Martin Landau at Fan Expo 2011

I was privileged to meet the great Martin Landau at the Fan Expo in Toronto this past weekend.  Landau has had a decades-long career and at the age of 83 he shows no signs of slowing down.  Landau has worked with Tim Burton on four films: Sleepy Hollow, Ed Wood, 9 and the currently in-production Frankenweenie.

I asked Mr. Landau what it was like working with Alfred Hitchcock on North By Northwest.  He paused for a moment and then told me that Hitchcock had been "an interesting man" and that he had enjoyed the experience.  I asked if the rumours of Hitchcock ignoring his actors were true and Mr. Landau replied that Hitchcock had not been that way with him.

I explained that Ed Wood was one of my favourite of his films and also one of my favourite Tim Burton films and Mr. Landau was excited to chat about the new full-length version of Frankenweenie for which he is supplying the voice of Mr. Rzykruski.  I'm looking forward to that one!

I had to have Mr. Landau sign a photo of himself as Bela Lugosi from Ed Wood.  This is the role for which he won his Oscar and the one for which he will probably always be remembered best.

Profiles in History Hollywood Auction 44

Profiles in History is gearing up for their 44th Hollywood Auction which takes place May 14 and 15, 2011.  The auction has many Tim Burton items including original artwork and props!

Oogie Boogie has always been a favourite of mine so I've been drooling over the Oogie Boogie puppet and his skull die from Nightmare Before Christmas.  There are a lot of small props and puppet pieces from that film available for auction. There are also several pieces of concept art by Tim Burton and some original storyboards.

The auction also includes several original pieces of art by Burton for The Corpse Bride.  Some of these are really beautiful.

Possibly the greatest Burton treasure in the auction is a series of original drawings from the short film Vincent.  I love this short and I think it would be amazing to have one of these in my collection.

It will be interesting to see the prices some of these fetch.  Tim Burton art is immediately recognizable and it tends to sell at very high prices.

TimBurton.com

For many years, TimBurton.com was simply a black page waiting for something to happen.  Finally, when MoMA created Tim Burton: The Exhibition and The Art of Tim Burton was published, the website got some content!

The site now features flash animation of Tim Burton's art.  Visitors can control an animated version of Stainboy as he walks through a virtual gallery of some of the art that appears in the exhibition.  I love that when he stands still for more than a moment a stain begins to grow on the floor below him.

Who knows when the site may change again but I thought I would grab a few screenshots for the archives in case!

TimBurton.com is an excellent place to see some of the key pieces from the exhibition from your own home.  If you're able to, I highly recommend ordering The Art of Tim Burton as well.  It's a beautiful book and a must for fans of Mr. Burton and his work.

RIP Michael Gough

Michael Gough was an actor best-known for his appearances in the Tim Burton Batman films, Sleepy Hollow, Corpse Bride and Alice in Wonderland but he had a long and distinguished career beginning in the 1940s.  Gough was born in Malaysia in  1917 and passed away today.

We are fortunate that so many of Gough's memorable performances have been captured on film and television.  He's appeared in a wide range of films from horror to Shakespeare and he was truly wonderful as Alfred Pennyworth in the Batman films.  He will be sorely missed.

25th Anniversary Music Box

Beginning this month, the incredible Tim Burton & Danny Elfman 25th Anniversary Music Box is available!  The first printing was a numbered run of just 1000 copies and that sold out months ago with pre-orders.  The official website has some great videos and articles as well as many, many images of the collection.

The collection includes over 18 hours of music from Pee-Wee's Big Adventure through Alice in Wonderland on 16 CDs.  It includes many never before available tracks.  It also comes with a 250 page hardcover book with a forward by Johnny Depp and a DVD of a conversation with Tim Burton and Danny Elfman.  The whole thing is packaged in an amazing music box with a moving zoetrope.

If only I had a spare $500 lying around!

POTA Chimp Greaves

I won these fiberglass chimp greaves in an eBay auction from Studio Props. They were designed by Oscar-winner Colleen Atwood for Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes.

These have clearly seen some action! Greaves are a piece of armour designed to protect the lower leg. These ones have some fantastic ape and bamboo designs on them. The inside is labeled "Keiffer." Dennis Keiffer was a stunt person on the film playing an ape. It's great to be able to match these to a performer!

These have some strange black rivets and remnants of black felt attached to them. I can only guess but maybe these were part of some stunt or FX rigging. There are several sequences with apes running or on horses that might have required special rigs.

These will make great companions to the chimp chest armour that I already have. I hope to build a full chimp warrior costume.