Tim Burton 10 Ways Edward Scissorhands Is His Most Iconic Character

Tim Burton: 10 Ways Edward Scissorhands Is His Most Iconic Character

Tim Burton has many iconic characters to his name. One such character is Edward Scissorhands, a gentle misfit monster who is a metaphor for Burton.

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Gothic movie director and producer Tim Burton has many trademarks to his name – imagery that includes black and white stripes and stitches and themes around the “misfit outsider,” to name a few. As a result, he also has a number of memorable and iconic characters under his belt. One such notable iconic character is the melancholy Edward Scissorhands.

Edward encompasses a number of Burton’s typical movie trademarks, including the lonely monster misfit who is a gentle, creative soul with a heavily gothic appearance, played beautifully by Burton regular, Johnny Depp. It is fair to say that Edward Scissorhands is likely the character that started it all for Burton in terms of his character creation and is perhaps his most iconic.

10 Edward Bears The ‘Burtonesque’ Look

One of the very evident Burton trademarks in all of his movies, animated or live-action, is his very recognizable ‘Burtonesque’ aesthetic. The settings, the story, and the majority of his characters are all distinctly gothic or grotesque (sometimes both) in appearance.

Edward is a textbook example of the classic Burton protagonist. His pale face and large expressive eyes are staples in a lot of Burton’s work (more noticeable in his animated features), as well as the jet black hair and the black gothic leather attire that he wears.

9 He Is A Talented Creative

Naturally, Burton is an artist through and through, and thus, a number of his protagonists are creative in some way. Notable examples are Lydia Deetz, Sally, Willy Wonka, the Corpse Bride, and of course, Edward.

Edward uses his scissors to create topiaries, groom dogs, and carve the most beautiful ice sculptures. Edward’s artistic abilities are perhaps highlighted more than any other Burton character – his creativity is the only way he can really communicate and his art tools (his scissors) are also his curse.

8 He Is Johnny Depp’s Breakout Role

He has played a number of Burton’s characters since, but there is no question that Edward is one of Johnny Depp’s best performances in any Burton movie. Furthermore, it was not only Depp’s first time working with Burton, but it was also his big break.

Edward Scissorhands was very well received both critically and commercially, and Depp’s performance as the title character was highly praised. Depp makes Edward iconic for both frequently working with Burton and for such a sensitive and memorable performance.

7 He Expresses So Much Yet Says So Little

Part of what makes Depp’s performance of Edward so memorable is how little he says throughout the movie. Aside from a few lines, Edward expresses himself through his art, his actions, and his scissors.

He creates when at peace, destroys by accident when upset, and destroys deliberately when angry. His mask-like face shows little facial expression, but the changes are enough to add to what he is feeling at the time. To express emotion in such a way and so powerfully is iconic in itself.

6 He Is An Oddball Misfit

One very notable trait a lot of characters in Burton’s movies possess is that they are misfits. Characters such as Ichabod Crane, Alice, and the Penguin are different from what is considered “normal” by society and are either shunned, celebrated as a novelty, or sometimes both.

Edward is a very strong example of a character that is both an outcast and celebrated. At first, he is the town’s novel curiosity, yet still forced to try and fit in. The moment he is shown to be a potential threat (through no fault of his own), his novelty immediately wears off and he is shunned by the neighbors.

5 The Audience See Edward’s Past

Burton’s movies, more often than not, feature key characters with troubled childhood memories in the form of flashbacks, and a kindly parental figure. In Edward Scissorhands, Edward’s “childhood” is shown through flashbacks, revealing how he was looked after by his kindly creator (Vincent Price in his final key role).

The signature Burton moment of a troubled childhood is seen when the inventor suddenly dies right before Edward’s eyes before he gets his new hands. This tragic scene is emphasized further by Edward accidentally destroying his new hands that the inventor made especially for him, leaving Edward feeling incomplete.

4 He Is A Sympathetic Monster

In an interview with BBC, Burton loved the monsters in the movies he watched growing up and expressed that he frequently identified with them, so, finding a sympathetic monster character in his movies is almost a given. Such examples include the Corpse Bride, Barnabas Collins, and the Maitlands.

Being a misunderstood man-made Frankensteinesque monster, Edward most certainly falls into this Burtonesque trope. But whilst other sympathetic monster characters have the support of others, Edward ends up alone — back where he was at the start of the movie, yet only this time, at peace.

3 Edward Scissorhands Is A Reinvention Of The Frankenstein Story

There is one monster story that Burton frequently returns to and that is Frankenstein, primarily the 1931 film. Along with Sally and Sparky the dog from Frankenweenie, Edward is a very clear example of a reinvented Frankenstein’s monster.

He is a humanoid created by an eccentric inventor, with stitches all over his suit (another Burton characteristic), and becomes an unintentional threat and danger to society. Out of all of Burton’s Frankenstein characters, Edward is easily the most tragic and therefore perhaps, the most memorable.

2 He Is One Of Burton’s Fully Original Creations

Although a reimagining of Frankenstein’s monster, Edward is one of Burton’s original characters created from scratch. Burton has reimagined a number of existing stories over the years, particularly in recent years, as well as two biopics based on Ed Wood and Margaret Keane.

As a result, a number of his characters, although bearing the Burtonesque stamp, are not entirely his own. Edward, on the other hand, is a character completely of Burton’s invention and imagination, along with other iconic characters, such as Beetlejuice and Jack Skellington.

1 Edward Is Burton’s Most Personal Character

The idea for Edward initially came from a drawing Burton did in high school. This character, and ultimately the movie as a whole, is a reflection of how Burton felt growing up – a quiet, artistic misfit in a “normal” suburban neighborhood whom he felt were judging his every move.

In an interview with David Breskin, Burton said the scissor hands further emphasize Burton’s feelings of isolation as a teenager. So, most importantly, Edward Scissorhands is Tim Burton’s most iconic character because he is a metaphor for Tim Burton himself.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/why-edward-scissorhands-tim-burton-most-iconic-character/

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