Reviews
Chronicling his nearly 35 year career and impact on pop culture through his uniquely dark and whimsical tales, The Tim Burton Encyclopedia by Samuel J. Umland provides readers and film enthusiasts of Burton's colorful career a detailed overview of the artist, his many works and frequent collaborators. Organized alphabetically, The Tim Burton Encyclopedia spares insight into the relevance of CalArts' A113 homeroom class, Burton's earliest and seldom seen projects including, Hansen and Gretel (1982) and Aladdin and His Magical Lamp (1986). In addition, Umland delves into the backgrounds and impact of Burton influences such as Dr. Seuss, Disney's The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949) and Roald Dahl while, surprisingly lacking a formal section for stop-motion master Ray Harryhausen. Covering each of Burton's film projects in great detail, this reference guide also shines light on Burton's many collaborators dating back to former Disney executive Richard Laurence Berger who green-lit production of Burton's live-action short Frankenweenie (1984) to more commonly associated artists such as Johnny Depp (Edward Scissorhands, Dark Shadows) and Composer Danny Elfman (responsible for musical contributions to all of Burton's films minus 1994's Ed Wood). . . . [The book shares] scholarly asides pertaining to the inclusion of monsters in Burton's works and a foreword from Production Designer Bo Welch (Beetlejuice, Batman Returns). . . .While not meant to be absorbed cover to cover, The Tim Burton Encyclopedia serves its purpose as a solid reference of the Beetlejuice director's eccentric career with countless sections of enlightening material for Burton's most informed appreciators., Chronicling his nearly 35 year career and impact on pop culture through his uniquely dark and whimsical tales, The Tim Burton Encyclopedia by Samuel J. Umland provides readers and film enthusiasts of Burton's colorful career a detailed overview of the artist, his many works and frequent collaborators. . . .The Tim Burton Encyclopedia serves its purpose as a solid reference of the Beetlejuice director's eccentric career with countless sections of enlightening material for Burton's most informed appreciators., This work spans the life and career (through 2015) of filmmaker Tim Burton. . . .This volume presents nearly 200 entries alphabetically and concludes with a selected bibliography and an index. The most informative entries relate to Burton's films and the primary production crew members and collaborators with whom he regularly worked. . . .[W]ell-written, this encyclopedia will mostly interest a general audience or collectors of Burton-related material and memorabilia. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers., This work spans the life and career (through 2015) of filmmaker Tim Burton. . . .This volume presents nearly 200 entries alphabetically and concludes with a selected bibliography and an index. The most informative entries relate to Burton's films and the primary production crew members and collaborators with whom he regularly worked. . . .[W]ell-written, this encyclopedia will mostly interest a general audience or collectors of Burton-related material and memorabilia. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers., Author Umland examines, in great detail, every aspect of Burton's kaleidoscopic work. . . .Fans of Burton, and of film in general, will find Umland's detailed work a bonanza, when it comes to more fully analyzing and appreciating one of modern cinema's most innovative storytellers., [T]he book is a worthy source of information about a unique film director. It will be useful for source material and as a reference work for libraries serving visual arts, film production and film history courses and will no doubt be appreciated by the fans of the director.
