The 1990 film Edward Scissorhands holds a special place in the work of director Tim Burton. This movie not only became a cult classic but also introduced the world to a character who is perhaps the most personal and intimate reflection of Burton himself.
Edward embodies the traits that have always fascinated Burton: marginality, a gothic aesthetic, and a deep sense of loneliness. These are also evident in his other works, for example, in the character of Ichabod Crane from Sleepy Hollow or Jack Skellington from The Nightmare Before Christmas. However, it’s in Edward that these traits found their fullest expression.
A Symbol of Youthful Isolation
Tim Burton has often said that the image of Edward was born when he was a teenager. He sketched a character with sharp, scissor-like fingers, without fully realizing what it symbolized. Later, the director understood that Edward reflected his own feelings: isolation, social awkwardness, and discomfort with touch. “I didn’t understand what he symbolized. I’ve never been very tactile. I jumped every time I was touched. I didn’t have a girlfriend then. I felt all kinds of things and emotions. This character reflected all of that.”
This sense of alienation and nonconformity is key to understanding Edward’s character. The protagonist is a being created by a man but left unfinished, with scissors for hands. He lives in seclusion until he finds himself in the world of a bright and cheerful suburb, where his uniqueness initially attracts attention but then becomes a source of misunderstanding and rejection.
“You feel kind of different, isolated, and you don’t feel like you fit into your surroundings. It was weird. Just because you like monster movies, people thought you were strange, which I always felt was an odd thing,” Burton said about his youth, comparing his iconic solitary characters to Frankenstein—the cinematic embodiment of an outcast: “He’s perceived as a monster, even though he’s not really. He’s just different.”
With sharp blades for hands and a dark appearance, Edward Scissorhands seems dangerous, but he’s actually completely harmless. He never hurts anyone, unless it is to protect someone he loves. However, as the film’s ending shows, his appearance and unusual nature forever separate him from “normal” society. Between his eccentricity and ordinary life lies an invisible but unbreakable wall.
The Beginning of a Fruitful Collaboration
Caroline Thompson, the film’s screenwriter, later explained that the idea for Edward Scissorhands originated when Tim Burton told her about a drawing he had made in high school of a character with scissors for hands, which immediately inspired her to develop the concept.
Edward Scissorhands marked the starting point for one of the longest creative partnerships in cinema—between Tim Burton and Johnny Depp. The director saw in the young actor potential to convey all of Edward’s depth and sensitivity. “I felt it. I knew he would understand the character. His sensitivity goes beyond his looks, and he knows how to play.”
The director’s intuition didn’t fail him. Johnny Depp perfectly captured Edward’s inner world — his tenderness, innocence and pain. This collaboration grew into a long-standing friendship and many more joint projects, such as Sleepy Hollow, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Dark Shadows, where Depp consistently brought to life unique and memorable characters, often with Burton’s signature gothic charm.
