Tim Burton’s cult film, created out of his love for B-movie horror and Gothic literature, “Edward Scissorhands” (1990) meets Istanbul audiences in February as part of the Kundura Sinema program Sunday Cinema Club. Here are 10 facts that will change the way you see this ’90s classic, which tells the story of the child-hearted Edward, left unfinished with scissor blades in place of hands after the sudden death of the inventor who created him.

Untitled – Tim Burton, 1990.

1 – Inspired by an illustration

Bearing deep traces of Tim Burton’s own life, “Edward Scissorhands” is the visionary filmmaker’s most personal work. The film’s first idea came from an illustration that Burton, who is also known for his drawings, made in his youth, depicting a thin, serious man with long, sharp blades instead of fingers. The town of Suburbia is likewise a stand-in for Burbank, California, where Burton was born and raised. For Burton, who likened growing up in the suburbs to ‘being in a Frankenstein movie,’ Edward is practically an avatar of his lonely youth as an outsider.

Johnny Depp – Edward Scissorhands, 1990. Photo: Park Circus/Paramount

2 – Unique in its references, too

Although Burton initially planned for the film to be a musical, he soon abandoned the idea. His co-writer on the screenplay, Caroline Thompson, was a young writer who had drawn attention with her first novel, “First Born,” and Burton, an admirer of the novel ‘about a monstrous fetus,’ approached her with an offer. This collaboration, which began as a deep partnership, continued with “The Addams Family” (1991), “The Nightmare Before Christmas” (1993) and “Corpse Bride” (2005).

During the writing process, they often looked to the B-movie horror and Gothic literature Burton loves so much. As a result, with references ranging from ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’ to ‘The Phantom of the Opera,’ and from ‘Frankenstein’ to ‘King Kong’ and even fairy tales, the film became a truly unique production.

Tim Burton and Johnny Depp on the set of ‘Edward Scissorhands,’ 1990. Photo: Twitter

3 – Burton and Depp together for the first time

For the role of Edward, names such as Tom Cruise, Gary Oldman, Jim Carrey and Robert Downey, Jr. were considered, and screen tests were shot. Rumor has it that even Michael Jackson’s name was on the list. While Cruise turned down the role “because he wanted a happier ending,” Oldman said in an interview years later that turning down the role of Edward was one of his biggest regrets.

“Edward Scissorhands” is the first film Tim Burton and Johnny Depp made together; they would go on to become the star duo of popular films of the ’90s and 2000s. Unlike the producers, Burton had the actor as his first choice. Depp, who was looking for ways to shed the teen idol image he had acquired with the popular series of the time “21 Jump Street” (1987-1991), immediately accepted Burton’s offer. Having become close friends on “Edward Scissorhands,” the pair kept their bond going by working together on “Ed Wood” (1994), “Sleepy Hollow” (1999), “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” (2005), “Corpse Bride” (2005), “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” (2007), “Alice in Wonderland” (2010), “Dark Shadows” (2012).

Johnny Depp – Edward Scissorhands, 1990. Photo: Park Circus/Paramount

Johnny Depp says that when he first read the script, he “cried like a baby.” To prepare for Edward, who speaks only 169 words in the film, he watched the silent films of Charlie Chaplin. Depp, whose costume and prosthetic makeup took nearly two hours to apply, insisted on wearing the leather costume without any cooling in order to better understand Edward, and fainted on set from the extreme heat during the scene where Edward runs away to his house.

Tim Burton and Vincent Price on the set of Edward Scissorhands, 1990. Photo: Park Circus/Paramount

4 – Price’s last time on screen

The actor we see as the inventor who created Edward, Vincent Price, is known especially for his roles in B-movie horror films, and Tim Burton had admired him since childhood. We also know of Burton’s love for the actor he called ‘my superhero’ from “Vincent,” the wonderful short film he made in 1982 about a boy who imagines he is ‘Vincent Price.’ The role of the inventor, which Burton wrote especially for Price in “Edward Scissorhands,” was initially conceived on a larger scale, but his scenes were cut to a minimum because the actor had developed Parkinson’s. “Edward Scissorhands” became the last film of the actor, who died in 1993, and the last moment he appears on screen is his death scene.

Johnny Depp & Winona Ryder, 1997. Photo: Barry King

5 – The Depp and Ryder romance

Johnny Depp and Winona Ryder, one of the most celebrated couples of the ’90s, fell for each other while shooting this film and got engaged the same year. In an interview with People, Depp said, “Nothing in my 27 years of life compares to the feeling I have with Winona,” and declared his love to the whole world by getting a “Winona Forever” tattoo on his right bicep. (After their breakup, Depp reinterpreted the tattoo, changing it to “Wino Forever.”)

Robert Smith

6 – The hair comes from Robert Smith

The inspiration for Edward’s hair goes back to The Cure’s Robert Smith. In fact, Burton first wanted him to do the music, but the musician, who was busy recording the album “Disintegration” at the time, turned the offer down.

Tim Burton & Danny Elfman, 2022. Photo: amp-worldwide.com

7 – Saturn- and Grammy-nominated music

The film’s unforgettable score, nominated for Saturn and Grammy awards, bears the signature of Danny Elfman. The duo, who had also worked together on “Beetlejuice” (1988), continued their partnership with “The Nightmare Before Christmas” (1993), “Mars Attacks!” (1996), “Sleepy Hollow” (1999), “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” (2005) and “Frankenweenie” (2012).

Johnny Depp & Dianne Wiest – Edward Scissorhands, 1990. Photo: Park Circus/Paramount

8 – A nod to Sweeney Todd

The song that plays in the scene where Edward cuts the hair of the neighborhood women references the famous 1979 Broadway musical “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”. Johnny Depp would later play Sweeney Todd in Tim Burton’s 2007 adaptation of the same name.

Edward Scissorhands, 1990. Photo: Park Circus/Paramount

9 – Burton at his most cult

“Edward Scissorhands” is the only Burton film included in Ernest Mathijs and Xavier Mendik’s book “100 Cult Films”, regarded as one of the key sources of the literature on cult cinema. Also featured in Steven Schneider’s “1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die”, the film was included in the American Film Institute’s 100 Years of Film Scores list, published in 2005.

Tim Burton Photo: The Guardian

10 – The last word…

Tim Burton says that “Edward Scissorhands” is his ‘favorite, if not his best’ film, and he has never considered making a sequel because he believes it would “spoil its purity.”