Filmmaker Tim Burton says his days directing movies for Hollywood studio Disney are over. The 64-year-old director, who started his career at The Mouse House as an animator right out of college, recalled his experience directing Disney’s 2019 film Dumbo.
The film, a reimagining of Walt Disney’s 1941 animated feature, was “a terrifying big circus,” Burton told entertainment news website Deadline.
“My history is that I started there. With Disney blockbusters such as The Nightmare Before Christmas, Alice in Wonderland, and its sequel Alice Through the Looking Glass.” The known filmmaker was hired and fired several times throughout his career there.
“The Dumbo thing is why I think my days at Disney are over. It’s pretty autobiographical on some level,” he added.
Featuring a star-studded cast of Colin Farrell, Michael Keaton, Danny DeVito, Eva Green, and Alan Arkin, Dumbo did poorly at the box office and was panned by critics.
Burton also criticized Disney’s move away from smaller projects to focus on the more established Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars franchises.
“It’s very homogenized, very integrated. There’s less room for different kinds of things,” he added.