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It seems like Burton actually has scissors instead of hands, and sharp enough to cut a bit of his nightmares and obsessions and stick them (without a trace) in writing masterpieces written by someone else, like Sleepy Hollow, Planet of the Apes (where he met his actual wife and mother of his son, Helena Bonham Carter) or the remake of Charlie and the chocolate factory, film in which he directs Johnny Depp once again and shows his particular vision of Roald Dahl’s novel. For Burton the film means a bet to show that he’s capable of making personal and sellable films. After blockbusters such as Beetlejuice (1989), Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992), The director with the spider hair (he’s a fan of The Cure) offered more personal works like The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) and Ed Wood (1996) to his failure Planet of Apes (2001) and Big Fish (2003) that had good critics but didn’t get enough money. This bet, whereas Tim loses or not has a winner, audience. That is faithful to the imagination of someone who worked for Disney and never stops drawing his ideas in a small notepad that goes with him everywhere.

Charlie and the chocolate factory is a “children’s” movie sui generis
Adults forget that there is darkness in childhood. Really sinister situations that are also part of growing up. I wanted to take advantage of Willy Wonka’s own darkness, but with emotion and humor.

For his relationship with children, he has been compared with Michael Jackson
There’s the deal, Michael Jackson likes children, Willy Wonka can’t stand children. For me that’s a big difference. Johnny and I never even made the relation between them during the filming, Although I suppose that you can say that Willy or Michael have problems, we all have them, Finally.

In what did you based Willy Wonka’s character?
In the weird Children’s show TV host you can find in any city of the US, generally those guys have funny hairdos. You see them while you’re a kid and then you grow up and say “that guy was really insane”

You wanted to make this film so much…
I wanted to make a remake of the movie, I remember the sensation I experimented while reading the book as a child. It is an adult’s book for children. Dahl didn’t specify his reader. He was too smart to be specific and subversive. He always leave you guessing what would happen next. And the original film didn’t have any of these characteristics.

How did you chose Johnny Depp for Wonka’s role?
Before I could open my mouth, the people from the studio asked “what about Johnny Depp?” and I answer “well, If you’re gonna make me accept him is ok” Johnny and I have a special process in which we dialog in an abstract way, and somehow we can understand each other.

What is the point of the movie?
How bad kids get the dessert they deserve, for saying it someway, about Charlie’s purity and simplicity… He simply floats until the top of the mountain, process that is like life, trying to get to a place where you can find that simply purity in
a pervert world.

You spent a lot of time in your own worlds…
Another of the common activities of my childhood was to whish that no one was home on Friday’s night so I can watch horror movies until morning. I will simply sit in the darkness to be scared to the bones. When that session ended I will swear “to never do it again” But I was there next Friday, in front of my television, again.

Now you have a son with actress Helena Bonham Carter, Billy Ray.
No one prepared me to have a boy. It’s the weirdest thing that ever happened to me. I can’t simply even imagine that I would have a weirdest experience than this one in my entire life. Having a son is the most normal thing in the world and at the same time, the weirdest. Some weeks ago I was in the country in England and I ran into a girl carrying a bag of The Nightmare before Christmas. It was something beautiful and sweet. I’ve found one time and another people that let me know who I make movies for. And that’s the most wonderful thing of all.

Thanks to Lenora for translating this article