We were kindly invited down to London’s Design Museum to deliver our honest thoughts on The World of Tim Burton London exhibition that officially opens to the general public on October 25th.

During this particular pre-opening preview for the media, we had a wonderful little sit-down roundtable with Tim Burton where he discussed his passions, inspirations and the exhibition in general.
This insight added a special charm to what we experienced thereafter and for Tim to take the time of out a very busy Wednesday Season 2 filming schedule to come to speak with us was something I’ll be very grateful for.
The Design Museum in London announced during the roundtable that the exhibition already has the museum’s biggest ever ticket pre-sale numbers with over 32,000 people who have already snapped up tickets to this exciting and highly anticipated travelling exhibition.

Demand for tickets is no doubt from the plethora of positive reviews from its touring but also because London marks the exhibition’s last stop as the exhibition concludes.
Originally Tim didn’t want to have the exhibition in London as he also seemed self-conscious about having his work on display to the public in a city he now lives in despite being born in Burbank, California.
Tim came across as a very humble man, very down to earth but also very shy in his approach with the audience but as the interview progressed he seemed to relax and be more of his jokey and wonderful self.

600 items from Burton’s fifty years of creative output can be seen from Friday, including hundreds of artworks of his much-loved characters from his personal archive.
From a Catwoman suit to Wednesday Addam’s viral Rave’N dance dress worn by Jenna Ortega not to mention Edward Scissorhands costume and hands are just some of the gems on display but what stood out to me the most were the Marquette puppets.
These stop-motion puppets were the ones used throughout the animation process of each famed Tim Burton movie from The Nightmare Before Christmas to The Corpse Bride and Frankenweenie. 

From a variety of characters from these films we all know and love there were some miniature set pieces also built to give you a sense of scale and the detail on these puppets was impressive. They were certainly the stars of the show for me.
At the exhibition’s core are hundreds of Tim Burton’s expressionistic sketches and drawings that he has prolifically produced since childhood. These works depict everything from individual characters to whole environments and are always the first step in Burton’s creative process to build the fantastical worlds in each of his films.  
Visitors will see some of the earliest incarnations of much-loved and recognised characters such as the Martians from Mars Attacks! (1996), the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland (2010), Emily in Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride (2005), and many other famous eye-catching figures. Nearly all of these drawings are making their first-ever public display in the UK.

One thing that stood out for me was a children’s book that Tim submitted to the Walt Disney Company when he was younger, they rejected it but it didn’t put him off his determination to keep going and eventually rise to stardom.
As humble as Tim seemed to be, he even said walking through the exhibition (even now) is a bit surreal as he felt like it was his ‘dirty laundry’ on display for the world to see.
From illuminated sets to the funky little walkthroughs, the exhibition feels like a twisted carnival or funhouse but certainly not on the same level of immersion as the touring Tim Burton Labyrinth. The World of Tim Burton exhibition is more your stereotypical museum exhibition but with a Tim Burton flair and colour palette.
Alice in Wonderland Dress
This includes Colleen Atwood’s instantly-recognisable costume for Edward Scissorhands — as worn by actor Johnny Depp in the 1990 film — which is seen with Bo Welch’s set design models for the movie, Stan Winston’s infamous scissor hands, and seven of Burton’s earliest sketches of the character.
 
Another iconic costume added to the exhibition for the first time for this final London staging is Catwoman’s rubber and latex suit from 1992’s Batman Returns, featuring the stitched motif that Burton repeatedly returns to throughout his works.
There is also the first-ever public display of the Rave’N dance dress worn by actor Jenna Ortega in character as Wednesday Addams in the Netflix series produced by MGM Television which debuted in 2022. The school uniform for the series, designed by Atwood, is also shown, paired alongside Burton’s original character concept drawings. 
The exhibition’s finale is a brand new specially created cinema experience. A major newly-commissioned film gives voice to some of Burton’s key collaborators, and will be shown in a bespoke art-deco space reminiscent of the theatres Tim Burton would frequent as a child growing up in Hollywood.

Tickets vary in price depending on the day but I would say that I’d personally put the price point Vs value at the £22-£25 mark if you can get the tickets for those prices.
The reason is that whilst informative (even more so with the help of headphones to fully immerse you in certain clips and projects) I felt as though the exhibition whilst detailed was quite small in size compared to what I was expecting.
We made sure to have a good look around the exhibition and to take in every costume, prop and beautifully crafted piece of art but we were out and back into the lobby within 45 minutes.

I felt as though whilst open-planned there are a few more things they could have added in terms of immersion into the exhibition by potentially blending it with the labyrinth-style sets to further catapult you into the movie and to highlight the art in a more creative expressionism exploration. 
There are moments are sheer beauty such as the lighting ambience and the Burton carousel in all of its glory but I was just chomping at the bit to step into a themed set or a more themed environment around the films that made Tim famous.
Being a short attention-spanned gentleman such as myself I need to have more visuals and whilst the artwork certainly helped to keep my attention as opposed to tonnes of things to read I feel as though a few extra sets would have really made the exhibition pop but I can also understand that this particular iteration of the exhibition has been curated to specifically focus on the creative mind of Tim’s portfolio.

The World of Tim Burton is certainly a wonderful exhibition which is perfect for movie aficionados and even animators and artists alike, so unique in his creations the exhibition is fun but I couldn’t help but think there could be just a little bit more they could have added to truly drag fans into the realm of all things Burton.
On a side note, there is an AR attachment associated with Snapchat that allows guests to interact with the exhibition in a different way but we sadly missed out on this due to mobile data issues and lack of signal around the museum space.
The exhibition will run until 21 April 2025. Due to demand, it will be open late on Friday and Saturday evenings for the rest of 2024.
Check out our VLOG below of our exclusive pre-opening visit to the exhibition including some discussion with Tim at the roundtable.
 
Tim Marlow, Director and CEO of the Design Museum, said:
We’re obviously delighted that our landmark Tim Burton exhibition has already generated cinematic blockbuster levels of interest and excitement before it has even opened. It’s a real testament to Tim Burton’s impact on the creative world that his exhibition has driven the biggest pre-sales in our history, by quite some way. We can’t wait for everyone to step inside the World of Tim Burton from Friday.
Tim Burton says:
It’s a strange thing, to put 50 years of art and your life on view for everyone to see, especially when that was never the original purpose. In the past, I have resisted having the exhibition in London, however, collaborating with the Design Museum for this final stop was the right choice. They understand the art, and with the opportunity to adapt the show and highlight the way design interacts with the works, I’ve been able to view it all through an exciting new lens.
For more information on The World of Tim Burton London and to purchase tickets to the exhibition please visit
https://designmuseum.org/exhibitions/the-world-of-tim-burton