Twas a Burtonesque Weekend, and oh what a weekend it was! With only two weekends left before All Hallow’s Eve I decided it was certainly time to get down to it in regards to basking in holiday appropriate behavior. An unseasonably warm Saturday found us at the annual D family hayride, basking in the glorious sunlight, enjoying good company, beautiful countryside, and a hearty autumn meal. Wrapped around that experience were cool autumn days and a cornucopia of Tim Burton goodness.
I arose Friday with Sleepy Hollow on the brain. For some odd reason I did not own this film, but one used copy later, courtesy of F.Y.E., found me at home alone Friday evening basking in the macabre humor of this film. I forget every year just how much I like this very dark film. The performances are fantastic and it is such a gothically splendid picture to view. Sleepy Hollow is certainly Tim Burton at his best.
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Tim Burton is nothing if not quirky, and staying in that quirky macabre vein, when Mary came home I introduced her to the first three episodes of Pushing Daisies. ABC has all three episodes on streaming video on their site and they look and play beautifully. I am loving this series. It is a colorful, whimsical, delightful show that is so much fun. It is destined to be one of those shows that is too good to be true I am afraid (in other words, no one will watch and it will be cancelled). Watch it if you have a chance, it is wonderful. Anna Friel is certainly a new favorite actress of mine, but really the entire cast is outstanding.
Burton goodness continued on Saturday morning as I perused the above pictured book, The Art of Sleepy Hollow. I believe this was a gift from my sister and her husband but am not sure. Whomever gifted me with it I thank you. It was fun to look through so soon after seeing the film. In addition to some great photographs from the sets and the film itself, it contains some of Tim Burton’s design sketches. If you haven’t seen Tim Burton’s art, let me assure you that it is wonderful. He does such amazing things with his scribbling sketches. Here are but a few examples:
(designs for Ichabod Crane)
I love his artwork. Even better examples can be seen in his animated short Vincent (quite possibly my favorite thing that Burton has ever done):
After missing it last year, I wasn’t about to make the same mistake twice, so Sunday morning I took the family to the early showing of Tim Burton’s A Nightmare Before Christmas in 3-D. NBX was one of the first DVDs I ever purchased and that disk, which included the short Vincent, was really what made me into a fanatical Tim Burton devotee. Despite numerous viewings I continually see things that I never noticed before, and I find NBX one of the most wonderful romantic musicals I have ever seen. Seeing it on the big screen was an incredible treat, not to mention how fun it was to see with the digital 3-D additions. Though they weren’t as plentiful as I expected them to be, the 3-D elements were great. Prior to the start of the film we saw a 3-D trailer for a new film coming out in the summer of 2008. They didn’t show a title but it looks like Land of the Lost to me. The trailer was incredible…it was like a roller coaster ride. 3-D technology is certainly more advanced than it was when we were kids!
Of course, one Tim Burton stop animation film begets another, and thus we ate our lunch while watching Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride on DVD (my theatrical review is here). This one was especially fun to view so soon after seeing Johnny Depp in Sleepy Hollow as I find his portrayals of Victor in Corpse Bride and Ichabod Crane in Sleepy Hollow to have an interesting kinship. Not surprisingly I have had songs from both of these animated musicals dancing in my head all day. That, combined with the cloudy skies and ever cooling temperatures, have had me in the Halloween mood all day.
Speaking of Corpse Bride, here are a couple of wallpapers to get you in the macabre mood. I just love the designs of these characters and the sets on this film.
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I just changed my desktop to the one featuring the bride. Great stuff!
After Corpse Bride we went and purchased our pumpkins for next weekend’s festivities (Tarts, I got you some nice pumpkins!!!) and then came home and finished decorating the outside with Halloween lights. I also pulled out the indoor Halloween decorations (I am very late this year) and will finish setting those up tomorrow night).
But of course our Tim Burton weekend was not over, as my daughter, who had never seen Sleepy Hollow, asked if we could watch it, and so we ended the night with a bookend viewing (for me) of that very film.
So, that was our spooktacular weekend! How was yours?
Don’t forget about the R.I.P. II contests that are still going on, and for those of you who were wondering, there will be a Grand Prize drawn from the list of those who finish their chosen challenge, so make sure you let me know by October 31st if you have finished.
Tune in tomorrow for examples of the images coming in for the Something Sinister contest as well as a Tiny Story announcement and the winner of the Fright Night Prize Pack!
To close today’s post, I give you a taste of Tim Burton’s upcoming film, Sweeney Todd. The irony of this film coming out at Christmas makes me smile. This one is going to be dark, to be sure, but I will certainly be seeing it opening weekend if at all possible:
Hmmm, I had a (sorta) Tim Burton weekend too! But mine were just on tv! (no dvds) I mention them in my post for today.. it must be something in the air huh? (or maybe Halloween? duh! lol)
I love most all of Burton’s movies. “Sleepy Hollow” is fantastic, even if it strays far from the original story (I actually liked Burton’s origen for the Headless Horseman much better than Washington Irving’s).
As for NBX, I hope I can get to a theater to see it this year. I’m sure going to try. “Corpse Bride” is great, too. Are you familiar with the real life story/stories that inspired “Corpse Bride”? It’s so tragic. Made me appreciate the film even more.
I think the Michael Keaton Batman movies are the only Tim Burton movies that I’ve actually liked.. Though Legend of Sleepy Hollow was entertaining too.
What a fun weekend!
I agree with you that the short film “Vincent” might be the best thing Tim Burton has done. It’s just perfect!
I need to rent “The Corpse Bride” before Halloween. My boyfriend has never seen it, so I really look forward to introducing him to it!
PS: I love your Jack doll 😀
Nymeth, I have quite a few NBX figures, etc. Such a fun show. My friend Scott got me this fantastic set of NBX Christmas ornaments a few years ago.
Oh Angela, *shakes head sadly*. 😉 You don’t like Edward Scissorhands? Big Fish? Anything?
Wayne, I do indeed know that story. I read about it back when the film first came out. It is a really cool inspiration for the film.
Funny…I just said, on my Friday Fill-Ins that my favorite scary movie is Sleepy Hollow! Walken is creepy as hell in it!
I spent this weekend in cemeteries, taking pictures just for your contest! I need to email you a couple more I took in Salem last night 😉
And I notice the Corpse Bride’s hand has fallen…I took a similar shot recently with poppets & Captain Jack Sparrow LOL!
Did you know you can not currently get NBX on dvd? I looked everywhere for it, as my wife has never seen it. Finally someone told me they discontinued it a few years ago and I might be able to get one on ebay for $500. So hang on to yours, Carl!
Don’t forget Beetlejuice!
Now that sounds like quite a delightful weekend! I’d be jealous if I hadn’t been wallowing is some blissful, decadent silence.
Homie, that is weird. I see you can get it used on Amazon for $50. Not to worry, they will no doubt release an anniversary edition soon or a hi-def one or something.
Yes, poor Emily’s hand abandons her regularly, Janet.
I got the pics you sent thus far and look forward to seeing any more you might send my way. I’d love to see those cemeteries in person.
First, I LOVE Pushing Daisyies. It is one of those rare shows that is so perfectly cast and really funny. EVERYONE, please watch it this Wednesday! I also really enjoy NBX and have plans to take my oldest daughter to see the 3-D version hopefully this weekend. Thanks for the reminder that it is out already.
You make me proud my friend 😉 What a great weekend! Nightmare Before Christmas was the first DVD I bought too! When I bought my DVD player, I bought that and Dogma with it. It’s probably the DVD that I’ve watched most.
I love your collection of Burton stuff! That artbook is great, I’ve never seen it before. Burton’s sketches are wonderful. One of my favorite things of his is The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy just for the drawings.
That’s the first time I’ve seen the Sweeney Todd trailer and WOW! I’m psyched. I was looking forward to it already, but it looks amazing! Can’t wait.
I will be interested in reading your response to Burton’s December release of “Sweeney Todd”, a Sondheim musical which was a smash Broadway hit during the mid to late sixties. I believe there is a DVD of the stage version available through NETFLIX. A singing Johnny Depp and Helen Bonham Carter…yeah, this will be interesting.
Stewart, I’m looking forward to it, it should be interesting, different, and darkly fun.
Chris, I love Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy. I bought it many years back and love it for both the artwork and the stories. If you go to the Tim Burton Collective site you can watch shorts of Stainboy. They are quite fun:
http://www.timburtoncollective.com/multimedia.html
Just watched episode 1 of Stainboy…that’s awesome! I had no idea he did those shorts! And there’s Timex commercials! The mannequin one is quite cool. thanks for letting me know about the site.
Glad to hear you were able to watch all the Pushing Daisies with Mary. You see now why I called you after watching the first episode. A truely magical show.
I also love NBX and hope to catch it in 3D with the family in the next two weeks. I haven’t seen Sleepy Hollow in years. I just remember the horse coming out of that cool tree. My favorite Burton movie. Either NBX or Edward Scissorhands off the top of my head. I’m sure I’m missing something. I never have seen Ed Wood but have always wanted too.
I haven’t seen Ed Wood either, Jeff. Pushing Daisies is great, thanks for the enthusiastic recommendation.
I own Ed Wood (I’m a completionist :p) It’s pretty good, though not my favorite Burton. Actually, it’s my least favorite Burton, but that certainly doesn’t mean it’s bad. It has a very different feel from the rest of his films, though it does indeed prove that Johnny Depp can play just about any role! I loved Bill Murray in it. I’ve always been a big fan of him! Definitely worth checking out….maybe not worth owning.
A truly wonderful post, worthy of Tim Burton.
I cannot wait to see Sweeney Todd!
oh! tim burton… *sigh!*
love him.
those drawings are gorrrgeous!
and i love the way you photographed jack on top of the pumpkin! 🙂