Tim Burton Docuseries Features Johnny Depp And Winona Ryder (Episodes 1 And 2 Preview)

Several of Tim Burton’s collaborators including Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder, Danny Elfman and Michael Keaton are interviewed in the first two episodes of director Tara Wood’s upcoming four-part Tim Burton Docuseries.

Wood granted me an exclusive first look at the first two episodes of the four-episode docuseries, which she recently finished in its entirety. The first episode was unveiled at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City in June, and the contents of the second episode had not been seen until Wood gave me exclusive access to both chapters of the in-depth docuseries about Burton’s life and career.

In total, all four parts of the docuseries chronicle everything from Burton’s life growing up in Burbank, Calif. — which shows never-before-seen photos from his youth and some of his early home movie productions — all the way to the release of the 2024 supernatural comedy blockbuster Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

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In a pair of recent Zoom conversations, Wood discussed the process of making the documentary, which began sort of the same way that a young Burton got screen legend Vincent Price to do the narration for his stop-motion animated short film classic Vincent over four decades ago.

“I sent a handwritten note to Tim to ask for his permission to do his documentary,” Wood recalled. “I explained that we wouldn’t interview him but were going to interview his friends and it started there.”

Given the importance Burton had to their careers, it didn’t take long for the likes of Depp, Ryder and Keaton to agree to interviews, as well as Danny DeVito, Helena Bonham Carter, Christopher Walken, Christoph Walz and Jenna Ortega.

The docuseries also delves into Burton’s collaborative partnerships with such creatives as composer Elfman, production designer Rich Heinrichs and producer Denise Di Novi — who reveals how she and Tim Burton met with several major film stars to play the title character in Edward Scissorhands.

The chemistry with the A-listers, however, simply wasn’t there, Di Novi explains in the docuseries: “We knew they really didn’t connect to the character in the way we wanted and we were starting to despair a little bit.”

That all changed, however, when Burton’s Beetlejuice star had a revelation.

“Winona Ryder brought up Johnny. He wasn’t a movie star. He was the miserable TV star,” Di Novi says of Depp’s waning interest in his detective series 21 Jump Street.

“In all honesty, I was probably doing my best in the last two years [of 21 Jump Street] just to get fired,” Depp recalls in the docuseries. “Suddenly, I was pigeonholed so I knew I had to fight it. I knew how important the choice of Crybaby with John Waters was, which gave me the opportunity to make fun of this arena I’d been placed in. So, that was for me my first solid step in the direction I wanted to go.”

The next solid step, however, made an indelible impression in the Hollywood landscape that reverberates to this day.

“My agent sets up this meeting with Tim Burton after Crybaby and I was sent the screenplay for Edward Scissorhands,” Depp recalls in the docuseries. “What I felt from reading that screenplay was … it had passed through everything, anything solid and went to the very core of whatever I am. The writing was beautiful. The character was beautiful. What I suppose attacked me emotionally was that Edward was me … it’s exactly what I should be doing.”

Although Burton is seen and heard in archived footage, Wood’s decision not to interview Burton is a normal part of her documentary filmmaking process. Prior to filming the Tim Burton Docuseries, Wood directed the 2014 feature 21 Years: Richard Linklater and 2019’s QT: The First Eight, which chronicled the first 21 years of Quentin Tarantino’s career.

“This is my third doc, and I don’t interview the subject because it allows them to be more open to the idea and to say yes [to the project] if they don’t really like to talk about themselves,” Wood explained. “Quentin Tarantino is a really good example because everybody thinks Quentin likes to talk about himself, but he doesn’t. He told me, ‘I love this and I’m giving you the okay because I hate talking about myself’ … so it allows a different conversation and vibe.”

So, while Burton was not interviewed for the docuseries, Wood said he’s still very much a part of it.

“Not being interviewed really allowed Tim to be involved comfortably,” Wood noted. “It’s been a very free and organic process.”

The Tim Burton Docuseries Originated As A Documentary Feature

Tara Wood said she started work on her Tim Burton project in February 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic soon put the production on hold.

Wood said that she first intended to make a documentary feature film on Burton, much like she did on Richard Linklater and Quentin Tarantino. However, since the pandemic sidelined Wood’s documentary for a year, she had more time for research and as such, fleshed out the focus of Burton’s story.

“The good side of it was, I had no idea about the depth of his artwork … so I started digging into that and learned a lot more about things like his love of dogs and it just blew up from there,” Wood recalled. “So that year gave me a lot of time to discover new things … The more I started to learn about Tim, it had to grow. I started it as a two-hour film and the bigger it got. Then it went to three and eventually four hours.”

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In addition to Denise Di Novi, Wood interviewed Burton’s longtime costume designer Colleen Atwood for the docuseries, as well as Allison Abbate, who collaborated with the director on his stop-motion animation features.

Other featured interviews include Tim Burton Exhibitions curator Jenny He and Derek Frey — Burton’s assistant-turned-producer who began working with the filmmaker on Mars Attacks! in 1996 and continued through 2019’s Dumbo.

“Derek has been my rock,” Wood enthused. “Documentaries take such a long time as you’re waiting for other people’s schedules to fall into sync and it gets difficult sometimes. Derek, though, was always available to help. He’s like an encyclopedia. Both Derek and Jenny. He was so helpful — they know everything.”

What Is The Focus Of Parts 1 And 2 Of The Tim Burton Docuseries?

Much like the auteur’s work, Tara Wood’s Tim Burton Docuseries is engaging from the get-go in Episode 1, from the flurry of fascinating stories from the actors in Burton’s troupe to the presentation of Burton’s immense catalogue of artwork by Jenny He.

Danny Elfman even helps set the tone in the opening credits with an original composition for the docuseries’ theme.

Episode 1 takes a deep dive into Burton’s childhood and his origin as a filmmaker, where Wood exhibits clips from many of his early home movie productions as a teenager and short films as an animation student at CalArts.

In addition, Burton’s work as a Disney animator and his short films at the studio — Vincent and the live-action version of Frankenweenie — are chronicled, as are his feature films Peewee’s Big Adventure, Beetlejuice and Batman.

Episode 2, meanwhile, takes an in-depth look at Edward Scissorhands, Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, Batman Returns and Ed Wood.

Largely present throughout the first two episodes of Wood’s Tim Burton Docuseries is how the theme of being an outsider is pivotal to each one of Burton’s films. As such, it’s interesting to learn that beneath the surface of Burton’s classic superhero movie — 1989’s Batman — the theme of being an outsider (and the isolation and loneliness that goes with it) exists just as much in Batman as it does in any of his other films.

“Tim Burton didn’t actually grow up reading comic books. He wasn’t this comic book nerd,” Jenny He notes in the section about Burton’s first Batman film. “But what he identified with was the loneliness of having to put on a mask … of not being able to reveal your true identity.”

The theme of isolation and loneliness certainly wasn’t lost on Batman star Michael Keaton.

“It was never really about Batman. It was about Bruce Wayne,” Keaton says in the docuseries. “That was always the trick. That was the key … that, ‘Who was Bruce Wayne?’ You know, a guy who found a way to do what he had to do because he had to do it, but at the same time he probably thought his life was really unusual. When you feel like that, you probably feel lonely.”

You can watch He and Keaton discuss the lonely aspect of Burton, Batman and Bruce Wayne in the exclusive video clip below.

The Tim Burton Docuseries Encourages Viewers To Hold On To Their Identities

While the first two parts of Tara Wood’s Tim Burton Docuseries dive into Burton’s films, the celebration of his work — and the encouragement it has provided to fans — is the overarching theme of episodes 1 and 2 (and undoubtedly 3 and 4).

“He encourages everyone to ‘Hey, hold on to your identity because that’s all you really have,’ He says in the docuseries. “Tim has said this, ‘Whether you are a costume designer, whether you’re a musician, whether you’re a filmmaker. Whether you’re a book writer or screenplay writer. No matter what form your creative expression takes, just keep doing it because it’s really about holding onto self.”

In perhaps a bit of Kismet, Wood said the theme even awakened a part of her that was lost along the way on the path of the thing we call life.

“Here’s what Tim taught me — I didn’t know I was an artist,” Wood said. “I forgot that I wanted to be a Disney animator. In his films, Tim talks about not losing that childlike stuff. He talks about being yourself and not getting lost. I realized that I was one of the kids that got lost.”

But after seeing the first two parts of the four-part Tim Burton Docuseries, there’s no doubt that Wood found herself again.

“Imagine the strength it takes to hold on to yourself? It’s hard … but Tim, did it, Johnny did it, Winona did it, Danny Elfman did it and Rick Heinrichs did it — and they all found each other,” Wood said.

“People have asked me, ‘What did you take away from this experience?’” Wood added. “My feelings are, ‘What would it be like to have that superpower? How did Tim find these people in his life and bring them all together? How the frick did you find all those people at that young age? And they’re still together and have been with him his entire life — and they’re all geniuses. How do you do that?’”

Director Tara Wood’s yet-to-be officially titled four-part Tim Burton Docuseries is still awaiting a release date. If episodes 1 and 2 are indication, episodes 3 and 4 promise to shape the entire project into the most definitive look at Burton’s career to date.

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