I decided that in 2010, I’ll try to share with you people/movies/musics that make my Heart & Soul shine. I don’t know yet the frequency of this new category, but I think it might be about… twice a month.
I open this with a multi-talented man from whom I adore the work since my teenage years: Tim Burton.
You probably know most of his movies and animated movies. From Edward Scissorhands to Sleepy Hollow, Beetle Juice (the movie I remember I saw on tv when I was a child, it introduced me to his Universe… I still love the dance scene), his colourful adaptation of Charlie & the chocolate factory (it’s a really good one, I’m a fan. And both my daughters watch it over and over again, singing along with the Umpa Lumpas. I loved the book when I was younger.), don’t forget Mars Attacks or Big Fish (certainly, this in my favourite one !); from Vincent to Nightmare before Christmas, The corpse bride and so on… so many good things that go through the years…
I can’t wait to see his adaptation of Alice in Wonderland !
And he started his career in the animation studios of… Disney. Yes !
Did you know that Tim Burton was diagnosed as being bipolar ? It is a mental illness that (I simplify a lot) is caracterised by a mood fluctuation, it goes in the extreme from euphory to depression. People who are bipolar, when it’s not the very important kind, are often really really creative people.
I did not want to know if I am, eventually; even if I wonder a lot about it. But I relate to it deeply.
I must have been really well-behaved last year because Santa Claus put under the Christmas Tree a really big and heavy box (more than 4kilos !). It was Tim Burton’s ArtBook. It contains more than 1,000 illustrations, from it’s personal work and work he did as preliminary work for movies. More than 40 years of drawings and paintings in this book. I love see the outline of what we see in the movies, it’s fascinating.
This book is a large one, as I said it is a big heavy one. Some of the pages can be unfold, become kind of panoramic.
It’s absolutely the perfect book for Tim Burton’s lovers 🙂
If you have the occasion to visit NYC, run to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMa), where there is currently an exhibition of his art, until April 26th 2010. If I lived on the other side of the continent, the question would exist, I’ll go without any hesitation !
This kind of gothic, sometimes creepy, Universe can seem simple but it’s (in my opinion) a lot more complex than we could think it is. I relate to it, it makes my heart sing. As if someone was in my head and extracted some feelings to put in into images. I’m very emotional about Tim Burton’s artwork.
Official Website: http://www.timburton.com
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Burton
Where to buy his ArtBook: for the US, for Europe.
Hop, as a little bonus here is my favourite scene in Beetle Juice (get up and shake your booty with them !):