Tim Burton in Toronto!

After the late Jim Henson, I'd say Tim Burton has inspired me more than anyone else. Obviously we both share an affection for sharp nails and pointy teeth! What I like best is that his characters, often so alienated, creepy and/or scary are, at the same time, extremely hug-able! (Also there's the metamorphosis theme...) No one else has managed to capture that emotional combination so well and "The Nightmare Before Christmas" is obviously almost worshipped, so when I heard (quite by chance) that an exhibit of his work was in Toronto I really wanted to go and see it! It was with great happiness that I learned a co-worker, Shauna, also fancied seeing the exhibit so yesterday we took the train to Toronto! Yes, the train was late, yes it rained a lot but we had a really good time!

Once inside the exhibit at the TIFF Bell Lightbox, we were caught up in Tim's swirling, mesmerizing imagination! Of course there were a lot of images and drawings and notes, but what I loved best were the props, especially Edward Scissorhands' costume and scissor hand, Cat Woman's costume (which was true to the story in that it looked like an altered rain coat with all sorts of things serving as claws on her gloved hands), the cape from the Headless Horseman (layers upon layers of fabric, stunning) and a pumpkin-headed scarecrow from the same film and, of course, the models/dolls from The Nightmare Before Christmas and Corpse Bride. The detail was amazing up close, so beautifully done!!! How I drooled to touch and manipulate them!

In a separate room were images that Tim did early on and, while photos were not allowed some people (thank you!) have posted our favorites online: "Valentine", "Don't Shoot a Constipated Poodle" and "Little Dead Riding Hood"!

Afterwards, Shauna and I enjoyed shopping on Queen Street, which had so many bead shops, fabric shops, yarn shops, etc... we could only visit a few. Mokuba, the ribbon shop, was a must and we both went home with inspirational treasures.

So all in all: pretty darn amazing! The only sad bit was that there were no souvenirs from the exhibition, although amazon.ca seems to have a few new things of interest! I will get my Tim Burton fix, and maybe a movie marathon is in order... Popcorn, anyone?


(To see some of the exhibited material, visit http://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2009/timburton/. )


By the way, is it true that there are no rats in any of Tim Burton's films or (gesh!) have I missed them? If you've spotted a rat, let me know!!!