BD: Charlie will be a good transition for you after Big Fish, with its macabre story about kids and a mysterious father figure.

TB: Well, you know, there’s a reason why he’s looking for a son. That’s why it’s a classic. It’s like a modern version of an old fable.

BD: And Big Fish is a fable about fables. And why we’re attracted to them.

TB: Yeah, I’ve always been fascinated by how people perceive and even the terminology of fables and fairy tales and what they really are.

Burton is not alien to visual effects, which he used previously on Planet of the Apes and Mars Attacks! Planet of the Apes © 2001 — 20th Century Fox — All rights reserved. Mars Attacks! © Copyright 1996 — Warner Bros. — All rights reserved.

BD: Kids get it immediately — the underlying fear and other emotions. And now that you’re a father, you can relive it all over again with your son.

TB: It’s your first way to put abstract imagery and real feelings together and that’s what it’s all about. That’s what I always felt. You know, when you’re new to the world you’re like, ‘What’s that? What’s that? What’s that?’ So these stories, which are basically horror stories for children, are like, ‘Oh, I don’t understand that image, but I get the feeling of it.’ And that’s exactly accurate.

Bill Desowitz is the editor of VFXWorld.com.