This is the first book to examine the various uses of the Arthurian legend in Hollywood film, covering films from the 1920s to the present. The authors use five representational categories: intertextual collage (or "cult" film); melodrama, which focuses on the love triangle; conservative propaganda, pervasive during the Cold War; the Hollywood epic; and the postmodern quest, which commonly employs the grail portion of the legend. Arguing that filmmakers rely on the audience's rudimentary familiarity with the legend, the authors show that only certain features of the legend are activated at any particular time. This fascinating study shows us how the legend has been adapted and how through the popular medium of Hollywood films, the Arthurian legend has survived and flourished.

This book contains 11 essays and a comprehensive bibliography. The essays reveal the extent to which Philip K. Dick's personal obsessions pre-figured postmodernist concerns with humanity's self-alienation, cultural and personal paranoia, and the politics of simulation, deceit, and self-deception. The contributors reveal how Dick's ontological concerns, stated in his repeated questioning of "What is real?," are also political concerns. Thus, they examine the philosophical and religious foundations on which his work rests, offering much-needed arguments which reveal both his philosophical depth and the extent to which he drew from esoteric and occult religions. His cultural critique also receives significant exposition, as the contributors reveal how Dick's fiction enacts the larger cultural struggles of cold war America, with its conflicting private visions and public realities, and its personal and political loyalties. The contributors argue for the significance of heretofore neglected or marginalized texts of Dick as well, including in their discussions many early short stories from the early 1950s and neglected novels of the mid-1960s, arguing that there is a need to understand how Dick shaped (or misshaped) his fictions so as to reimagine the life of his society.

Tim Burton is one of the most inventive filmmakers in the world. From his early work as an animator for Disney studios to his distinctive takes on iconic characters like Batman and Alice in Wonderland, Burton's skewed vision of the world has informed all of his films. Imbuing his films with a comically dark tone, Burton provides a twisted slant on conventional storytelling. In The Tim Burton Encyclopedia, Samuel J. Umland looks at all aspects of this idiosyncratic storyteller's films, which frequently display childlike wonder and a macabre humor. Entries in this volume focus on Burton's artistic inspirations as well as creative personnel behind the camera, including writers, cinematographers, costume designers, art directors, and other collaborators, notably his frequent composer Danny Elfman. Recurring actors are also represented, such as Michael Keaton, Helena Bonham-Carter, Jack Nicholson, and, of course, Johnny Depp. Film entries include all of his features such as Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood, Big Fish, and Dark Shadows. Each entry is followed by a bibliography of published sources, both in print and online. Featuring entries focused on every stage of Burton's career-including early animated shorts like Frankenweenie and his work as a producer-this volume provides indispensable information about one of the most distinctive filmmakers of the past three decades. Comprehensive and entertaining, The Tim Burton Encyclopedia will appeal to scholars, researchers, and fans of this singular director's work.