Edward Scissorhands - Definition and Overview

Edward Scissorhands is a movie directed by Tim Burton released in 1990. The movie is a fable set in an exaggerated stereotype of both the 1950s and late 1980s. It also has a central theme of the isolated, misunderstood major character; a theme that shows up in a lot of Tim Burton's work. It stars Johnny Depp and Winona Ryder. Further, many of the motifs and much of the plot from the 1931 film Frankenstein are reprised in Edward Scissorhands.

When the neighborhood Avon lady, Mrs. Peg Boggs (Dianne Wiest) fails to make any profits in her neighborhood, she goes to the creepy castle on the hill and meets Edward (Johnny Depp). Edward is a artificial man whose inventor (Vincent Price) dies before being able to put hands on his creation. Instead Edward has scissors for hands. Mrs. Boggs brings Edward home to her family and thus Edward must adjust to life in the suburbs. He falls in love with Kim Boggs (Winona Ryder), who hates Edward at first, but grows to love him while everybody else in the neighborhood - even her own parents - grows to distrust him because of his dangerous handicap. In the end, Edward and Kim go their separate ways, but a love remains between them.

Johnny Depp would end up becoming a regular in Tim Burton movies, playing Ed Wood, Ichabod Crane in Sleepy Hollow, and signing on to do the remake of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

Tim Burton stated that he named the lead character "Edward" because of its similarity to the name "Ed Wood."

See also

• 1990 in film
• List of fantasy films

External links

• IMDb entry for Edward Scissorhands (http://imdb.com/title/tt0099487/)
• All Movie Guide entry for Edward Scissorhands (http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=A15350)