Tim Burton, Edgar Allen Poe, Edward Gorey and MoMA

Tim Burton is known for his movies; Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and more recently Alice in Wonderland (the ninth highest grossing film ever made) and Sweeney Todd.  And rightfully so.  They are gorgeously dark, child-like yet demented, and touched with a poignancy usually not felt in horror and fantasy.



Two years ago I was introduced to his art and writing at an exhibition at MoMA in NYC.  Tim Burton is an incredibly prolific artist, and I walked through rooms of sketches, paintings, sculptures, puppets, costumes and other ephemera. Strolling through the lovely outdoor patio of the museum I noticed two whimsical topiaries from Edward Scissorhands. On display were those terrible eyes that popped out of Large Marge's face in that memorable scene from Pee Wee's big adventure. The original sketches of his first ideas from Edward Scissorhands were situated near a child's dollhouse where each of the rooms contained a grisly murder scene.



For admission to the black-lighted carnival area, one entered into the mouth of a toothy monster, and through a long black and white striped hallway dotted with video monitors showing Stain Boy, a character from Burton's book The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories.  This book contains stories and poems sometimes reminiscent of the tales of Edward Gorey.  Find his book here:



http://www.amazon.com/dp/0688156819/ref=rdr_ext_tmb



There was even a blotter from his desk filled with doodles.  It was truly awesome. 



There is a sweet and needy feel to his work, and one wonders if he is sad, manic, brilliant, or mad.  Possibly a combination.  One of his early films is called Vincent, about a young man who is captivated by Vincent Price, much like Tim Burton.  He is also influenced by the works of Poe. The dark, swirling, and moody images of his work seems to somehow echo Poe's elegant words.  I feel if Masque of the Red Death were made into a film directed by Burton we would witness some of the most stunning imagery ever produced.



Read Poe's startling story here:

http://www.poemuseum.org/works-masque.php



Oh, how I wish this display would come back to NYC.  But I don't think this will happen anytime soon--Burton has chosen to bring his display to Paris at Cinematheque from April 7 to August 5, 2012.  Lucky Paris.



Dark Shadows, featuring Johnny Depp as vampire Barnabas Collins is set to release May 11, 2012.



 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1077368/