After passing through Madrid, Paris and Brussels, Tim Burton’s Labyrinth can now be enjoyed in Barcelona. The immersive exhibition was launched today with the presence of the American filmmaker himself, who posed quite late at the photocall at the Victoria Eugenia Palace accompanied by the mayor Jaume Collboni and the Magician Pop. A clueless tourist asked one of the guards of security at the entrance what was happening in the face of so much expectation. But the green poster with the gold letters Tim Burton’s Labyrinth already made it clear. Before being able to enter the unlimited and twisted imagination of the director of Eduardo Scissorhands, the numerous guests – among them Xavier Sardà and Andreu Buenafuente – waited patiently outside for the protagonist of the evening to greet the audience and cut the opening red ribbon. “Barcelona is a very inspiring city. It’s very special to be here. Thank you for inviting me,” said a Burton of few words who visited the Sagrada Familia in the morning and had already given several interviews in the afternoon, dressed in rigorous black and with his characteristic glasses and his disheveled hair.
All trademarks of the house to begin a virtuous walk through his very personal creative universe. The one who has given us monsters and various creatures that are spread through different rooms in that labyrinth filled with bright colors, more than 200 of his original sketches – some animated – and mirrors, spiced with music, lights and cutting-edge technology. “It’s like entering my mind,” commented the director about this immersive exhibition that can be visited in Barcelona until June 16. The visit includes an almost obligatory visit to the souvenir shop. The action begins inside the immense mouth of the head of a fanged doll that keeps a red button in its throat. And, when you press it, it starts the experience by randomly illuminating one of the four doors that push you into the labyrinth. It is then that the magic of a unique artist unfolds before our eyes.
His admiration for Vincent Price, the actor who played many of the tormented characters in the films Burton saw when he was a child, is evident. It is impossible not to be moved by the young and tender Edward Scissorhands reproduced in the form of a sculpture with the identical face of Johnny Depp for the film. Next to him, the ice-shaped figure of Winona Ryder’s character. There is an animal area and a room dedicated to clowns presided over by a red-nosed and bald one. On the walls several Hahaha in green invite us to laugh.
The big-headed Queen of Hearts played by Helena Bonham-Carter in Alice in Wonderland stands out in a room invaded by red and her loyal soldiers. And thus countless unforgettable characters from his films: The Corpse Bride, the Oyster Boy, the funny aliens from Mars Attacks!, the Mad Hatter, the Oompa Loompas from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Michael Keaton from Bitelchús where they are projected on the floor images of insects running around the room… A sign warns us that during his free time, Tim Burton draws. “He’s always reaching for a pen and a piece of paper, happy to sketch out his ideas,” writes animation producer Ian Mackinnon. And his audience, happy to be able to immerse themselves for a while in his bustling mind.
