Tim Burton says he probably won’t work for Disney again

By Dan Heching, CNN

Tim Burton is sounding off on his previous working relationship with Disney, saying he is unlikely to return to the company as a director in the future.

The filmmaker attended the Lumiere Festival in France over the weekend, where he received the honorary Prix Lumière award. He spoke at a press conference on Saturday where he likened working for the company to the character Dumbo being trapped in “this horrible big circus.”

“It’s gotten to be very homogenized, very consolidated. There’s less room for different types of things,” Burton said, according to Deadline.

Burton noted that Disney is now largely focused on its tentpole franchises mainly within the Star Wars and Marvel cinematic universes and of his potential involvement in the MCU in the future, he said chances were slim.

“I can only deal with one universe, l can’t deal with a multi-universe,” he said.

CNN has reached out to Disney for comment.

Burton last collaborated with Disney on 2019’s live-action reimagining of “Dumbo.” The “Beetlejuice” director first worked for the Mouse House as junior animator for films like 1981’s “The Fox and the Hound.” He went on to work on movies like “The Nightmare Before Christmas” (through Touchstone) in 1993, 1996’s “James and the Giant Peach,” 2012’s “Frankenweenie” and “Alice in Wonderland” in 2010 (along with 2016’s sequel) among other titles.

“I was hired and fired like several times throughout my career there,” he added. “The thing about ‘Dumbo,’ is that’s why I think my days with Disney are done, I realized that I was Dumbo, that I was working in this horrible big circus and I needed to escape. That movie is quite autobiographical at a certain level.”

The director’s next project, Addams Family spinoff series “Wednesday” for Netflix, is due out on November 23.

Update: The story has been updated to clarify that Burton worked on “James and the Giant Peach,” “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and “Alice Through the Looking Glass” as a producer. He did not direct those projects.

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