Tim Burton

TIM BURTON had already traipsed through China, scouting locations for his next big cinematic event, "Ripley's Believe It or Not!," starring Jim Carrey, when Paramount halted pre-production on the film. Burton describes himself as "pretty devastated" by the development. Robert Ripley was a California-born cartoonist, newspaper columnist and worldwide seeker of curiosities; he once aspired to a career as a pro baseball player.

"SWEENEY TODD" has been my favorite musical since I first heard the brilliant cast album in the late '70s. When Tim Burton was first mentioned as the director for the film version, I was overjoyed! Who could be a better choice? I therefore read Paul Brownfield's interview with Tim Burton ["Tim Burton's Slasher Movie," Nov. 25] with great excitement. But my blood ran cold when I read the following sentence: "He (Burton) cut the show's famous opening number, 'The Ballad of Sweeney Todd.'

Six years ago, Johnny Depp received a curious gift. Tim Burton -- the director who immortalized the actor as Edward Scissorhands -- was visiting Depp in France and left a CD. "He didn't really elaborate other than to say: 'Listen to it,' " Depp said in New York before the premiere of "Sweeney Todd," the duo's film adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's Tony Award-winning show about a vengeful and murderous barber returned from jail, where he'd been sent on a trumped-up charge.

TIM BURTON knows the dark side. He's not evil, exactly, but his films often take grotesque elements and twist them into something more endearing than repulsive. Take the Pumpkin King in "The Nightmare Before Christmas" who scares good boys and girls with well-meaning presents that explode or chase them around the house. Or the tender young man in "Edward Scissorhands" who can't fit in because of those enormous shears at the end of his arms.

JUST in time for Halloween and marking, appropriately enough, its 13th anniversary, Tim Burton's "The Nightmare Before Christmas" has just been re-released by Walt Disney Pictures -- but this time in 3-D. Though Disney re-released "Chicken Little" in 3-D last year, Burton's stop-motion ode to all things creepy and crawly represents the first time the studio has converted an analog 2-D film into a completely digital 3-D film.

I had to laugh when I read Tim Burton's recollections of growing up in Burbank ["His Old Haunts," Oct. 26]. The article evoked my own childhood feelings of place; my "Burbank" is Sacramento, and I have vowed never to spend another night there. Boy, do I know what he is talking about! I didn't grow up in Burbank, but I have lived here since I married 26 years ago. One of the fun things I used to do when walking my infant daughter around Burbank was to visit Burton's mom's cat store on Magnolia Boulevard.

A lawsuit filed by Tim Burton's ex-girlfriend over his assets should be dismissed, an appeals court has ruled. The California Court of Appeals issued a ruling this week ordering a lower court judge to grant a motion by Burton's attorneys for a summary judgment. The move halts a trial scheduled for next week that would have focused on the couple's nearly decade-long relationship, which ended in 2001. Burton's longtime girlfriend, Lisa Marie, sued the director in 2006. She claimed that she was cheated out of money that Burton had promised her during their relationship.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Teresa Sanchez-Gordon has dismissed a lawsuit brought against Tim Burton by his ex-girlfriend over whether the acclaimed director owes her more of his earnings. Lisa Marie sued Burton in December 2006. She claimed she was cheated out of money that Burton had promised her during their relationship. The judge's ruling noted that Marie and Burton signed agreements around the time they went their separate ways in 2001 that provided her with at least $5.5 million, rights to a New York co-op apartment and a Jaguar coupe.

I got Tim Burton on the phone the other day while he was on the set of his new movie "Alice in Wonderland," and I had to admit right off the bat that I was surprised that, with the filming just underway, he was taking the time to chat. "Yeah, well, me too," he said in his droll deadpan, and I wasn't sure whether to laugh or apologize and hang up. Then he let me off the hook. "Actually," he said in a sunnier voice, "we're just about to get going, so we'll see how things go. Good, I hope."