Tim Burton signs books — and a birthday card — at Neon Museum
For his birthday this week, Max Arevalo visited Las Vegas, got to meet Tim Burton and even had the acclaimed filmmaker sign his birthday card.
Arevalo turns 1 on Jan. 29, and his first birthday is going to be a tough one to beat.
Sporting “The Nightmare Before Christmas” booties, little Max and his parents Andrea and David Arevalo drove in from Torrance, California, on Monday night so they could line up at 7 a.m. Tuesday as the first ones to meet Burton at his second book signing at The Neon Museum.
“Instead of spending money on a birthday party he won’t remember, we thought we’d take him here and take a picture of him with Tim Burton,” David Arevalo said.
All 500 tickets for the signing were sold out within 20 minutes of going on sale on Jan. 8.
Like his first signing, which coincided with the opening of his “Lost Vegas: Tim Burton @ The Neon Museum” exhibition, Burton greeted visitors and signed copies of his 400-page behemoth “The Art of Tim Burton” and smaller copies of his “The Napkin Art of Tim Burton: things you think about in a bar.”
At 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, the queue to meet the director, producer, writer and animator was filled with visitors decked out in t-shirts and dresses bearing the likenesses of Edward Scissorhands, Jack Skellington, Alice and Willy Wonka.
Jackie Matthis and Taylor O’Brien made the three-hour drive from Prescott, Arizona, to meet Burton.
“I’ve been a fan since I was little,” the 31-year-old Matthis said. “I was a little weird. I owned “The Nightmare Before Christmas” on VHS and I wore it out I watched it so many times.”
Las Vegas local Madeline Soltero came away from the signing beaming. “It was super great,” she said. “It was fast but he made it personal and shook everyone’s hand.”
When the Arevalos stepped up, Andrea asked Burton if he would sign Max’s birthday card.
“His rep pushed it away and said he wouldn’t,” Arevalo said. “But Burton took it and said he’ll sign it. It will be a great story for Max when he’s older.”
Contact Janna Karel at jkarel@reviewjournal.com. Follow @jannainprogress on Twitter.