Michael Keaton Says He Let Tim Burton Down With ‘Dumbo’ Performance: “I Sucked”

Michael Keaton is reflecting on his work relationship with Tim Burton and his performance in 2019’s Dumbo .

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In the wake of Keaton and Burton teaming up for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice , the Batman star said he “sucked” in the live-action adaptation of the Disney classic.

“I love working with Tim so much, but I don’t think we ever really analyzed why we work pretty well together; we just do,” Keaton told The New York Times in an interview, which Burton was also part of. “I think I let him down on one movie, but that’s just me, and it bugs me to this day. I was clueless on Dumbo . I sucked in Dumbo .”

Burton added, “I don’t even know what you’re talking about. But whatever.”

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Keaton and Burton’s work relationship dates back to the first Beetlejuice film 1988. The duo teamed up again for 1989’s Batman and in the 1992 sequel Batman Returns . It was until Dumbo that the director and actor worked together again, with Burton casting Keaton in the role of the villain V.A. Vandevere, the amusement park owner who exploits Dumbo.

Following the release of Dumbo , Burton has expressed the film would likely be his last one with Disney.

“My history is that I started out there. I was hired and fired like several times throughout my career there,” Burton said in 2022 . “The thing about Dumbo , is that’s why I think my days with Disney are done, I realized that I was Dumbo, that I was working in this horrible big circus and I needed to escape. That movie is quite autobiographical at a certain level.”

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