“It’s not so much about art, but more about the process”: Tim Burton at the Design Museum

“If you had asked me a year ago what constituted the Burtonesque, I might have pointed to the usual aphorisms surrounding spirals, stripes and checkerboard patterns,” says Maria McLintock, the curator behind it The world of Tim Burtona comprehensive new survey at the Design Museum. “It's actually about a craft, a dedication to slowness, to the handmade; “Working with designers like Colleen Atwood on costumes or Rick Heinrichs on production, and doing so in a very engaged and iterative way.” McLintock is well-versed in the unique sensibility of Burton's creative work – as a teenager, she says, she devoured it The filmmaker's body of work – and the show offers an in-depth interrogation of his practice, particularly illuminating the relationships that have been crucial in his career cast over the past five decades.

Originally conceived by curators Ron Magliozzi and Jenny He for MoMA in 2009, versions of the exhibition have since been staged in 14 cities in 11 countries. This iteration represents a conclusion; a grand finale in the director's adopted hometown (25 years old), with over 600 objects on display and more than 32,000 tickets sold before the opening (the museum's largest advance sale ever). Unraveling Burton's distinctive approach to storytelling – done in advance with drawings on whatever material is at hand, a napkin from the Ritz Paris, or via the classifieds of the Los Angeles Times – here McLintock brings to the fore those elements that honor a process. “Filmmaking is a design practice,” she states. “And there's a special relationship that Tim has to design, and then there's a kind of responsibility for us to highlight the ways that design contributes to film and cinema in general.”

Divided into six sections with nicknames such as “Crafting Imagination” and “Drawing Narratives,” The world of Tim Burton introduces itself with a trademark black-and-white timeline before quickly transitioning into a colorful “neighborhood rendering” that references Burbank, California, where Burton was born in 1958; Here you can see his award-winning design for a garbage company alongside the relevant certificate and a clipping from the local newspaper (he was 13 years old at the time). Most striking in the exhibition, however, are models and sketches – presented behind glass or among the papers stacked on a replica of Burton's desk – while there are also memorabilia from his time at Disney early in his career. As the “go-between,” Burton was responsible for drawing the interstitial shots that provide movement in the animation.

Elsewhere, “Building Worlds” shows, in addition to the first illustrations, a series of costumes: a black and white striped dress worn by Christina Ricci Sleepy Hollow – Atwood's painted stripes, a nod to Burton's emphasis on hand-crafted – as well as Johnny Depp's leather suit – and special effects artist Stan Winston's Scissorhands – from Edward Scissorhandsperhaps one of the most fascinating and popular pieces made largely of belts. A more recent addition is Jenna Ortega's Rave'N dance dress Wednesdaydisplayed next to the character's gray and black school uniform (first was an Alaïa design, source: Bond Street). “When you look at the costumes up close,” says McLintock, “you realize Colleen is just a genius. 'They're all magical.'

“Production design or costumes, they define a character – define a thing.” “Film is a collaborative medium, it's a back and forth idea,” explained Burton at the opening of the exhibition during a press briefing with McLintock and the director and CEO of the Design Museum, Tim Marlow. “With the staff, despite my rough drawings, I always had the feeling that they understood what they were and that was part of the collaboration.” “You can't find it in everyone, it's a rare thing.” The curator agrees and tells Wallpaper*: “There is the kind of writer, the director, but it really takes a village – an army to produce a film.” The fact that Tim has worked with the same team over and over again in a unique way, felt really important to clear up and untangle the whole thing. First, why that is, and second, how their contributions have defined the aesthetic.”

For her part, Atwood, interviewed by Anja Aronowsky Cronberg for the accompanying catalogue, Design worldsShe says her connection to Burton was “immediate.” We shared the same aesthetic universe and the same minimalist approach; we spoke the same language.' The opinion is likely shared by Heinrichs, whom Burton met at Disney (a clip of the pair in their early studio appears in a film that closes the show), as well as puppet makers Mackinnon & Saunders, whose work fills the museum. Beyond the big screen, the extent of Burton's influence is underscored by photographs by Tim Walker, a music video for The Killers and a Burton-designed invitation for the late Alexander McQueen for the designer's fall/winter 2002-03 fashion show. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. “It's not so much about art, but more about the process,” is how the filmmaker characterized the throughline in his work. “For me, one thing leads to another.”

The World of Tim Burton can be seen at the Design Museum until April 21, 2025

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