Director of 2 of the most iconic live-action Batman films, which reinvented the character for the big screens, turning it into more gothic, Tim Burton recently opened up about his frustrations with Industry giants. While Burton has had his fair share of collaborations with the major studios, WB Discovery and Disney, in the latter years, the auteur isn’t quite fond of these studios’ practices.
Following the upsurge of CGI use in the realm of moviemaking, the superhero industry has taken a severe toll in recent years, as the visual effects have not been on par with the quality fans expect. One of the most recent examples involves DC’s The Flash, and Burton wasn’t too pleased with how the movie handled his work from decades ago in its third act.
Nicolas Cage’s Superman in The Flash Didn’t Sit Well With Tim Burton
Following the bad press that surrounded The Flash‘s lead Ezra Miller, the DC flick, which was set to erase the doomed universe, heavily bombed at the box office. On top of that, the ethically questionable involvement of late actors in full CGI form only added fuel to the fire, as most of the cameos in the ending had nothing to do with the story. But among the many CGI cameos, one involved Cage’s Superman taking on a giant spider, which was initially the plot for Burton’s Superman movie, which was canceled mere weeks before the shoot began.
Reflecting on the subject, Burton wasn’t too pleased with how the studios handled his work from decades ago, sharing his disagreements with WB Discovery and Disney’s Corporatization of movies. Speaking to the British Film Institute, Burton said,
“[I]t goes into another AI thing, and this is why I think I’m over it with the studio. They can take what you did, ‘Batman’ or whatever, and culturally misappropriate it, or whatever you want to call it. Even though you’re a slave of Disney or Warner Brothers, they can do whatever they want. So in my latter years of life, I’m in quiet revolt against all this.”
On the other hand, Nicolas Cage was quite content witnessing his canceled Man of Steel’s appearance on the screen for a brief period, stating, “Finally seeing it on screen, was satisfying.”
When Disney Fired Tim Burton for Being Too Weird
While witnessing the studios using his canceled work for shock value didn’t sit well with the Batman Returns director, this isn’t the only time Burton had issues with these Industry giants. Back in his initial days as a filmmaker, Tim Burton had to face a lot of pushback from Disney after crafting acclaimed short films, Vincent and Frankenweenie, only to be fired by Disney for being too weird. The same thing happened after Burton crafted Batman Returns, which was too off-putting for WB’s corporate mandates, resulting in his removal from the threequel,
“I did ‘Vincent,’ and I did ‘Frankenweenie’ [at Disney], and yes, they did not renew my — I didn’t have a contract. [But] that’s when I went to Warner Brothers and did ‘Pee-wee’s Big Adventure.’ So, without them saying that, yes. That was the final nail in my coffin at that point. My coffin was unearthed years later, and then I was then re-staked, and put back in. I’m like a vampire. I’ve been killed and resuscitated many times.” he told British Film Institute.
Following his last work, Dumbo, which involved some notable anti-Disney imagery despite being released under their umbrella, it’ll be interesting to see what he does with WB’s Beetlejuice 2.
The Flash is available to stream on Max.
Source: British Film Institute
