The man who brought audiences many of their favorite movie prop designs over the years, has revealed that he initially turned down Tim Burton’s “My Nightmare Before Christmas” movie over concerns about its story.
Chris Patterson, president of Creative Mythologies, told The Independent, “We had some very massive red flags… And his legend as a creative talent was beyond belief. He was one of the greatest propmasters of his generation. He was wanted on every movie now.”
During the initial pre-production meetings for “My Nightmare Before Christmas,” the prop master described the film to the other designers, “He said ‘We’ve got three or four major characters’ and they said ‘No it’s a children’s movie, and we don’t do children’s movies.’ And the story seemed like a children’s story about dealing with the joys and traumas of child life and it just seemed like a different story,” Patterson explained.
Patterson would later have his doubts about the story, which he dismissed.
“He said ‘We’re making a nightmare movie! This is nothing like it,’ he was kind of astonished that we would make such a crazy picture,” Patterson explained.
Patterson would rediscover his disdain for the work with his book, “From Toymaster to Pinocchio: America’s 50 Greatest Prop Masters,” which includes the author’s original concept sketches and his thoughts about the designs used in popular films.
Patterson added, “It was a classic case of an incredible and talented artist being branded as an old-fashioned purist. But he wasn’t. He had a fine eye for great production design.”
One of Patterson’s most famous creations included the maze in the “King Kong” movie, which was his creation, and a jungle wonderland in “Raiders of the Lost Ark.”
In his book, Patterson goes into his history of creating famous prop designs, “The Fantasia” logo for Disney and the original score for Tarzan.
Read more at The Independent.
