In a recent interview Tim Burton has said that he will never work for Disney again. The filmmaker has worked with the studio three times and has a pretty good track record of impressing audiences. The first movie was ‘Alice In Wonderland’ with Johnny Depp, the second ‘Frankenweenie’ and the last one was the live-action ‘Dumbo’.
It is ‘Dumbo’ that Burton thinks was a mistake and he feels his creative liberty was taken from him during the filming. The film really seems a bit different from the others in his filmography. Tim Burton is known for his dark and yet innocent stories, with quirky, weird characters dealing with strange problems. They make the audiences smile more than they scare. But ‘Dumbo’ was more a Disney movie than it was a Tim Burton movie.
The director says, “The thing about Dumbo, is that’s why I think my days with Disney are done, I realised that I was Dumbo, that I was working in this horrible big circus and I needed to escape.” Many directors and audiences are currently un-impressed with where Disney is going, and Tim Burton chooses Not to be a part of it.
While it will be good for the director, as he will continue to tell unique stories without studio interruption, it is bad news for Disney. With the falling state of the company, it could do with some stylistic storytellers that are capable of reviving its glorious days.