Tim Burton (Virgin Film) [Paperback]

Jim Smith (Author), James Clive Matthews (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0753506823 | ISBN-13: 978-0753506820 | Publication Date: July 1, 2002

This indispensable guide examines Burton's directorial career, from his CalArts shorts to the recent blockbuster "Planet of the Apes", as well as side projects such as "The Nightmare Before Christmas" and his animated Internet series "Stainboy". Featuring a wealth of old and new interviews with key figures, fresh and contemporary global criticism and the first-ever look at Burton's forgotton surfing masterpiece "Luau", this is the essential reference guide for both Burton's most devoted fans and anyone interested in the creation of unorthodox mainstream cinema.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A highly useful guide to Burton's films. -- The Guardian, 13 July 2002, London

An incredibly well-researched casebook that covers a monstrous scope of information. -- aintitcool.com July 2002

About the Author

Jim Smith is the co-author of Soul Searching: An Unofficial Guide To The Life and Trials of Ally McBeal, and author of Manhattan Dating Game: An Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to Sex and the City. He has written about television for a variety of publications and is also a regular film reviewer. Clive Matthews was film editor for University College London's Pi magazine and is an experienced web-journalist.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Virgin Books (July 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0753506823
• ISBN-13: 978-0753506820
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,272,447 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars By far the best book on Burton, March 13, 2003

By 

Mike Peabody (Wisconsin) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tim Burton (Virgin Film) (Paperback)

It covers everything you could possibly wish to know about the films, and even provides a summary of one I'd never even heard of - Luau. This isn't even listed on the IMDB, and no other books on Burton mention it, but they've got an interview with Rick Heinrichs (the guy who designed Sleepy Hollow and worked on Luau) about it, so it must be for real!

It's really well written too, and pretty amusing in places - the level of research is amazing - they even give notes showing where they got all their info from, so you can check it out for yourself. The stuff they got from Martin Landau and the two guys who wrote Ed Wood is incredibly interesting - a load of stuff I'd never heard about that film - some that isn't even included on the DVD's commentary.

Basically, this book's great. I'd read Burton on Burton (which is very good), that Pocket Essentials one (which is pretty good), that biography (which is really poor), and the "CHild's Garden of Nightmares" one (which is interesting, but doesn't cover nearly as much detail as this). NOne of these other books on Burton come close to this one.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic and Informative!, July 26, 2002

By 

Joyce Curtin - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tim Burton (Virgin Film) (Paperback)

I'd recommend this book to anyone.
It is a great analysis of each of Tim Burton's movies. It is written clearly and has information which I haven't read in any other Burton book.
I'm not just becoming a Burton fan, I have every other book on Tim Burton and I believe this one to be the best and most informative.

The book may not have the authors comments, but it is written in so much detail about each Burton movie that it doesn't matter.
If you want to find out more about Burton then this is the book you should get.
The book also includes quotes from people who have worked with Burton and from the man himself.
The length of this book proves that much time and effort went in to write this, and I think it was worth it.
I have found out some new things about some of his movies from reading this book.

So in my opinion I think this book is really worth buying!

0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I found out that I actually like Tim Burton., April 10, 2003

By 

Thorn "thornsilver" (Forest Hills, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tim Burton (Virgin Film) (Paperback)

I came by this book by accident, and enjoyed it immensely. I have not even known before that my favorite movies had Burton in common.