TIM BURTON - VINCENT PRICE

Tim Burton was born in Burbank on the 25th August 1958. His family knew from a young age that he had a high imagination, and he would often watch low budget horror movies to help him escape from his reality. Tim Burton has brought some of the best animations and films ever into our lives including “The Nightmare before Christmas”, “Edward Scissorhands”, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”, and “Big Fish”. All his films have a somewhat noir effect to them, bringing dark storylines and characters. Tim Burton has had an extremely successful career, and is a legendary figure in the film making industry. Alice in wonderland his latest creation starring Johnny Depp has already been sold out. Vincent Price was the first short film 6 minute black and white animation written and directed by Tim Burton that was released on 1st October 1982. Based on a poem that Tim Burton wrote, Vincent is a 7 year old boy who wants to grow up to be like his hero Vincent Price. His character is disturbed and twisted within his imagination and has a somewhat split personality. He lives in a world inside his imagination where he is the equivalent of Vincent Price – the popular horror actor. Vincent Price is actually the voiceover for the animation which says a lot about the animation in itself, as Tim Burton was the only man at the time who managed to get Vincent Price to participate within a film. Tim Burton uses rhyme and gothic features to create an atmosphere full of darkness and hatred. Vincent is a very disturbed child who turns anything good into something bad. The animation has a noir effect to it, contrasting with the claymation and adding to the bizarreness of narration and imagery. It seems as if the animation is reliving Tim Burton’s childhood, and Vincent is really how he was as a child, pretending to be in horror movies and causing havoc.


I think the animation as a whole is a great success because of how its pieced together. The techniques used create and illusion that Vincent is dreaming, but it then links with another scene that brings him back to the sincerity of reality. Its mesmerising how the character is in his own world one moment and then in reality the next, as its shown in a way thats truly remarkable. I think that the only problem with the animation is that you have to really concentrate on what’s being said and shown, instead of being able to use it as a source of reflection. I liked the animation however, and i don’t think Tim Burton could have started his career in a better way.

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