Fantastical Characters From Tim Burton’s ‘Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children’ Unveiled


Tim Burton gave fans a first look at the world of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children late last year, and now, images of the unique characters have been unveiled, and they are, as expected, curiously creepy. Entertainment Weekly and Empire premiered two sets of photographs to tease you until the fall release. The photos feature Asa Butterfield as Jake, Eva Green as the shape-shifting Miss Peregrine, Judi Dench as Miss Avocet, Ella Purnell as Emma, Lauren McCrostie as Olive, Pixie Davies as Bronwyn, Cameron King as the invisible Millard, and Thomas and Joseph Odwell as the twins.

“I was a little worried about working with so many kids again, but they were all such professionals on set. You would never believe that it was some of these kids’ first big film,” Burton told Empire.

Directed by Tim Burton and written by Jane Goldman, the fantasy adventure is based on the novel of the same name by Ransom Riggs. The book is the first in a trilogy and chronicles the journey of Jacob Portman, who kind of goes back in time and meets Miss Peregrine and the children with unusual abilities who live in the mysterious orphanage that she runs. It’s the same orphanage that his grandfather claims to have lived in, and Jake seeks to learn the truth behind his mysterious death and past life. Miss Peregrine’s world runs out of sync with time, which is how Jake connects with Emma, who had a special bond with Jake’s grandfather at the orphanage.

Slash Film shared the official synopsis of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children:

“As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow—impossible though it seems—they may still be alive.”

Burton describes Miss Peregrine as “a scary Mary Poppins [who] can turn into a bird.” She also protects the children from monsters known as “hollows.”

“Weird kids. It’s something that I’ve dealt with and been interested in for a while,” says Tim, who is known for his gothic and quirky blockbuster fantasies that have garnered a worldwide gross of over $1 billion.

The story was partially inspired by vintage photographs that the author collected at flea markets and included in the book. “They’re quite compelling,” Tim says of the photos. “They remind me of old horror movies, or dreams.”

“It was nice to shoot on location, to be connected to a place and geography while having people actually floating, as opposed to doing it all digitally,” Burton told EW of the production, which counted Florida, Belgium, and Cornwall county in the south of England among the film’s scenic locations.

“In the peculiar world, women are the protectors,” Burton explains bout the film’s fierce domination of women. “Miss Avocet is the head of another peculiar school. But, much like the bird in her name, she’s a bit more of a nervous, flighty energy than Miss Peregrine.”

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is scheduled to be released domestically on September 30, 2016, and in the U.K. October 7.

[Image courtesy Evan Agostini/Invision/AP]

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