Tim Burton says Beetlejuice Beetlejuice reminded him why he loves making movies
The visionary director lost his love of filmmaking in 2019, but his new Beetlejuice sequel reignited it
After he made the 2019 version of Dumbo, Tim Burton thought he was done making movies. The acclaimed director, who's known for hit films like Edward Scissorhands and The Nightmare Before Christmas, felt uninspired.
But then he directed Netflix's The Addams Family spinoff, Wednesday, and he remembered how much he loves the character Wednesday Addams. She reminded him of another character he loves: Lydia Deetz, the protagonist of his 1988 film Beetlejuice. He wondered what she was up to.
"What happens to a cool teenager?" he says in an interview with Q guest host Talia Schlanger. "What kind of a screwed up adult do they become? What path does your life take? Will you have kids? What are your relationships?"
This is what Burton came to explore in the film's new sequel, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, which hits theatres today. Lydia (Winona Ryder) returns to her childhood home as an adult, now with her own teenage daughter, Astrid (Jenna Ortega). When Astrid discovers the portal to the afterlife and meets Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton), Lydia and her mother, Delia (Catherine O'Hara), must help Astrid stay in the land of the living.
"The idea of exploring the three generations of these women — mother, daughter, granddaughter — that was the emotional anchor for me," Burton says.
The portal between the world of the living and the dying is something that's always interested the director. He grew up in Burbank, Calif., where it was "taboo" to discuss death. But nearby, he watched the Hispanic and Latino community celebrate Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead).
"Their attitudes towards life and death just seemed so much more appealing and fun and interesting," he says. "It shows you that dynamic, that life and death are both to be celebrated."
Before he was a director, Burton thought about death while he worked as an animator for Disney. He would look out his office window and see the hospital where he was born and the cemetery filled with his relatives.
"I was sitting there, depressed at my desk, thinking it's like a weird Bermuda Triangle," he says. "It's like, 'I gotta get out of here.'"
Burton eventually moved on from animating to directing. He made his directorial debut on a Disney short film called Vincent. He worked with Disney on some of his later hits, such as Frankenweenie and The Nightmare Before Christmas.
But now, Burton says he's done with Disney. "It was a very weird journey that I took there at Disney from going from an animator to just designing things into short films.… But I think I realized after Dumbo, that was it. It's time to leave home. It's time to leave the family for good."
Making Beetlejuice Beetlejuice allowed Burton to return to his original film family.
"I was amazed at how emotional I got when I showed up on the set and saw Catherine and Winona and Michael," he says. "I was amazed at how emotional I was making [the film], which is a beautiful thing."
The full interview with Tim Burton is available on our podcast, Q with Tom Power. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
Interview with Tim Burton produced by Vanessa Greco.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
