Did you see where Walt Disney Studios put Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland" back in theaters last week? Not all over the country, mind you. But just in the LA area. With the hope that this limited engagement might then make Academy members remember this 3D blockbuster when awards season rolls around again.
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Boy, what a difference a few decades can make. I can remember back in the early 1980s when Tim used to make live-action featurettes like "Frankenweenie" ...
... and TV specials like "Hansel and Gretel" ...
... that executives at Walt Disney Productions just had no idea what to do with. In the case of Burton's dark & weird "Hansel and Gretel," this Disney Channel production was only shown once (on Halloween night 1983, appropriately enough) before it was then shoved to the back on the infamous Disney vault and never aired again.
But at least "Hansel and Gretel" did ultimately get produced. In the 4 years that Burton worked at Walt Disney Productions (as an in-betweener, assistant animator and - finally - a concept artist), he proposed a number of projects that never made it off the drawing board. Among them "Little Dead Riding Hood" ...
... which was supposed to have been this "suspenseful tale of torment and demon possession." (Gee, I can't understand why Ron Miller would have balked when it came to putting an animated short like that into production back in 1981.)
But this time of year, there's one project that Tim proposed back in 1980 that I really wish that Ron had greenlit. And that was "Trick or Treat."
Just as "The Nightmare Before Christmas" started out as an idea for a holiday special much in the style of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," "Trick or Treat" was supposed to be this half hour-long TV show. Only instead of being set in an otherworldly realm like Halloweentown ...
... where the Pumpkin King learned the hard way what happens when holidays collide.
Well, this time around, Burton set this seasonal story in the real world. Where a kid who was growing up in a bland suburban neighborhood much like the one that Tim grew up in in Burbank, CA ...
... has noticed that there's something unusual about the house that's just down the street.
That the people who live there just seemed ... Well, kind of usual. They pretty much keep to themselves. More importantly, they really, really, REALLY seem to like Halloween.
So one day, this boy just has to know what the deal is with this family. So he sneaks into that house ...
... goes upstairs ...
... and discovers this family of monsters ...
... who have been getting by suburbia by masquerading as humans.
Of course, in the now-well-known Tim Burton tradition, these monsters aren't really all that monstrous.
They're actually thrilled to find a human in their midst.
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Since they're kind of hoping that this kid will help teach the trick of passing for human in suburbia. So - for that one night a year - these creatures will actually be able to get out of the house and really enjoy Halloween.
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And Burton ... He really wanted to turn "Trick to Treat" into a holiday special. So much so that Tim created 181 separate drawings of characters & scenes that were to have appeared in this seasonal show.
Then - working with fellow CalArts grad Rick Heinrichs - Burton then sculpted character models of various monsters for "Trick or Treat." If you look closely in the above drawing, you'll recognize these 3D versions of the Clown Totem Monster ...
... and the Candy Monster.
But in the end, the Walt Disney Productions management team of the early 1980s - while they recognized Tim's obvious talent - didn't have enough faith in this fledgling filmmaker to let him start out with making TV specials for the Mouse. So first came "Vincent," a 7-minute long stop-motion short ...
... Which got such great reviews that Burton was then allowed to try his hand at live-action. Which is where "Hansel & Gretel" ...
... and "Frankenweenie" came in.
Of course, what's kind of ironic about all this is that it was "Frankenweenie" that convinced Paul Reubens & Warner Bros. that Tim had what it took to direct "Pee-wee's Big Adventure." And the success of that August 1985 live-action film was what led to Burton being offered "Batman." And that June 1989 release was such a huge success that ... Well, Tim had his choice of follow-up projects.
Which is why - when Burton reached out to Disney in 1990 and asked if he could buy back the rights to "The Nightmare Before Christmas" - Jeffrey Katzenberg saw the opportunity to repair Ron Miller's mistake in letting Tim slip away. Which is why he immediately proposed that Burton make that movie for Touchstone.
Now jump ahead to November of 2007. Where Burton revealed that - as part of the two picture deal that he'd just signed with Walt Disney Pictures - that Tim was thinking of revisiting "Frankenweenie." Taking this 30-minute live-action featurette and then turning in that into a full-length stop-motion animated feature.
So one has to wonder: Given that Walt Disney Pictures would dearly love to extend its current deal with Burton (so that this acclaimed filmmaker could then follow-up "Alice in Wonderland" with Maleficent. Which is supposed to put a "Wicked" -like spin on the tale of Sleeping Beauty's nemesis), could the Company perhaps offer Tim "Trick or Treat"? Which - because Burton developed this project while he was still a Mouse House employee back in the 1980s - it's Mickey's property.
Because - as this photo of Tim's Jack Skellington-like costume (which he built to wear for Halloween 1967) costume proves ...
... Burton is never one to give up on and/or let go of a good idea.
So what do you folks think? Based on the artwork & character models that are featured in today's JHM article, would you someday like to see Tim Burton revisit "Trick or Treat"? And - if so - would you like to see these characters & this concept used as the basis of a new Halloween television special or a full length feature film?
Your thoughts?
What a delightful concept, although it seems like he fulfilled Trick Or Treat with NBXmas. Now, if it remained a 30 minute special and set to air on TV, why I'd say it would do to Halloween what The Grinch did to Xmas. Great post!
I saw the Hansel & Gretel special on the Disney Channel. It was very bizarre and I loved it. I just remember the Japanese martial arts flavor to it, and Hansel poking his finger in the house wall and colored liquid pouring out.
I saw the Hansel and Gretel special at the Museum of Modern Art Tim Burton exhibit. Strange and fascinating.
This Trick or Treat concept sounds like "Where the Wild Things Are" with a Halloween slant. The art is great, but the story needs something more.
Great article! The photo at the end is wonderful. 181 separate drawings! He should do it! In some form or other. He's got a great sense of humor. He must have made them nuts at Disney. "Little Dead Riding Hood!"
I'd love to see more Jack Skellington and Danny Elfman be his singing voice!
I really loved some of these prints--do you happen to know if copies can be purchased anywhere?
Absolutely! I would like to see both Hansel & Gretel revisited, as well as Trick-or-Treat made. Trick-or-treat would be awesome for new actors to get into the business, having a lot of possible characters; as well as keeping some star-studded names on the cast list to help draw the crowds into the theater.