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Xfm Meets Tim Burton

added 03 February 2004 at 12.32

Tim Burton talks to Paul Anderson about making Big Fish, his daily doodling and putting Ewan McGregor through his paces.

Xfm: Was Big Fish an enjoyable experience to make?

Tim Burton:  "Yes, for a change, it was nice to do a studio film which you couldn't describe in two sentences and it wasn't a well-known thing. It didn't have one star driving the thing and so I thought 'This is nice.' It doesn't have the elements usually needed. Thematically the parent and child relationships and the themes of fantasy and reality are all themes that I like very much."

There is a familiar Burton motif throughout the film - the giant, the circus, the outsiders - as always in your films you celebrate the misfit - is Albert Finney's character a misfit?

TB: "What I love about him is that he represents that thing in life, he's not a literal person, which I relate to. He's somebody who asks 'Is it real? Is it not real?' Well it's all kind of real. So in some ways he's kind of like everybody, and in some ways not, as we all are. You can be part of society and a misfit, comprised of conflicting things, so it seems real to me."

You are also known of course for your animation, are you an animator first or a filmmaker?

TB: "Filmmaker, because I realised when doing animation at Disney or Cal Arts, that I like to draw and I like film. Animation seemed at the time to be the best of both. I like to keep a hand in animation in some ways, but the immediacy of working with actors and being on a set, with lights and costumes, there's just an energy to that, which although the hardest part is the best part. Everyone doing their jobs, the spontaneity, and the business side goes away, so you're forced to deal with the weather or the elements. For me it's the nucleus of why I'm doing it."

Are you like a musician who has to play everyday, do you draw or doodle?

TB: "I doodle. I don't animate every day that's a whole other thing. But I try to draw a little bit every day it helps me think." 

Do you embrace the collaborative aspect of filmmaking then?

TB: "Yes, I was a fairly non-verbal person especially being an animator you don't have to speak. So the film forced me to learn how to try and speak to and deal with people, which I found that I enjoyed. The human element of it is the really exciting part. It's like pushing a weird rock up a hill; you're not doing it on your own - there are a lot of different people helping. One of the good things is with the artists that you like, you want to make sure that they surprise you and that you can keep surprising them. They are giving you something. Rather than being an overt dictator, it's better to treat it as much of a collaboration as possible."       

Although you have to be single-minded too

TB: "Yes, you do. I never walk in without having an idea because if someone asks you a question you have to answer it. I have always felt that you always go in every day knowing what you're trying to achieve, it's just you're never quite sure how you're going to get there".

Did Ewan McGregor surprise you with his performance of Edward Bloom?

TB: "Oh yeah, but I had a feeling I would like him, just because of his work.  I like someone if they're prepared to go out on a limb and not be possessed by their persona. It happens a bit more in America where people get so image conscious they start to lose their spark. And what he does brilliantly is that he is able to do heightened reality and humour, a real mix of things, which is not an easy thing to do. He's a brave actor you know. Everyday he's being tortured by some animal, being asked to do this and that, we felt at times like it was one of those TV show endurance tests [laughs]. The fear factor! 'Ok Ewan today you're going to eat a bowl of bugs [laughs]."

So up next is Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

TB: "That is at such an early stage I haven't even gone though beyond the preliminary casting so there's a long way to go."

Big Fish is on general release from January 30

Read our review

Xfm Meets Ewan McGregor

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