring motifs such as bats, dogs, skeletons, spiders, topiaries, black and white stripes. Another trope of Burton’s films is that he uses the same actors like Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter and Christopher Lee. Bordwell, Thompson & Smith (2019, p. 34) say the director isn't an expert at every job so they can delegate tasks to trusted personnel that the director often works with. We see this with Burton as he also tends to work with the same people like Danny Elfman who has composed for 18 films, Chris lebenzon who has edited 15 films, Colleen Atwood who has costume designed for 12 films and Rick Heinrichs who has been the production designer for 11 films. The benefit of working with the same people is that they get to know how the director works and what they are trying to achieve. Therefore, they can create what Burton envisions for his films. All of his films have a misunderstood main character that is considered an outsider and doesn’t fit into society. Nelmes (2012, p. 151) says that “an auteur infuses their work with a personal vision” and this is evident in Burton’s work because his films reflect how he felt in childhood and him believing that society tried to strip him of his individuality.
This can be seen in Edwards Scissorhands which Burton directed, produced along with Denise Di Novi and come up with the story with Caroline Thompson. The main misunderstood character, Edward, is made to wear normal clothes, cover up his scars and made to get a job to fit into the neighbourhood but is ultimately shunned by them because his scissor hands caused too much damage. This is a metaphor of Burton’s childhood and Edward personifies how alienated Burton felt growing up. Burton had been wanting to create this film for many years and Edward started as a drawing Burton did as a teenager [image above]. The relevance of auteur theory here helps us understand that Burton is expressing his worldview in his own artistic way. It was actually due to Burton’s promising skills that Warner Bros.’, who he had directed three films with, gave him free rein to choose what he would make next. Instead of making a sequel to his previous films which is what Warner Bros.’ would have liked, he made Edward Scissorhands. Although Warner Bros.’ did eventually sell the rights and moved production to 20th Century Fox. This film was also Johnny Depp's first time working with Burton and led to him staring in 7 more of his films. Depp can capture the eccentric personalities of Burton’s characters such as the Mad Hatter, Willy Wonka and Barnabas Collins and make them come alive. The same can also be said for Helena Bonham Carter, who was in a relationship with Burton for many years. The benefits of working with the same actors are that they are familiar with how Burton works and can become the character and tell the story he has envisioned.
The Nightmare Before Christmas is an example where the director doesn’t necessarily have to be the auteur as Burton wasn’t the director on this movie, his friend Henry Selick was. Burton, however, was a producer and did come up with the concept of the film. It is as Naremore (2003) says, “given the circumstances under which films are made, it is possible to think of any of the creative individuals who contribute to them as a kind of an auteur.” Burton is the main creative force behind this movie and it is easily recognisable as a Tim Burton film due to the visuals. You have Jack Skellington who despite being the leader of Halloween town wants to celebrate Christmas, the monster-like character Oogie Boogie and the love interest Sally. There are also motifs throughout that reoccur like the dog, Zero, bats, spiders and Jacks famous suit. This film is the definition of Burton’s auteur aesthetic that it even has the alternative title Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas as shown in the image above. Audiences associate this style with Burton so it can be easy to forget that he isn't the actual director. The films nature was influenced by Burton’s childhood like Edward Scissorhands as he loved holidays like Halloween and Christmas as it made a change to the mundanities of normal life. Once again Burton is expressing his world views in one of his films which is what the auteur theory says an auteur should do.
One of Burtons more recent films that he has directed is Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is based on the 2011 novel of the same name by Ransom Riggs. Although Burton didn’t come up with the concept of this film, he was drawn to it as it explores similar themes that his original films do such as the boy who feels like an outsider, creepy monsters and gothic imagery. This film is an example of an auteur making something their own as Burton put his signature throughout the film to make it his own. For example, the monsters called the Hollows are very similar to Jack Skellington from The Nightmare Before Christmas [image above] with the long limb, pale appearance and pinstriped suit. In the book, however, the Hollows didn’t wear clothes and it was Burton who made the change to humanise them. Burton also makes the character of Miss Peregrine more whimsical and eccentric than in the books as she now has blue hair, wears a blue suit and has more bird-like mannerism. This is instead of her being like the book version which was a strict Victorian-Esque Nannie who wears a black mourning dress, as this change fits Burtons style more. Burton made other changes to the story, script and characters to “Burton-ize” them. We can recognise Burton’s style in this film even though it isn't an original film because he has stamped it with tropes that we associate with him.
In conclusion, the auteur theory is relevant in understanding and interpreting Tim Burton’s filmography because it gives reason and meaning to his films. Burton has a signature style that can be seen in all of his films and most of the themes that are explored in his films are influenced by his childhood. Despite the problem of auteur theory sometimes confining directors to one genre he has shown that he is versatile and can create superhero films, animations, book adaptations, Disney films and so much more. Burton can translate his style into any genre of films and still have audiences recognise it as a Tim Burton film. Thus, making him an auteur in his own right and in the terms of the auteur theory.
Bibliography
Website/Wikipedia
Cinelinx. (2014). Directors’ Trademarks: Tim Burton. Retrieved from https://www.cinelinx.com/movie-news/movie-stuff/director-s-trademarks-tim-burton/
Sothetheorygoes. (2015). Auteur: Tim Burton. Retrieved from https://www.sothetheorygoes.com/auteur-tim-burton/
Filminquiry. (2016). The Beginner’s Guide: Tim Burton, Director. Retrieved from https://www.filminquiry.com/the-beginners-guide-tim-burton-director/
Indie Film Hustle. (2019). What is Auteur Theory and Why Is It Important? Retrieved from https://indiefilmhustle.com/auteur-theroy/
Auteur. (2020). Wikipedia. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auteur
Books
Bordwell, D., Thompson, K., Smith, J. (2019). Film Art: An Introduction, (12th ed). New York: McGraw-Hill Education.
Naremore, J. (2003). Authorship. A Companion to Film Theory, 9-24.
Nelmes, J. (2012). Introduction to Film Studies. (5th ed). London: Routledge.
Films
Burton, T. (Director). (1990). Edward Scissorhands [Film]. United States: 20th Century Fox.
Burton, T. (Director). (2016). Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children [Film]. The United States/United Kingdom: 20th Century Fox.
Selick, H. (Director). (1993). The Nightmare Before Christmas [Film]. United States: Buna Vista Pictures.
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