CFP: Tim Burton: Works, Characters, Themes (collection)
Johnson Cheu, editor (cheu@msu.edu)
Deadline for abstracts: 1 October 2012

Mark Salisburry writes of Tim Burton:

“Burton’s characters are often outsiders, misunderstood and misperceived, misfits encumbered by some degree of duality, operating on the fringes of their own particular society, tolerated, but pretty much left to their own devices.” (Burton on Burton, xviii-xix)

Burton’s films have explored this theme of outsiders and many others over a wide array of genres. Scholarly essays are sought for a potential collection on the work and artistry of Tim Burton. All films and theoretical approaches welcome.

Possible topics may include but are not limited to:

• Outsiders, Misfits, and conformity/nonconformity
• Cyborgs, “Grotesquire/Freakery” and other bodily non-conformities
• Heroes/Villains
• Early work (Disney, “Frankenweenie,” Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure)
• Burton as Auteur
• Johnny Depp, and “Celebrity/Star” theory
• Adaptations (Dark Shadows, Sleepy Hollow, Alice, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Planet of the Apes, James and the Giant Peach, Sweeney Todd, etc.)
• Ed Wood
• Sci-fi (e.g. Mars Attacks)
• Batman, Batman Returns!
• Burton and fairy tales; Burton as fairy tale
• Burton and “Beauty” (films, bodies, and otherwise)
• Death, Ghosts, Haunting
• Humor, Horror, Satire, Allegory
• Family, Fathers, etc. (Big Fish, etc.)
• Mixed-genre (comedy-horror, Beattlejuice, ormusical-comedy-horror, Sweeney Todd, etc.)
• Suburbia/”The City”
• Love, attraction, rejection, sexuality
• TV work: (Alfred Hitchcock Presents: “The Jar,” ; Cartoon-TV’s “Family Dog”)

Please note: A potential publisher has expressed possible interest; work on this project may be relatively swift.

By 1 October, 2012, please submit a 250 word abstract and one-page CV to Johnson Cheu (cheu@msu.edu).