Can You Explain Burtonesque?

You can tell a Tim Burton film straightaway, but can you pinpoint the genre? That is what is so intriguing about his work - he evades simple definitions. In this lecture, I will celebrate Burtonesque as a genre in its own right, one that draws upon many other sources, but is uniquely his own. His films are as funny as they are scary, with a visual signature that hovers elusively between traditions (be it Sleepy Hollow or Dark Shadows). They are often slyly satirical, even political – think of the mockery of authority in Mars Attacks! and The Nightmare Before Christmas or the disdain for consumerism in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Big Eyes. And of course, they are highly biographical.