Home Cultural Studies 17. TIM BURTON’S CURIOUS BODIES IN MISS PEREGRINE’S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN: A CONTEMPORARY TALE OF THE GROTESQUE
Chapter
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

17. TIM BURTON’S CURIOUS BODIES IN MISS PEREGRINE’S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN: A CONTEMPORARY TALE OF THE GROTESQUE

View more publications by Edinburgh University Press
To Publisher Page
Tim Burton's Bodies
This chapter is in the book Tim Burton's Bodies
23317. TIM BURTON’S CURIOUS BODIES IN MISS PEREGRINE’S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN: A CONTEMPORARY TALE OF THE GROTESQUEMarie Liénard-YeterianWith Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, Tim Burton artfully inter-twines the conventions of the fairy tale, the Gothic mode, the Bildungsromanand the creation of an array of peculiar grotesques to deal with major themes – freedom and agency, temporality and mortality – in a posthuman context. Uncanny bodies and tropes are superimposed in a kaleidoscopic dynamic of ‘show and tell’, characters morph in and out of different identities and forms, and time shifts or freezes. The cinematic spatial and temporal magic lantern projects fantastic and realistic elements, propelling the viewer into a space of endless possibility. This chapter explores the cultural work (as described by Lauter 2001: 11) performed by the various ‘curious’ and monstrous bodies featured in the film’s imaginary worldwhile addressing Burton’s ability to interweave different generic traditions. Because Burton’s films are often peopled by strange and puzzling creatures and incongruous situations, his work provides insightful expressions of the grotesque onscreen. The grotesque combines comedy and terror, and defines situations and characters, the grotesques. These are characterised by their distortions (physical or other), excessive and inappropriate behaviour, and exemplary or emblematic qualities. The grotesques, as ‘freaks’ or monsters, fascinate or repel, keep the narrative poised between the real and the supernatural, and usher the peculiar mood of Burton’s cinematic universe, which is a blend of play and fright. The film title combines, in a quasi-programmatic way, the notions of peculiarity and homeliness, conjuring the Uncanny and the Gothic, which is frequently associated with the grotesque,
© 2022, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh

23317. TIM BURTON’S CURIOUS BODIES IN MISS PEREGRINE’S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN: A CONTEMPORARY TALE OF THE GROTESQUEMarie Liénard-YeterianWith Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, Tim Burton artfully inter-twines the conventions of the fairy tale, the Gothic mode, the Bildungsromanand the creation of an array of peculiar grotesques to deal with major themes – freedom and agency, temporality and mortality – in a posthuman context. Uncanny bodies and tropes are superimposed in a kaleidoscopic dynamic of ‘show and tell’, characters morph in and out of different identities and forms, and time shifts or freezes. The cinematic spatial and temporal magic lantern projects fantastic and realistic elements, propelling the viewer into a space of endless possibility. This chapter explores the cultural work (as described by Lauter 2001: 11) performed by the various ‘curious’ and monstrous bodies featured in the film’s imaginary worldwhile addressing Burton’s ability to interweave different generic traditions. Because Burton’s films are often peopled by strange and puzzling creatures and incongruous situations, his work provides insightful expressions of the grotesque onscreen. The grotesque combines comedy and terror, and defines situations and characters, the grotesques. These are characterised by their distortions (physical or other), excessive and inappropriate behaviour, and exemplary or emblematic qualities. The grotesques, as ‘freaks’ or monsters, fascinate or repel, keep the narrative poised between the real and the supernatural, and usher the peculiar mood of Burton’s cinematic universe, which is a blend of play and fright. The film title combines, in a quasi-programmatic way, the notions of peculiarity and homeliness, conjuring the Uncanny and the Gothic, which is frequently associated with the grotesque,
© 2022, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. CONTENTS v
  3. FIGURES viii
  4. NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS ix
  5. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS xiv
  6. INTRODUCTION 1
  7. PART ONE. ANIMATED BODIES
  8. 1. TRANSFORMATION: METAMORPHOSIS, ANIMATION AND FAIRY TALE IN THE WORK OF TIM BURTON 13
  9. 2. AGREEING TO BE A ‘BURTON BODY’: DEVELOPING THE CORPSE BRIDE STORY 27
  10. 3. TIM BURTON’S UNRULY ANIMATION 42
  11. 4. CORPSE BRIDE: ANIMATION, ANIMATED CORPSES AND THE GOTHIC 54
  12. PART TWO. CREATURELY BODIES
  13. 5. BURTON, APES AND RACE: THE CREATURELY POLITICS OF TIM BURTON’S PLANET OF THE APES 67
  14. 6. DEAD PETS’ SOCIETY: GOTHIC ANIMAL BODIES IN THE FILMS OF TIM BURTON 81
  15. 7. TOO DARK FOR DISNEY: TIM BURTON, CHILDREN’S HORROR AND PET DEATH 94
  16. 8. MONSTROUS MASCULINITY: ‘BECOMING CENTAUR’ IN TIM BURTON’S SLEEPY HOLLOW 105
  17. 9. ANOMALOUS BODIES IN TIM BURTON’S BESTIARY: REIMAGINING DUMBO 118
  18. PART THREE. CORPOREAL BODIES
  19. 10. ALL OF US CANNIBALS: EATING BODIES IN CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY AND SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET 133
  20. 11. ‘I MIGHT JUST SPLIT A SEAM’: FABRIC AND SOMATIC INTEGRITY IN THE WORK OF TIM BURTON 148
  21. 12. THE SEMIOTICS OF A BROKEN BODY: TIM BURTON’S USE OF SYNECDOCHE 161
  22. 13. ART AND THE ORGAN WITHOUT A BODY: ‘THE JAR’ AS BURTON’S ARTISTIC MANIFESTO 174
  23. 14. ‘HELL HERE!’: TIM BURTON’S DESTRUCTION OF MICHELLE PFEIFFER IN BATMAN RETURNS 185
  24. PART FOUR. GOTHIC, MONSTROUS AND PECULIAR BODIES
  25. 15. THE GROTESQUE SOCIAL OUTCAST IN THE FILMS OF TIM BURTON 201
  26. 16. ‘A GIANT MAN CAN’T HAVE AN ORDINARY-SIZED LIFE’: ON TIM BURTON’S BIG FISH 219
  27. 17. TIM BURTON’S CURIOUS BODIES IN MISS PEREGRINE’S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN: A CONTEMPORARY TALE OF THE GROTESQUE 233
  28. 18. ASEXUALITY AND SOCIAL ANXIETY: THE PERILS OF A PECULIAR BODY 245
  29. 19. BURTON’S BENEVOLENTLY MONSTROUS FRANKENSTEINS 260
  30. BIBLIOGRAPHY 273
  31. FILM AND TELEVISION 294
  32. INDEX 297
Readers are also interested in:
https://doi.org/10.1515/9781474456920-021

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. CONTENTS v
  3. FIGURES viii
  4. NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS ix
  5. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS xiv
  6. INTRODUCTION 1
  7. PART ONE. ANIMATED BODIES
  8. 1. TRANSFORMATION: METAMORPHOSIS, ANIMATION AND FAIRY TALE IN THE WORK OF TIM BURTON 13
  9. 2. AGREEING TO BE A ‘BURTON BODY’: DEVELOPING THE CORPSE BRIDE STORY 27
  10. 3. TIM BURTON’S UNRULY ANIMATION 42
  11. 4. CORPSE BRIDE: ANIMATION, ANIMATED CORPSES AND THE GOTHIC 54
  12. PART TWO. CREATURELY BODIES
  13. 5. BURTON, APES AND RACE: THE CREATURELY POLITICS OF TIM BURTON’S PLANET OF THE APES 67
  14. 6. DEAD PETS’ SOCIETY: GOTHIC ANIMAL BODIES IN THE FILMS OF TIM BURTON 81
  15. 7. TOO DARK FOR DISNEY: TIM BURTON, CHILDREN’S HORROR AND PET DEATH 94
  16. 8. MONSTROUS MASCULINITY: ‘BECOMING CENTAUR’ IN TIM BURTON’S SLEEPY HOLLOW 105
  17. 9. ANOMALOUS BODIES IN TIM BURTON’S BESTIARY: REIMAGINING DUMBO 118
  18. PART THREE. CORPOREAL BODIES
  19. 10. ALL OF US CANNIBALS: EATING BODIES IN CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY AND SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET 133
  20. 11. ‘I MIGHT JUST SPLIT A SEAM’: FABRIC AND SOMATIC INTEGRITY IN THE WORK OF TIM BURTON 148
  21. 12. THE SEMIOTICS OF A BROKEN BODY: TIM BURTON’S USE OF SYNECDOCHE 161
  22. 13. ART AND THE ORGAN WITHOUT A BODY: ‘THE JAR’ AS BURTON’S ARTISTIC MANIFESTO 174
  23. 14. ‘HELL HERE!’: TIM BURTON’S DESTRUCTION OF MICHELLE PFEIFFER IN BATMAN RETURNS 185
  24. PART FOUR. GOTHIC, MONSTROUS AND PECULIAR BODIES
  25. 15. THE GROTESQUE SOCIAL OUTCAST IN THE FILMS OF TIM BURTON 201
  26. 16. ‘A GIANT MAN CAN’T HAVE AN ORDINARY-SIZED LIFE’: ON TIM BURTON’S BIG FISH 219
  27. 17. TIM BURTON’S CURIOUS BODIES IN MISS PEREGRINE’S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN: A CONTEMPORARY TALE OF THE GROTESQUE 233
  28. 18. ASEXUALITY AND SOCIAL ANXIETY: THE PERILS OF A PECULIAR BODY 245
  29. 19. BURTON’S BENEVOLENTLY MONSTROUS FRANKENSTEINS 260
  30. BIBLIOGRAPHY 273
  31. FILM AND TELEVISION 294
  32. INDEX 297
Sign up now to receive a 20% welcome discount
Institutional Access
How does access work?
Have an idea on how to improve our website?
Please write us.
© 2025 De Gruyter Brill
Downloaded on 8.10.2025 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9781474456920-021/html?lang=en&srsltid=AfmBOoqjJLhEcxXYfUYyUgHlav51dqrAcD5Bgs03BsN-8upLXWIJopTl
Scroll to top button