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Tim Burton bemused by 'dark' movies label

Oct 10, 2012, 16:01 GMT

Tim Burton with Helena Bonham Carter

Tim Burton can't understand why people label his movies 'dark'.

The 'Frankenweenie' director - who is well known for his quirky, horror comedy films such as 'Dark Shadows', while he has previously helmed gothic horrors such as 1999's 'Sleepy Hollow' - insists he is not 'obsessed' with the genre and sees his projects in a different light to others.

He told BANG Showbiz: 'I don't find 'Frankenweenie' dark. It's so funny, from the beginning all my films have been labelled dark but I haven't ever seen them in that way. I see things differently. I'm not obsessed with horror.'

Tim - who has been in a relationship with Helena Bonham Carter, who has starred in several of his motion pictures, since 2001 - always dreamed of being a 'mad scientist' when he was a youngster and believes the art of creation that comes with such a job is partly why he ended up becoming a filmmaker.

Speaking at a 'Frankenweenie' press conference in London today (10.10.12) as part of the opening of the 56th BFI London Film Festival, he added: 'When I was a kid I always wanted to be a mad scientist. A regular scientist was no fun.

'It's not so much about me wanting to bring things back to life. I find that quite creepy actually. It's more about creation, doing things and making things. That's what filmmaking is and that's what stop-motion is. That's why this is so special.'

'Frankenweenie' tells the story of a young boy called Victor who, after unexpectedly losing his dog Sparky, sets about trying to bring his pooch back to life with a scientific experiment that leads to monstrous consequences.

It is released in the UK on October 17.