Tim Burton Filmmaker

Tim Burton

Filmmaker

Tim Burton Filmmaker. Lynette, Rachel. United States: KidHaven Press, September 2006. 64 pages.

Tim Burton uses characters and situations that could not possibly happen in real life, but the idea of outcasts and misunderstood outsiders that really don't belong hits really close to the filmmakers' true life. The Author's main argument is that not all people in this world are the same, and there are outcasts throughout the world that just need to find their own niche in this world. Just because they are outcasts does not mean they can't have a normal life or a successful one, which is proven by Tim Burton, finding his place took quite a while but he is really good at what he does. I have been convinced that this is true because the author proves that Tim was an outcast throughout his childhood and can still be seen as one today, and also shows how successful his life is due to these different features. The thesis was easy to find because it is right at the beginning of the book, where it states that he feels like many of his characters who are mainly seen as outsiders.

In the book "Tim Burton Filmmaker" the sections that are covered are a basic outline of his career and some of the movies he has produced and directed. The Author did a great job breaking down the information and ordering the material in a consistent and easy to follow manner. It starts off with his childhood and how lonely he was throughout it, and how he was different than the rest of the kids. Tim did not even fit in with his own family so he went to live with his Grandmother at the age of 10 where he was more able to be himself and do what he liked, not what others thought he should do. It then talks about how he use to make movies with his friends and began back when he was 13, where they would make short films. When he was 18 his talent won him a scholarship to the California Institute of the Arts to study animation. After schooling he started to find his own path after being offered a job at Disney to work on The Fox and The Hound, but after realizing he did not want to spend his life drawing the same thing over and over again he was given the opportunity to create a short film called 'Vincent' in 1982. Soon after he made a re-make loosely based on the 1931 movie 'Frankenstein' but it was called 'Frankenweenie'. The book then goes on to continue to talk about how he began his career and how he came to who he is today. During the next chapter "Misfits and Outcasts" it tells why he directed or produced some of the movies he has done, and why he loves the characters or why they relate to him. It gets into detail about not only the contents of the movie, but also why he chose those actors and why the characters are so significant to him. Lastly the book tells the reader of the future plans of Tim Burton and what should be expected of him now that he is in a good place now that he is married with a child. He explained the future in this quote, "I don't foresee [fatherhood] changing in any way, shape or form the kind of movies I wanna make. In fact, they might get more harsh in some ways" (Salisbury, 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' Set Visit).

This book is set up in a logical manner because it gives the reader a brief background to Tim Burton and then goes on to tell readers the story of him and how he became what he is today. The book basically goes along a timeline explaining everything in chronological order from his childhood, to what is expected of him in the near future. Reading this book is like climbing steps, easy to do and follow direction. The only other way this book could be written so that it is an overall better book, is if it got into more detail and gave an even bigger picture of Tim and his life.

"Tim Burton Filmmaker" is not appropriate for the high school reading level because it is not only a very short book, but it also includes multiple pictures and large font. This is a very basic read, does not include