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.

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.

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.

Happy Holidays!

I hope everyone has a very scary holiday season!

Tim Burton: The Exhibition

MOMA's Tim Burton: The Exhibition is now in Toronto at the TIFF Lightbox.  I finally got the chance to go yesterday and it was amazing!

I don't think the gallery really had enough space to do the exhibit as much justice as MOMA but it was still wonderful to see so much of Tim's work in one place.  I loved that there were some very early samples of his work from childhood; some of which were accompanied by publisher's rejection letters!  I also really enjoyed seeing some props and costumes from his films.  I loved the Penguin's carriage from Batman Returns and the Edward Scissorhands costume was incredible!

Understandably, no photography was allowed inside the exhibit.  I wish I could have gotten some photos of the costumes at least.  Here are some photos I took outside.

Here are some screencaps from the TIFF website for archival purposes.