Love him or loathe him, it’s hard to argue with Tim Burton’s impressive back catalogue.
The director has made cult classics such as Frankenweenie and Mars Attacks, as well as Halloween faves such as Edward Scissorhands and Beetlejuice. It’s fair to say that Tim has earned his spooky stripes with his unique directing style.
All of that said, he has had some… less successful flicks in his time, too. Dark Shadows has an overall rating of just 35% on Rotten Tomatoes, and his 2001 take on Planet of the Apes getting just 43%.
However, these weren’t the features that almost led to Tim quitting directing entirely.
The film that almost ended Tim Burton’s directing career
Back in 2019, Tim directed a Dumbo film with an all-star cast which included Michael Keaton, Colin Farrell, Eva Green, and Danny DeVito.
While the film was successful, more than doubling the budget of $170million, grossing at $353m, Tim felt a little worse for wear after creating it.
Speaking to Variety, the director revealed that directing Wednesday rekindled his creative spark after the difficulties he faced with Dumbo, saying: “Honestly, after “Dumbo, I really didn’t know. I thought that could have been it, really. I could have retired, or become… well, I wouldn’t have become an animator again, that’s over.
″But this did reenergise me. Oftentimes, when you get into Hollywood, you try to be responsible to what you’re doing with the budget and everything else but sometimes you might lose yourself a little bit. This reinforced the feeling for me that it’s important that I do what I want to do, because then everybody will benefit.”
In the same interview, Tim hinted at discomfort with Disney in it’s current state, saying: “Going back to the ’80s, you had the animation building that was all designed for artists. By 1986, I was the last artist in there because all the artists were kicked out and put in a warehouse in Glendale and it was all then overtaken by the execs.
“I saw this transition of things a long time ago. And now, it’s bigger franchises, less little things. I don’t like it but it is what it is.”
Eek.
An exhibition of Tim Burton’s work is at the Design Museum in London from October 25th-April 21st 2025.