Tim Burton talks about his dread of AI as an exhibition of his work opens in London

LONDON (AP) — The imagination of Tim Burton has produced ghosts and ghouls, Martians, monsters and misfits — all on display at an exhibition that is opening in London just in time for Halloween.

But you know what really scares him? Artificial intelligence.

Burton said Wednesday that seeing a website that had used AI to blend his drawings with Disney characters “really disturbed me.”

“It wasn’t an intellectual thought — it was just an internal, visceral feeling,” Burton told reporters during a preview of “The World of Tim Burton” exhibition at London’s Design Museum. “I looked at those things and I thought, ‘Some of these are pretty good.’ … (But) it gave me a weird sort of scary feeling inside.”

Burton said he thinks AI is unstoppable, because “once you can do it, people will do it.” But he scoffed when asked if he’d use the technology in this work.

“To take over the world?” he laughed.

The exhibition reveals Burton to be an analogue artist, who started off as a child in the 1960s experimenting with paints and colored pencils in his suburban Californian home.

“I wasn’t, early on, a very verbal person,” Burton said. “Drawing was a way of expressing myself.”

Decades later, after films including “Edward Scissorhands,” “Batman,” “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and “Beetlejuice,” his ideas still begin with drawing. The exhibition includes 600 items from movie studio collections and Burton's personal archive, and traces those ideas as they advance from sketches through collaboration with set, production and costume designers on the way to the big screen.

London is the exhibition’s final stop on a decade-long tour of 14 cities in 11 countries. It has been reconfigured and expanded with 90 new objects for its run in the British capital, where Burton has lived for a quarter century.

The show includes early drawings and oddities, including a competition-winning “crush litter” sign a teenage Burton designed for Burbank garbage trucks. There’s also a recreation of Burton’s studio, down to the trays of paints and “Curse of Frankenstein” mug full of pencils.

Alongside hundreds of drawings, there are props, puppets, set designs and iconic costumes, including Johnny Depp’s “Edward Scissorhands” talons and the black latex Catwoman costume worn by Michelle Pfeiffer in “Batman Returns.”

“We had very generous access to Tim’s archive in London, stuffed full of thousands of drawings, storyboards from stop-motion films, sketches, character notes, poems,” said exhibition curator Maria McLintock. “And how to synthesize such a wide ranging and meandering career within one exhibition was a fun challenge — but definitely a challenge.”

Seeing it has not been a wholly fun experience for Burton, who said he’s unable to look too closely at the items on display.

“It’s like seeing your dirty laundry put on the walls,” he said. “It’s quite amazing. It’s a bit overwhelming.”

Burton, whose long-awaited horror-comedy sequel “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” opened at the Venice Film Festival in August, is currently filming the second series of Netflix’ Addams Family-themed series “Wednesday.”

These days he is a major Hollywood director whose American gothic style has spawned an adjective — “Burtoneqsue.” But he still feels like an outsider.

“Once you feel that way, it never leaves you,” he said.

“Each film I did was a struggle,” he added, noting that early films like “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure” from 1985 and “Beetlejuice” in 1988 received some negative reviews. “It seems like it was a pleasant, fine, easy journey, but each one leaves its emotional scars.”

McLintock said Burton “is a deeply emotional filmmaker."

“I think that’s what drew me to his films as a child,” she said. "He really celebrates the misunderstood outcast, the benevolent monster. So it’s been quite a weird but fun experience spending so much time in his brain and his creative process.

“His films are often called dark,” she added. “I don’t agree with that. And if they are dark, there’s a very much a kind of hope in the darkness. You always want to hang out in the darkness in his films.”

“The World of Tim Burton” opens Friday and runs until April 21, 2025.

Associated Press journalist Kwiyeon Ha contributed to this story.

This story has corrected that the Catwoman costume is from “Batman Returns,” not “Batman.”

Objects and creations are on display at The World of Tim Burton exhibition at the Design Museum, in London, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. The major exhibition sees Tim Burton's personal archives on display for the first time, featuring 600 items from his nearly fifty years long career. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

A member of staff poses at The World of Tim Burton exhibition at the Design Museum, in London, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. The major exhibition sees Tim Burton's personal archives on display for the first time, featuring 600 items from his nearly fifty years long career. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

A member of staff poses at The World of Tim Burton exhibition at the Design Museum, in London, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. The major exhibition sees Tim Burton's personal archives on display for the first time, featuring 600 items from his nearly fifty years long career. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

Objects and creations are on display at The World of Tim Burton exhibition at the Design Museum, in London, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. The major exhibition sees Tim Burton's personal archives on display for the first time, featuring 600 items from his nearly fifty years long career. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

Objects and creations are on display at The World of Tim Burton exhibition at the Design Museum, in London, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. The major exhibition sees Tim Burton's personal archives on display for the first time, featuring 600 items from his nearly fifty years long career. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

Objects and creations are on display The World of Tim Burton exhibition at the Design Museum, in London, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. The major exhibition sees Tim Burton's personal archives on display for the first time, featuring 600 items from his nearly fifty years long career. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

A person walks at The World of Tim Burton exhibition at the Design Museum, in London, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. The major exhibition sees Tim Burton's personal archives on display for the first time, featuring 600 items from his nearly fifty years long career. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

A member of staff poses next to a creation part of The World of Tim Burton exhibition at the Design Museum, in London, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. The major exhibition sees Tim Burton's personal archives on display for the first time, featuring 600 items from his nearly fifty years long career. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

A member of staff walks through The World of Tim Burton exhibition at the Design Museum, in London, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. The major exhibition sees Tim Burton's personal archives on display for the first time, featuring 600 items from his nearly fifty years long career. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

People walk at The World of Tim Burton exhibition at the Design Museum, in London, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. The major exhibition sees Tim Burton's personal archives on display for the first time, featuring 600 items from his nearly fifty years long career. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

Objects and creations ore on display at The World of Tim Burton exhibition at the Design Museum, in London, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. The major exhibition sees Tim Burton's personal archives on display for the first time, featuring 600 items from his nearly fifty years long career. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

Objects and creations are on display at The World of Tim Burton exhibition at the Design Museum, in London, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. The major exhibition sees Tim Burton's personal archives on display for the first time, featuring 600 items from his nearly fifty years long career. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

A member of staff poses at The World of Tim Burton exhibition at the Design Museum, in London, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. The major exhibition sees Tim Burton's personal archives on display for the first time, featuring 600 items from his nearly fifty years long career. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

A member of staff poses at The World of Tim Burton exhibition at the Design Museum, in London, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. The major exhibition sees Tim Burton's personal archives on display for the first time, featuring 600 items from his nearly fifty years long career. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

Objects and creations are on display at The World of Tim Burton exhibition at the Design Museum, in London, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. The major exhibition sees Tim Burton's personal archives on display for the first time, featuring 600 items from his nearly fifty years long career. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

A reproduction of Tim Burton' studio is seen as part of The World of Tim Burton exhibition at the Design Museum, in London, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. The major exhibition sees Tim Burton's personal archives on display for the first time, featuring 600 items from his nearly fifty years long career. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

Creations are on display at The World of Tim Burton exhibition at the Design Museum, in London, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. The major exhibition sees Tim Burton's personal archives on display for the first time, featuring 600 items from his nearly fifty years long career. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

BALTIMORE (AP) — Federal prosecutors announced charges Tuesday in the 2024 collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, accusing the Singapore-based operator of a ship and a key employee of making critical decisions that led to the disaster and the deaths of six people.

The indictment names Synergy Marine Pte Ltd., based in Singapore, and Synergy Maritime Pte Ltd., based in Chennai, India. Radhakrishnan Karthik Nair, 47, an Indian national who was technical superintendent for the Dali container ship, was also charged.

The Dali crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26, 2024, killing six construction workers who had been filling potholes.

“The collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge was a preventable tragedy of enormous consequence,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.

The companies and Nair are charged with conspiracy, willfully failing to immediately inform the U.S. Coast Guard of a known hazardous condition, obstruction of an agency proceeding and false statements.

An FBI investigation into the crash focused on the vessel’s operations and whether the crew knew of critical systems issues before leaving port.

The National Transportation Safety Board found last year that two electrical blackouts — one caused by a loose wire aboard the Dali and another by problems with a fuel pump — disabled the controls of the huge cargo ship before it crashed into the bridge.

The Dali was leaving Baltimore bound for Sri Lanka when its steering failed because of the power loss. The ship crashed into a supporting column of the bridge at about 1:30 a.m.

Maryland officials estimate it could cost between $4.3 billion and $5.2 billion to replace the bridge, which is expected to be open to traffic in late 2030.

But the true cost of the collapse was far greater, according to the Maryland Attorney General’s Office. It halted shipping at the Port of Baltimore, disrupted the livelihoods of thousands, rerouted road traffic through communities already bearing disproportionate burdens and triggered economic problems statewide.

The indictment comes on the heels of a settlement in principle between the State of Maryland, Synergy Marine and Grace Ocean Private Limited, the Singapore-based ship owner, Attorney General Anthony Brown announced in April.

That lawsuit alleged the crash was the result of negligence, mismanagement and the reckless operation of a vessel that was not seaworthy and should never have left port. Plaintiffs include the families of the six construction workers who died, owners of cargo that was on the ship and local governments seeking damages for economic losses. The details of the settlement haven’t been disclosed and some portions of the lawsuit remain unresolved.

The state sought damages on behalf of its agencies for the destruction of the bridge, harm to the Patapsco River and surrounding environment, lost revenues and economic losses to Maryland and its residents.

The settlement does not resolve any claims the state has against the shipbuilder, Hyundai, the attorney general’s office said in April.

The bridge, a longstanding Baltimore landmark, was a vital piece of transportation infrastructure that allowed drivers to easily bypass downtown. The original 1.6-mile (2.6-kilometer) steel span took five years to build and opened to traffic in 1977.

White reported from Detroit.

FILE - The cargo ship Dali is stuck under part of the Francis Scott Key Bridge after the ship hit the bridge, March 26, 2024, as seen from Pasadena, Md. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)