Tim Burton tries “to avoid” the internet because it makes him “depressed” and he’d rather look at clouds
Director Tim Burton has opened up about his feelings towards using the internet ahead of the opening of a new exhibition in London.
Speaking to BBC News to promote the launch of a new career retrospective, Burton said that “anybody who knows me knows I’m a bit of a technophobe.
“If I look at the internet, I found that I got quite depressed. It scared me because I started to go down a dark hole. So I try to avoid it, because it doesn’t make me feel good.”
He continued: “I get depressed very quickly, maybe more quickly than other people. But it doesn’t take me much to start to click and start to short circuit.”
Burton has been directing for over 50 years. His most well-known films include Batman (1989), Edward Scissorhands, Sleepy Hollow, Beetlejuice and its recent sequel, and he branched into television in 2022 with the popular Netflix Addams Family spin-off series Wednesday, which he has previously said reignited his career.
The World of Tim Burton exhibition runs from October 25 to April 21, 2025 at the Design Museum in London. It contains 600 items from across the filmmaker’s career, which organisers say give “a rare private glimpse into his creative process”.
The director went on to share some ways that he avoids his internet-induced depression, including keeping busy, looking at clouds, and enjoying his collection of giant dinosaur models that he keeps in the garden of his London home. Burton bought the models from amusement parks, and they include a 20 foot T-Rex and a 50 foot Brontosaurus.
Having just released Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, and with production on Wednesday season two underway, Burton is pretty busy for the moment. But when asked if, after working with Michael Keaton on Batman and Batman Returns, he would direct another superhero film, he said no.
“It felt new at the time,” he said. “There was pressure because it was a big movie and it was a different interpretation of comic books. So that was a pressure, but it wasn’t the pressure that you would experience now.”
He continued: “The Hollywood journey is an Alice in Wonderland kind of journey. You go up, you go down, you go sideways. That’s the way it is.
“What I realise now, maybe because I’m older as well, is OK I’m just gonna do what I want. And if you want to do it, fine. If not, then you don’t have to go on this journey with me.”
Elsewhere, you can read how Burton’s movies are shaping new music, with five rising artists sharing why the gothic filmmaker is their number one influence.
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Sophie Butcher
NME
