Tim Burton

Tim Burton is one of the most imaginative and successful directors in Hollywood. His films have a dark yet whimsical tone. This darkness can be attributed to a tight Pluto-Sun conjunction; as a director, he shines a spotlight (Sun) on the underworld and that which is taboo (Pluto). Although nearly all of his movies display Plutonian themes, one can best understand this aspect through exploration of the movies for which Burton has provided the story: Nightmare Before Christmas and Edward Scissorhands. Burton's original storylines illuminate his inner life, his unconscious, and his personal struggles.

Pluto rules the following areas of life:

• power
• obsession and compulsion
• death
• transformation/regeneration through death and rebirth
• the underworld
• secretiveness
• seclusion and retreat
• taboos
• people associated with society's underworld, such as criminals and prostitutes
• the shadow--that part of ourselves that remains hidden out of fear of exposure
• instinctual drives (sex, aggression)
• the occult

A brief outline of Burton's films other than those mentioned above will demonstrate the prevalence of Plutonian themes in the films he has directed.

Batman, Batman Returns - a man who lives in a remote mansion dresses as a nocturnal animal to fight criminals; he hides his true identity, and battles his personal shadow.

Sleepy Hollow - a headless horseman comes back from the dead to avenge those who killed him; includes witches and the occult.

Mars Attacks - the mass destruction of humans by aliens who pretend to come in peace (manipulation and deceit are associated with Scorpio, which is ruled by Pluto).

Ed Wood - director of several B-horror movies, including one voted "worst of all time"; nevertheless obsessed with filmmaking despite lack of critical/financial success. Revived career of Bela Lugosi, who played the original Dracula.

Pee Wee's Big Adventure - Pee Wee becomes obsessed with finding his bicycle after it's stolen. The actor who played Pee Wee was arrested for indecent exposure at an adult movie theater (the sexual underworld), and later for possession of vintage erotic photos of boys.

Planet of the Apes - the billboards said "Rule the Planet" (power). Apes--perceived as reflecting man's primitive, instinctive nature--enslave humans.

Vincent - Burton's first stop-motion short, about his idol, Vincent Price, star of several horror films which Burton watched as a child.

Frankenweenie - a boy brings his dog back from the dead.

Nightmare Before Christmas

Jack Skellington--a.k.a. Halloween Jack, the Pumpkin King--is the alpha-male of Halloweentown. He gets bored with Halloween, finds it meaningless, and serendipitously falls down into Christmastown, which thrills him. He struggles with experiments to understand the meaning of Christmas, what gives it its magic. Ultimately, his desire for power (to take Santa's place) overrides any possible comprehension of love and kindness. His fascination and obsession obviously stems from the 180 degree difference between Halloween and Christmas. In his quest to understand Christmas, his solution is to BE it. This solution stems from his obsessive-compulsive desire to get to the bottom of it, hence the misguided scientific experiments. Of course, the meaning of Christmas is not material, not quantifiable, so he wants to experience it fully. Sue Tompkins writes that Pluto "can only be understood, if at all, from the inside, and through personal experience" (Astrological Aspects, p. 30).

Unfortunately, Jack tries to be Santa (by kidnapping him and usurping his role) without understanding Christmas, and the project backfires. He only succeeds in what he does well, which is to frighten children. His gifts cause fright rather than delight. As he grapples with this loss, this failed attempt, he comes out knowing himself better; feeling invigorated because he has more ideas of how to frighten people on Halloween. He does not leave understanding Christmas better, but it was only by fully immersing himself--through usurping the power of Santa Claus--and failing that he came to fully accept himself and his gifts, that which he was born to do, which is to frighten.

That is the power of Pluto. Initially, Jack struggles with the shadow side of Pluto (obsession, misuse of power) and finally emerges transformed and deepened (the positive side of Pluto).

Jack's rebirth literally and figuratively happens after he has been blasted out of Santa's sleigh in the sky by the armed forces. He falls into the arms of an angel statue until his dog Zero puts his jaw back in place, after which he has his realization, and ultimately falls in love with the girl (symbolically making him more whole, as the feminine represents the unconscious from which he had been separated until regeneration occurred).

Edward Scissorhands

Edward Scissorhands (Johnny Depp), created by The Inventor (Vincent Price), lives in a remote castle beyond the confines of a suburban neighborhood. Unfortunately, Edward is incomplete. His "father" died just before giving Edward real hands. He is instead left with scissors for hands, and is found by the Avon lady at the castle where she tries to make a sale. She brings him home and tries to assimilate him into the neighborhood.

Edward has the capacity to create great works of art (hairstyling, trimming bushes, ice sculptures) and to create harm (cutting people, destroying property) with his scissorhands. This ability correlates with Burton's Venus-Uranus conjunction: innovative, brilliant (Uranus) art (Venus). (The abrupt turns Uranus takes relates to how quickly the scissors can alternate between helpful and hurtful.) Additionally, Burton's Mars, which rules scissors, is in Taurus (disposited by Venus), which rules objects of beauty, including sculpture.

Edward brings magic into suburbia. The housewives are thrilled with him, as well as his artistic talent. One attempts to seduce him. However, he soon becomes a pariah after he breaks into somebody's house out of love for the Avon lady's daughter (Winona Ryder). Through a bad turn of events--saving the Avon lady's son from getting hit by a drunk driver, but cutting his face in the process--Edward is forced to run back to his castle. (He was also accused of sexual assault by a woman who attempted to seduce him.) Burton's Mars is quincunx Saturn, adding a touch of negativity to Edward's use of his scissorhands.

Edward is aware of the harm he can create through his hands, and is especially sensitive to how he treats animals. (Burton's compassion can be seen in his Sun sextile Neptune; additionally, his Sun is in Virgo, the sign that rules domestic pets.) There is a moving scene in which the whole town has rejected him and a dog sits by his side. He cuts a lock of hair so the dog's eyes can be seen.

One can view the castle to which Edward returns--and from whence he came--as the suburb's underworld. That which is hidden within this haven of comformity is the creative impulse. Edward is everything the suburbanites are not. Unfortunately, his unconventionality is perceived as threatening, and the town drives him out, like Frankenstein's monster. This process is akin to repressing psychic material perceived as dangerous.

So back to the underworld Edward returns, once again a hermit. Anyhow, his talent could not have been cultivated without hours upon hours of practice in solitude.

DOB: 25 August 1958
Source: imdb.com