Organized and presented by Toybox Projects Sdn. Bhd. – a multi-entertainment and cross-media multinational company, the event acts as an initiative to bring greater awareness to the Malaysian tourism sector through entertainment and draw in more and more local and international visitors in 2023.
This year, Malaysia has been officially added to the line-up to experience this world-class event. Toybox Projects has dedicated their utmost hard work and efforts to the investment, negotiation, planning, and execution of such a world-class event in hopes for Malaysians to experience one of the world’s most demanded forms of entertainment. As a result, Malaysia will be the first and only Southeast Asian country to play host to The World of Tim Burton and last Asia stop in the pop-up museum world tour.
Visitors will have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take a deep dive into Tim Burton’s personal archive which represents the artist’s creative output from childhood to the present day, with over 500 drawings, paintings, photographs, sketchbooks, moving-image works, and sculptural installations focusing on the recurrent visual themes and motifs that resonate in the distinctive characters and worlds found in Burton’s art and films.
Additionally, the pop-up museum will include 10 thematic sections composed of paintings, drawings, photographs, videos, and media arts as well as a teaser into current Tim Burton projects provided to the visitors through the exact replica of Tim Burton’s personal work studio:
1. SECTION 1: INFLUENCES
Tim Burton’s versatility and range, as well as the influence of his predecessors, are demonstrated in this section where the earliest works of the exhibition are found. Drawings from Burton’s childhood and early career pay homage to classic cartoonists and illustrators such as Edward Gorey, Charles Addams, Don Martin, and Theodore Geisel (Dr. Seuss). Burton’s class notes and sketches from his studies at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) offer insight into his formal training. The substantial influences of Japanese kaiju (monster) movies, Expressionist Cinema, Universal Studios’ horror catalog, stop-motion animation master Ray Harryhausen, and suspense maestro Vincent Price are also revealed in these works.
2. SECTION 2: HOLIDAYS
This prominent theme originates from Tim Burton’s upbringing in Burbank, California, a homogenous suburban neighborhood that came alive only during the holiday seasons. Representing a creative respite from dull monotony, this early influence is seen throughout his work—in the form of sincere appreciation as well as a satirical wink. Examples include his 1997 book of illustrated poems The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories (1997) and the stop-motion animated musical Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) in which Halloween and Christmas are ghoulishly and gleefully linked.
3. SECTION 3: CARNIVALESQUEThe theme of the “carnivalesque”—the mixture between comedy and the grotesque—is seen in Tim Burton’s films from Beetlejuice (1988) and Batman (1989) to Alice in Wonderland (2010) and Dark Shadows (2012) as well as in his personal drawings and paintings. These selections exemplify Burton’s treatment of the balance between the seemingly opposing genres of horror and humor. The imagery of twisting tongues, eyeballs wandering out of their sockets, and poisonous clowns—often accompanied by deadpan wordplay humor—alludes to this dichotomous theme.
1. SECTION 4: FIGURATIVE WORKS
These drawings, paintings, and sculptures, unrelated to Tim Burton’s professional projects, are some of his most personal artworks. Burton depicts physical reality not as it appears, but how it is personally felt through a distortion of perspective and the human figure. Included in this section are Burton’s studies for Blue Girl with Wine and The Green Man, positioned alongside the final paintings which highlight Burton’s signature aesthetic.
2. SECTION 5: MISUNDERSTOOD OUTCAST
The most recognizable theme of Tim Burton’s art and films is the archetypical—and perhaps autobiographical—“misunderstood outcast.” These sympathetic monsters are found in projects from the stop-motion animated short film Vincent (1982) to the Hollywood blockbuster Alice in Wonderland (2010). Included in this section are drawings and the concept maquette for Balloon Boy, a 22-foot site-specific installation that the Museum of Modern Art commissioned for its entrance lobby during the inaugural presentation of the Tim Burton exhibition tour. This original creation bears a melancholy countenance and embodies the characteristics of the artist’s beloved outsiders.
3. SECTION 6: FILM CHARACTERS
For visitors who are well-acquainted with Tim Burton’s movies—from his first feature, Pee-wee’s Big Adventure (1985), to his latest, Dumbo (2019)—This section offers a deeper look into familiar characters and worlds. Paintings, videos, script notes, storyboards, puppets, and maquettes show how film characters progressed from ideas in Burton’s mind to the cinema screen.
4. SECTION 7: POLAROIDS
Using a rare 20 x 24 large-format instant camera, Tim Burton produced several series of oversized Polaroid prints between 1992 and 1999. These personal photographs express visual themes and motifs that appear in his professional films.
5. SECTION 8: AROUND THE WORLD
The spontaneity of Tim Burton’s creative process is highlighted by the works in this section. Drawings made in sketchbooks and on hotel notepads and restaurant napkins are impulses of his restless imagination. The worldwide travels that are necessary to the itinerant life of a film director—shooting locations, film festivals, publicity tours—provide inspiration and subject matter. The resulting dream-like imagery of hyper-reality reflects Burton’s perceptions of the people and places encountered.
6. SECTION 9: UNREALIZED PROJECTS
These works from Tim Burton’s film, television, and book projects that were halted in various stages of development reveal the extent of his artistic output. Some of these projects never progressed beyond the beginnings of the ideation stage while other projects in this section were fully realized but did not incorporate any of Burton’s concepts in the final product. The drawings in this section provide a rare glimpse into previously unknown projects that affirm the continuity of the artist’s themes and motifs and also served as inspiration for the exhibition design of Burton’s art exhibition.
7. SECTION 10: THE ARTIST’S STUDIOTim Burton is a solitary artist, constantly drawing, painting, and planning, working away in his studio. For the first time, a part of Tim Burton’s studio is replicated in the exhibition as a way for visitors to experience how the artist’s passion and artistic spirit come to life. The sketches and drawings on cork boards feature works relating to current projects, including those he created for his Seoul exhibition’s entrance sculptures and his new TV series project, Wednesday.
The World of Tim Burton pop-up museum is open to visitors from March 21 until July 30 at level 2, Pink Zone in Pavilion Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur. Tickets are priced at RM88 for adults, RM68 for children and seniors, and RM48 for people with disabilities. If you would like to visit multiple times, you can purchase the season pass for RM498.
For more information and to buy tickets, head over to this website.
