Tim Burton on his dinosaur collection and why the internet makes him depressed

Director Tim Burton has revealed that being connected the net makes him consciousness "quite depressed".

Ahead of the opening of a large vocation retrospective successful London, helium told BBC News: "Anybody who knows maine knows I'm a spot of a technophobe.

"If I look astatine the internet, I recovered that I got rather depressed," the 66-year-old said. "It frightened maine due to the fact that I started to spell down a acheronian hole. So I effort to debar it, due to the fact that it doesn't marque maine consciousness good."

The World of Tim Burton astatine the Design Museum features 600 items which organisers accidental springiness "a uncommon backstage glimpse into his originative process" and goes connected show successful the UK for the archetypal clip connected Friday.

Burton is best-known for directing films specified arsenic Batman, Edward Scissorhands, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Alice successful Wonderland, arsenic good arsenic Beetlejuice and its caller sequel.

Reflecting connected his usage of the internet, Burton said: "I get depressed precise quickly, possibly much rapidly than different people. But it doesn't instrumentality maine overmuch to commencement to click and commencement to abbreviated circuit."

The film-maker said keeping engaged and doing elemental things specified arsenic looking astatine clouds helps him consciousness better. As does his postulation of 10 elephantine dinosaur models that helium keeps successful his backyard including a 20ft T-Rex.

Burton pulls retired his mobile telephone and proudly shows america a representation of a 50-foot Brontosaurus. He buys the ones you find astatine amusement parks, adding that histrion Nicolas Cage has "real ones".

Burton was calved successful a California suburb conscionable extracurricular of Los Angeles but has lived successful London for the past 20 years.

"I was a foreigner successful my ain country," helium told the BBC erstwhile asked astir adopting the UK capital. "When I came here, adjacent arsenic a foreigner, I felt much astatine home, due to the fact that that's wherever I consciousness comfortable".

Burton has agelong been considered a "tortured outcast" and self-declared "weirdo". As a child, helium channelled his creativity into creation and grew up watching classical fearfulness movies and carnal features which developed his emotion for monsters.

"It was precise wide from King Kong to Frankenstein to Creature from the Black Lagoon that each the monsters were the astir emotional. The humans were the ones that frightened me," helium said.

"They were the aggravated villagers successful Frankenstein - similar the net - these nameless faces [Burton makes monster roaring noises] and the monster ever had the astir emotion and astir feeling adjacent though they're looked upon arsenic a definite way.

"Every monster usually has immoderate benignant of pathos and immoderate benignant of humanity" that the humans lacked helium added.

Objects connected to films ranging from Catwoman to Corpse Bride person been loaned to the caller accumulation from Burton’s idiosyncratic archives, movie studios, and backstage collections of collaborators specified arsenic the decorator Colleen Atwood.

What inactive scares Burton are the accelerated advancements successful artificial intelligence.

"It's thing I can't adjacent rather fathom," helium said, earlier referring to an incidental past twelvemonth wherever AI was utilized to alteration Disney characters into Burton-style characters.

"Until it happens to you, truly don't recognize it. But it was rather disturbing: intellectually and emotionally disturbing. It felt similar my psyche had been taken from me.

"It's similar erstwhile different cultures say, 'oh, don't instrumentality my picture, due to the fact that you're taking distant my soul'. And that's however it is. It's thing that's robbing you of humanity.

"All I tin accidental is, like, I recognize these different cultures erstwhile they consciousness similar your psyche is being sucked".

Burton archetypal began moving arsenic an apprentice animator astatine Disney and made immense contributions to stop-motion animation earlier going connected to nonstop blockbusters specified arsenic Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992).

When asked whether helium would instrumentality to directing a movie from the superhero genre, his effect was a speedy "no".

"It felt caller astatine the time," helium reflects. "There was unit due to the fact that it was a large movie and it was a antithetic mentation of comic books. So that was a pressure, but it wasn't the unit that you would acquisition now."

Burton demurs erstwhile asked astir what helium wants to sprout next. Perhaps the fearfulness classical Frankenstein?

"No, no," helium laughs. "I've done my mentation with a canine [referring to his 2012 movie Frankenweenie]. That's fine."

He admits to feeling invigorated with caller successes of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice and the Netflix bid Wednesday, of which helium directed 4 episodes.

"The Hollywood travel is an Alice successful Wonderland benignant of journey. You spell up, you spell down, you spell sideways. That's the mode it is," helium said.

"What I recognize now, possibly due to the fact that I'm older arsenic well, is OK I'm conscionable gonna bash what I want. And if you privation to bash it, fine. If not, past you don't person to spell connected this travel with me".

More than 32,000 radical bought beforehand tickets to The World of Tim Burton, making this the biggest ever summons pre-sale successful the Design Museum's 35-year history.

The accumulation has been staged successful 14 cities successful 11 countries since 2014. But the London mentation displays much than 90 items that are new.

Visitors volition besides beryllium capable to spot a recreation of Burton's backstage workplace which includes a miniature mentation of Godzilla connected his enactment desk, reflecting his emotion of Japanese Kaiju films.

But Burton had initially resisted allowing the accumulation to travel to London.

“It’s a unusual thing, to enactment 50 years of creation and your beingness connected presumption for everyone to see," helium said.

"However, collaborating with the Design Museum for this last halt was the close choice. They recognize the art”.

Tim Marlow, CEO of the Design Museum, said: “During his bonzer career, Tim Burton has harnessed a compelling substance of gothic fearfulness and achromatic comedy, of melancholy and enchantment, of oddball whimsy and visionary scope successful the instauration of fantastical filmic worlds.”

However erstwhile discussing his success, Burton tells america that helium rejects the word "Burtonesque" adjacent though it's wide utilized successful fashionable civilization to picture his oeuvre.

"I ne'er liked that," helium says firmly. "I don't privation to go a thing. It's taken maine my full beingness to effort to beryllium thing similar resembling human".

The World of Tim Burton runs from 25 October 2024 – 21 April 2025 astatine the Design Museum successful London.