It’s hard to imagine Tim Burton ever envisioned a world in which his unearthly claymation creations would come to dominate rack after rack of merchandise in HMV, Hot Topic, even Anime Republic. Desperately need a Nightmare Before Christmas shower gel? Primark’s got you covered. A world where the eerily beautiful spawn of his mind would form the template for a community of teenage girls on Pinterest to make Whisper memes about “rotting (girlishly)”, wanting to be “pretty in a tim burton kinda way”.
Which is to say, the journey the famed director’s characters have been on since their cinematic debuts - over two decades ago - has been somewhat convoluted. But what makes these haunting Halloween baddies so enduring? What is it that is so appealing about Emily, a mangled corpse from 2005? Or Sally, a depressed scarecrow voiced by Catherine O’Hara? Let us investigate.
The key hallmark of Burton’s animations is the aesthetic - he’s one of few recent directors with visuals so immediately recognisable, so universally acknowledged. His films are dark and Gothic, his characters are bug-eyed and dead-looking. Such an aesthetic was honed over the course of his life and career - stoked by a childhood interest in horror, his illustrations became the prettily spooky style we know today following various influences from low-budget sci-fi, early Disney, and even German Expressionism. His early film ‘Vincent’ (1982, produced for Disney) is based on horror actor Vincent Prince, is entirely black and white, and features some light animal abuse - it was never individually released.
These early efforts lead up to the work Burton would produce from the 1990s onwards; the work for which he is most known amongst Tumblr users and HMV shoppers today; Edward Scissorhands (1990), The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), Corpse Bride (2005). Of course, he has since delved into the infinite Disney money glitch, the ‘live-action remake’ (Alice in Wonderland, Dumbo), as well as his most recent release ‘Beetlejuice 2’ just last month; a revisiting of… Beetlejuice (1).
But these are not the works that find themselves enduring in the public and online consciousness. No-one is extolling the mesmerising cinematography and character design of Tim Burton’s Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016).
The Burton creations that find themselves idolised by internet aesthetic curators and merchandise producers alike are the director’s earlier, charmingly imperfect claymation creations. There is much to be said about the Gen Z appeal of Corpse Bride’s Victor, for example - a Victorian fish merchants’ son who perfectly encapsulates the pale, iron-deficient sexiness of the Timothee Chalamets of this world. There is a lasting fascination with sexy sickliness, under eye bags, the hot-rodent boyfriend - frankly, looking a bit dead. Guess who else looks a bit dead? An animated corpse.
However, it’s unfair to pin all the public's love for Burton’s earlier claymation work on the deadness of his characters’ eyes alone. Perhaps it’s instead an underlying longing for a now-overlooked film-making technique that once appeared so promising, so destined for mainstream longevity. Considering the recent flood of live-action remakes, claymation reminds the audience of a simpler time, before Disney princesses had textured skin and individually visible hairs. Perhaps with each ultra-HD rendering of a talking lion’s mane, an angel loses its wings.
But for now, Tim Burton appears steadfast in his commitment to the cinematic status quo. Beetlejuice 2 has received mixed reviews, and a lukewarm reception online. It’s fun and it’s freaky, but it’s hard to foresee any collective nostalgia for it in the coming decades - Primark are mad for it, though.
Overall, the director’s career has been surprisingly diverse for someone with such a distinct style - so, surprises may still be in store for fans of uncanny animation.
For the meantime, Beetlejuice pyjama sets are what’s in store
.