Speaking in Lyon, France to receive a lifetime achievement award from the Lumière Festival, director Tim Burton criticized Walt Disney Studios, saying the company made his time making 2019's live-action version of Dumbo rather miserable.
Burton said Dumbo—a remake of the 1941 Disney animated classic—was "autobiographical" in the sense he was "working in this horrible big circus and I needed to escape."
His comments were especially scathing because Dumbo is on one level about a young elephant that becomes a sideshow attraction because of his big ears—unaware he can use them to fly—and dreams of a life beyond the circus and back in the care of his mother.
You can watch the trailer for Burton's take on Dumbo below.
Dumbo Official Trailer www.youtube.com
Burton said:
“The thing about ‘Dumbo,’ is that’s why I think my days with Disney are done, I realized that I was Dumbo, that I was working in this horrible big circus and I needed to escape."
“That movie is quite autobiographical at a certain level.”
Burton also had criticism for the company's penchant for popular franchises, including Star Wars and Marvel superhero flicks, saying he has no plans to direct any such projects for the company.
He said Disney's prioritizing of these projects has effectively "homogenized" and "consolidated" the film industry:
“It’s gotten to be very homogenized, very consolidated. There’s less room for different types of things."
"I can only deal with one universe, l can’t deal with a multi-universe.”
Burton's remarks received a mixed response.
\u201cY'know, Burton, I agree that Disney should go back to try other projects to experiment with, but, 1. You could've always turned down Dumbo and 2. Your Alice movies were part of the reason for this current state at least regarding the remakes. You are NOT blameless here!\u201d— Steve Kidd (@Steve Kidd) 1666578399
\u201c"I cannot believe the Disney of Today is pretty much doing what the Disney of the 80s has done, minus them firing me and causing me to become a successful director." -pretty much this article.\u201d— Dani (@Dani) 1666481390
\u201cTim Burton being done with Disney remakes are added to my list of \u201cThings I am completely okay with\u201d\u201d— Sara (@Sara) 1666554406
\u201cWow. Did Tim Burton of all people actually say Dumbo is autobiographical?\u201d— g_strange (@g_strange) 1666561749
\u201cGood. Nobody wants more of that\u201d— Ryan Kuketz (@Ryan Kuketz) 1666632240
\u201cDid anyone tell him the movie took place in a circus?\u201d— Laughingboy (@Laughingboy) 1666631787
\u201c\u201cIt\u2019s gotten to be very homogenized, very consolidated. There\u2019s less room for different types of things\u201d\n\nWhile I'm not fond of Disney's current CEO chasing $ so much, people will say stuff like this only for someone else to do something interesting under that same umbrella.\u201d— Lucid00 (@Lucid00) 1666562334
\u201ci don't blame him. @Disney will be losing quite the talent.\u201d— PrinciplePondering (@PrinciplePondering) 1666563068
\u201cMeh, it's for the best. I would have figured it would have been Alice that sealed the deal, but the bag was too big to resist apparently.\u201d— Nerd Chatter Podcast (@Nerd Chatter Podcast) 1666476410
Burton—best known for directing two well-received Batman films and for delighting audiences with offbeat tales like Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood, Big Fish, and Sweeney Todd—has had a long association with Walt Disney Studios.
He has worked on several movies for the studio, including The Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach, and the 2010 version of Alice in Wonderland.
His version of Dumbo was neither critically nor commercially successful, closing out a decade during which he'd received some of the more middling reviews of his long career for films like Dark Shadows and Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.
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