Beetlejuice director Tim Burton gets a 'weird, scary feeling' from 'disturbing' new tech

Beetlejuice director Tim Burton finds AI and advanced technology “depressing” and “disturbing”.

The , known for his morbid style, says AI and advanced give him the heebie-jeebies.

“I’m a bit of a technophobe,” he admitted, speaking about Big Tech, which he avoids as much as possible. “As much as I’ve worked with technology, ask anybody who knows me, I’ve found strangely that my soul and my body resists it. I find I get depressed. I get lost, I go down my own rabbit hole, so I avoid it. I just get more disturbed by it, it doesn’t make me feel good as a person so I don’t do it.”

But he previously discovered that an AI system had mined his art to create new works, which gave him a “ , scary feeling inside” that was "disturbing".

“I hope these things are used for good and not for evil,” he continued. “I believe, and I hope, that the human part of it is important and will always be there,” he added, optimistically. “I could be wrong but that’s what you hope for.”

The creator said the organisers of an exhibition about his life and work “did a beautiful job” after it became the fastest-selling event in the history of London’s Design Museum.

The World Of Tim Burton will open at the Kensington museum on Friday and will showcase some 600 items including Jenna Ortega’s viral Wednesday dress and Michele Pfeiffer’s Catwoman suit from 1992’s Batman Returns.

The exhibition, which will run until April 21 2025, has already sold more than 32,000 tickets ahead of Tim officially inaugurating the display. It comes after Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice He described looking at the pieces as “like walking through kind of a fun house”.

“They basically went through and picked things that I never even knew I had, I realised I just kind of hoarded things and I never really threw things away,” he continued.

READ MORE:

“So I never knew this stuff existed until the first show, it’s hard for me because it’s kind of like exposing your dirty laundry to everyone to see.

“But they did it in a way that shows a journey and a process that, although I can’t look at things really specifically, it has a good vibe and a good feeling to me. The whole layout is beautifully done, the lighting and the sound and the vibe of it.”

The collection has been on a decade-long tour, which has seen it visit 14 cities in 11 countries since 2014, but this will be its first visit to the UK, with 90 new pieces added for the exhibition’s final outing.

Some of the items on display will include characters such as the Martians from Mars Attacks! (1996), the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland (2010), and Emily from Corpse Bride (2005), along with Burton’s expressionistic sketches and drawings.

The studio where Burton works has been recreated to offer a “rare private glimpse into his creative process”. The exhibition’s finale will be a new specially created cinema experience, showing a newly commissioned film, which will give voice to some of Burton’s key collaborators and will be shown in a bespoke art-deco space reminiscent of the cinemas Burton would visit as a child growing up in Hollywood.

Due to demand, the exhibition will be open late on Friday and Saturday evenings for the rest of 2024, with Design Museum members able to see it for free without pre-booking.

READ MORE:

For non-members, adult tickets begin at £19.69, while admission for children aged between six and 15 starts at £9.85, and children under six can visit for free.

Alongside the exhibition, the Design Museum will also publish a brand-new book called Tim Burton: Designing Worlds.

Follow Mirror Celebs on , , , , and .