World of Tim Burton exhibition review: A Burtonesque treasure trove of the brilliantly bizarre

“It’s like walking around in a weird, beautiful, funhouse!”

So declared director Tim Burton upon experiencing the London edition of The World of Tim Burton, which has set a new record for advance ticket sales for the Design Museum.

The capital is the tenth and last stop for the how, which explores Burton’s unique style and artistic process. It marks the first and only time his archives have been seen in the UK, and it very nearly didn’t make it.

Burton has previously resisted staging the exhibition in London, however he now believes partnering with the Design Museum was the right choice. “It’s a strange thing, to put 50 years of art and your life on view for everyone to see, especially when that was never the original purpose,” he says.

Over 32,000 people have already snapped up tickets to the exhibition, the biggest pre-sale in the museum’s 35-year history.

In total there are over 600 items on display, charting Burton’s distinctive design aesthetic…

Tim Burton’s art and legacy: exhibition insights

This iteration of the Burton roadshow comes to Kensington after a decade long world tour, that has taken in 14 cities and 11 countries. We’re told this is the last time the exhibition will be staged.

In total, there are over 600 items on display, charting the evolution of Burton’s distinctive design aesthetic. In addition to film studio archives, there are objects loaned from the director himself, as well as the private collections of his closest collaborators.  

During an exclusive roundtable discussion to launch the exhibition, Burton discussed his preference for handmade art over technology, and his emotional connection to drawing.

“I wasn’t, early on, a very verbal person,” he revealed to an invited audience. “So for me, drawing was a way of expressing myself.  I love drawing, it was important to me and sort of therapeutic and a way to get certain thoughts and ideas out.”

For aficionados, the exhibition should prove equally therapeutic; it’s a treasure trove of the bizarre, beautiful and brilliant.

There’s everything here. From his formative days at Disney through to high profile collaborations and works by other artists who have been inspired by the Burtonesque.

This exhibition applies a very deliberate design filter to Burton’s work, spotlighting his long-term creative partnerships with costume designer Colleen Atwood, production designer Rick Heinrichs, architect and designer Anton Furst, and stop-motion animators Mackinnon and Saunders.

Amongst the various artworks and models on show, is a bewitching collection of costumes and props, including the Nevermore school uniform from hit Netflix show Wednesday, as well as the first public showing of the Rave’N dance dress worn by actor Jenna Ortega; Stan Winston’s iconic scissor hands; Michelle Pfeiffer’s rubber and latex Catwoman costume from Batman Returns, and Christina Ricci’s black and white striped dress from Sleepy Hollow. 

Many are paired with Burton’s original character concept drawings.

Visitors enter the exhibition in ‘Suburban Beginnings’, which documents Burton’s early artistic work, and his time working as an apprentice animator at Disney, before moving into ‘Crafting Imagination’, which throws a spotlight on his much loved stop-motion work.

It’s an undeniable thrill to see Jack Skeleton and the Corpse Bride up close.  

On the creation of Jack Skeleton, Burton says: “When I first started drawing the character. I didn’t know what it was. It was just coming from my subconscious, rather than an intellectual thought, it was more an emotional thing…”

The Nightmare before Christmas took ten years to get greenlit, says Burton.

“The film industry is a business, but it’s nice to work with artists. I love working in a handmade medium like a stop motion. There’s something tactile and beautiful about that.”

The maquettes used to create the animated aliens in Mars Attacks! are also revealed.

“I’ve worked with CG, I’ve worked with most techniques, and they’re all valid. I have nothing against them. But, for me, just the impact of growing up, watching Ray Harrhausen movies, those kind of things create your DNA, they stay with you. And so, as much as I respect all these technologies, I feel like stop motion is the most artistic, the most fun. When you walk on the set, you see the miniature set, and you see people moving these objects, frame by frame. It’s an exciting, long process, but it’s an exciting one to be around.”

‘Building Worlds’ is a celebration of thirteen key feature films, while the section ‘Drawing Narratives’ illustrates Burton’s prolific output as an artist.

The exhibition concludes with ‘Beyond Film,’ an exploration of projects produced outside of cinema, including a music video collaboration with The Killers. Burton’s photographic work, utilising an overlarge Polaroid film format, is accompanied by a suitably surreal soundscape created by sound designer Tomi Rose.

The exhibition runs until April 21 2025. Due to the high demand, it will be open late on Friday and Saturday evenings for the rest of 2024. Design Museum members will be able to visit the show for free, without needing to pre-book.

The World of Tim Burton is presented in partnership with Harvey Nichols. To celebrate the exhibition, the store will unveil a Burtonesque Christmas window display featuring five unique objects from Tim Burton’s private collection.