Movies - TV
Tim Burton Hated Working For Disney, And It's Hard To Blame Him
By WITNEY SEIBOLD
After graduating from the California Institute of Arts, Tim Burton joined Disney in the early '80s, a period when the company was financially struggling and creatively stifling.
The company enforced a rigid "house style," which Burton found monotonous. "You're strapped to a table all day and you have to draw. I just flipped out," he recounted.
Despite the stifling environment, Burton managed to produce some personal projects, like the stop-motion animated short "Vincent" and the live-action short "Hansel and Gretel."
The latter was aired once before being buried in the vault. His final project with Disney, the darkly comedic "Frankenweenie," led to his firing, as it was deemed too grim.
While he found success elsewhere, Burton occasionally returned to Disney, directing live-action remakes of Disney animated films, 2010's "Alice in Wonderland" and 2019's "Dumbo."
The latter included a villainous character modeled after Walt Disney, exploiting creative talents in a soulless amusement park, symbolizing Burton's critique of Disney's practices.
The climax, where Dumbo destroys the theme park with a weapon resembling the Death Star, can be seen as a metaphor for Burton's desire to break free from Disney's constraints.