Chris Higgins
Tim Burton’s VINCENT, a Tribute to Edgar Allan Poe and Vincent Price
by Chris Higgins - January 19, 2010 - 3:04 PM

Today in 1809, Edgar Allan Poe was born. As a poet of the macabre, Poe has left a lasting mark on American letters, most famously with The Raven, one poem which most of us know, despite most of us not being huge poetry fans.

Today marks a sad end to a mysterious tradition. For 60 years, on Poe’s birthday, an unknown person has left three roses and a half-bottle of cognac on Poe’s grave in Baltimore. Today: nevermore. Some speculate that the ritual ended on Poe’s 200th birthday (last year), but we’ll likely never know why the ritual started or finally stopped.

So as a special Poe’s Birthday treat, I give you Tim Burton’s “VINCENT,” a 1982 stop-motion animated film. Narrated by Vincent Price (a hero of Burton’s), this is the perfect treat for a winter’s afternoon.

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Comments (10)

  1. how can the person be unknown for 200 years? youd think thered be an army of goths watching to see who it is

    posted by Randy on 1-19-2010 at 4:32 pm

  2. It’s been unknown for 60 years, they think since 1949. The person would always come before 5:30 am and would be disguised.
    In 1993 he/she left the job to his/her sons, then the person passed away in 1998 according to notes left at the grave.

    posted by Leah on 1-19-2010 at 7:22 pm

  3. Absolutely fabulous Tim Burton short. The poetry was superb.

    posted by Meg on 1-19-2010 at 9:46 pm

  4. how heartbreaking

    posted by care on 1-19-2010 at 10:09 pm

  5. love,love,love tim burton

    posted by colette on 1-19-2010 at 10:38 pm

  6. I first saw this when I was about 10, and it freaked me out.

    posted by â—• â—¡ â—• on 1-19-2010 at 10:53 pm

  7. @Randy – I read elsewhere that hundreds of people have kept watch for the unknown person, but they respected the person’s desire for privacy and watched only from a safe distance away.

    posted by Jina on 1-20-2010 at 11:15 am

  8. Absolutely amazing…so creepy and beautiful! Vincent Price’s voice is so good and his delivery of the lines were awesome!

    :o)

    reCaptcha: widen lovely

    posted by Lindsey on 1-20-2010 at 11:55 am

  9. Love it. Fans should also check out Burton’s “Frankenweenie”, which is neither Poe-related nor animated, but is delightful.

    posted by Dinosaur on 1-20-2010 at 1:23 pm

  10. Fantastic short, I got cold chills at the end of it. I had never watched it before, surprisingly. But I love Tim Burton’s work. =]

    posted by Cody on 1-20-2010 at 1:46 pm

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