Tim Burton on Embracing Criticism After His First Film
Tim Burton looks back at the tough feedback on his debut, Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure, and how it shaped his path as a filmmaker.
These days, Tim Burton is a household name, known for his unmistakable style that mixes gothic visuals with quirky characters and wild costumes. With a career spanning 20 feature films and box office takings topping $4 billion, it’s easy to forget that even Burton had to start somewhere. For those who’ve followed his work closely, his first full-length project stands out as a bit of an odd one. Back in 1985, at just 26, Burton directed Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure. The film, starring the late Paul Reubens as the eccentric Pee-Wee Herman, follows the character’s quest to recover his stolen bike. If you weren’t told, you’d never pick it as a Burton flick.
Mixed Feelings About a Debut
Burton’s relationship with his first feature is complicated. On one hand, it kicked off everything that followed. On the other, he felt it didn’t exactly set the right tone for his career. As he shared with Mark Salisbury in Burton on Burton, the feedback was far from glowing.
“The reviews on Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure were really bad,”
he remembered.
“I remember one review, and I’ll never forget this, which said, ‘Everything is great, the costumes are brilliant, the photography is great, the script is fabulous, the actors are all great, the only thing that’s terrible is the direction’. One said, ‘On a scale of one to ten, ten being best, Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure gets a minus one’. It’s the first minus one I remember seeing.”
Reality Versus Perception
Despite Burton’s memories, the numbers tell a different story. Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure actually did alright with critics overall. Sure, some big names like Gene Siskel weren’t fans, but plenty of others enjoyed its light-hearted humour and the way Burton brought Reubens’ character to life. Financially, it was a winner too, pulling in over $40 million from a $7 million budget. Over time, it’s only grown in popularity, now considered a cult classic and a key part of Burton’s early days.
Learning From the Knockbacks
Even if the film had been completely panned, Burton reckons he wouldn’t have minded. He actually found the harsh reviews a bit of a laugh.
“I’ve known people who’ve gone through that first film thing when they get ‘They’re the next Orson Welles’, and that can kill you,”
he said.
“I’m glad I didn’t get that. I much prefer the kind of raking over the coals I got because it’s a mistake to believe any of it.”
Plenty of directors start out strong and then struggle to keep up the pace. Burton’s happy he copped a bit of flak early on, rather than being hyped up too soon. Just three years after Pee-Wee, he released Beetlejuice, which many see as his real breakout. The rest, as they say, is history.