Catwoman Costume

This amazing Catwoman costume worn by Michelle Pfeiffer in Batman Returns was sold by Profiles in History last month.  This was designed by Bob Ringwood.

The latex and PVC used in these costumes tends to deteriorate quite badly.  There was a Catwoman costume in MoMA's Tim Burton Exhibition that was in very poor condition.  This costume has clearly been well cared for.  It's still as beautiful as it appeared in the film so it's no surprise that after buyer's premiums this sold for over $30,000.

Tim Burton at SDCC

Tim Burton was at the San Diego Comic Con this weekend where Disney is promoting the new feature-length Frankenweenie.  There was an art display of the puppets used to make the film and here's a look at some of the exclusive collectables available at the convention.

The Frankenweenie grab bag includes a glow stick, a pouch of green seeds and a bingo game card:

The Disney Store has a new Frankenweenie vinylmation figure and a Sparkysaurus statue:

The SDCC is also celebrating the 50th anniversary of Mars Attacks.  Here are some exclusive items:

If any of you Burtonites have better photos of the art exhibit please send them to me so I can post them!

RIP Richard D. Zanuck

Yesterday, producer Richard D. Zanuck passed away at the age of 77 following a heart attack.  Zanuck was the son of famous Twentieth Century Fox father Darryl F. Zanuck, Richard followed in his footsteps producing more than 40 films.  Six of those films were for director Tim Burton: Planet of the Apes, Big Fish, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Sweeney Todd, Alice in Wonderland and Dark Shadows.  Zanuck won an Oscar for producing Driving Miss Daisy and was nominated for two others for Jaws and The Verdict.  RIP Richard.

Warner Bros. Tim Burton Collection

Warner Bros. has finally got all of their Tim Burton films on blu-ray and they're available to pre-order now as The Tim Burton Collection!

The set includes:

Pee Wee's Big Adventure

Beetlejuice

Batman

Batman Returns

Mars Attacks!

Corpse Bride

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

The pre-order price is $44.99 which works out to about $6.50 per film.  A bargain!  The set also includes a "premium hardcover book."  The cover art looks pretty cool and this is obviously a must-have for Burton devotees.

Trailers At Last!

Greetings!

I've gotten quite behind on my blogging so most of you have probably already seen the trailers for Dark Shadows and Frankenweenie that were released in the last two weeks.  If you haven't, here they are:





It looks like Dark Shadows is going to be quite a bit more comedic than I expected.  I've seen a number of online discussions in which fans are pretty divided about it.  For the most part, the purists don't seem too pleased with the direction of the film but I have a feeling it will appeal quite a bit to younger audiences who have no history with the original series.

The official Dark Shadows site has now (finally) been launched and a poster was released yesterday.

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter Images

In addition to directing two of his own films this year, Tim Burton is also producing Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter for Timur Bekmambetov (with whom he produced Shane Acker's 9).

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is based on the novel of the same name that was written by Seth Grahame-Smith (who also wrote Pride and Prejudice and Zombies).  Grahame-Smith also wrote the screenplay for Burton's Dark Shadows.

Several stills have been released online for the film which premieres June 22 of this year.

There's no trailer yet but you can watch a trailer that was released for the book in 2010:

Frankenweenie Official Site and Facebook Page

Contrasting what Warner Bros. is doing or (not doing) with Dark Shadows, Disney is beginning to do some promotion for Tim's 2012 Frankenweenie (a re-make of his 1984 short).  There is an official website up with a brief synopsis of the film and a single image of Victor with Sparky.

There's also an official Facebook Page where several behind the scenes photos of animators at work have been posted.

Frankenweenie will be released in October so I'm hoping for a trailer by the spring.

Dark Shadows is Still Hush, Hush

Nobody is talking about Tim Burton's Dark Shadows and it's set to be released on May 11, 2012!  There's no poster, no trailer--not even a teaser yet!  I've only seen four images from the set:

It was reported yesterday by MTV that Burton is still editing and working on some visual effects for the film, but with only four months to the release date you'd think the studio would want to start hyping it up!

From the photos, it looks like Johnny Depp's Barnabas Collins make-up takes about 15 years off his face.  The same can't be said for Michelle Pfieffer as Elizabeth but I think I'm most excited to see her performance.  It's been 20 years since she and Burton collaborated on Batman Returns and I loved her performance in that film!  Hopefully they'll be able to create some new magic.

2012 is going to be a busy year for Tim Burton.  He's also producing and directing the new Frankenweenie and producing Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter for Timur Bekmambetov.  Incidentally, it's also a big year for Seth Grahame-Smith who is writing both Dark Shadows and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (from his novel).

Perhaps Burton is simply too busy to worry about promotion at the moment.  

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.