Edward Scissorhands marked the first collaboration between Tim Burton and Johnny Deep, and even though the latter played the title character, he was mostly silent throughout the whole movie and spoke less than 150 words – and here’s every one of them. Tim Burton has earned the respect and admiration of critics and viewers thanks to his unique style that mixes gothic elements, bright colors, and family-friendly touches of horror, and which has been appropriately named “Burtonesque style”. Burton’s career in film began in 1985 with Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure, but it wasn’t until 1988 with Beetlejuice that he showed what his filmmaking style was truly about.
After directing Batman in 1989, Burton returned to original creations in 1990 with Edward Scissorhands, a story he wrote with Caroline Thompson. Edward Scissorhands tells the story of the title character (played by Depp), a man created by a lonely inventor (Vincent Price) but who wasn’t finished as his creator passed away unexpectedly, leaving him with scissors instead of hands. Edward was found years later at his mansion on a hill by Peg Boggs (Dianne Wiest), who takes him in and does her best to help him fit into society. As Edward develops feelings for Peg’s daughter, Kim (Winona Ryder), the town’s residents start to see him as a threat due to many rumors about him. Edward Scissorhands was a critical and commercial success, and it continues to be a favorite among fans of Burton’s work.
Although Depp wasn’t a newcomer when he was cast in Edward Scissorhands, as he made his film debut in Wes Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street in 1984, playing Edward definitely gave his career an extra boost. Depp’s performance was full of emotion and pain as the character had a tough life, and Depp didn’t even need to talk much to connect with the audience, and as it turns out, Edward speaks less than 150 words throughout the whole movie. Here’s every word Edward Scissorhands says in the movie and when.
Peg Finds Edward Scissorhands
One day, while going from door to door selling makeup, Peg Boggs goes to the Gothic mansion on the hill to see if there are any potential clients. There she comes across Edward Scissorhands, whose first words to Peg after she notices the blades on his hands and tries to go are “don’t go”. When asked what happened to him, Edward replies “I’m not finished” and that his creator “didn’t wake up”. Peg decides to take Edward home with her, and as this is the first time he leaves the mansion, he’s excited to see everything, and when he points at something on Peg’s side of the car, he almost hurts her, to which he says “I’m sorry”.
Edward Scissorhands Arrives At His New Home
Once at the Boggs’ house, Peg tries to make Edward look as human as possible, giving him some of her husband’s old clothes so he can blend in. Getting dressed when having scissors as hands isn’t easy, and Edward gets stuck in a shirt, and simply tells Peg “thank you” when she helps him. Edward isn’t the most expressive being, and in the first part of the movie he’s mostly monosyllabic, saying a simple “no” to Peg when she asks if one of the cuts on his face hurt. As she attends to his wounds, Peg mentions she has “a doctor friend who can help him”, with Edward simply saying “really?”.
Edward’s next words come during the dinner scene with Peg, her husband Bill (Alan Arkin), and their son Kevin (Robert Oliveri), in which Bill insists on calling Edward “Ed” and Peg tells him he prefers “Edward”, with him reacting to his name with a soft “yes?”. Bill tries to make small talk with Edward, asking him about the mansion and how he surely could see the ocean from there, to which Edward replies “sometimes”. Even though Edward struggles with social interaction, he knows his manners and says “thank you” to Peg when she offers butter for his bread and “good night” when Peg puts him to bed.
Meeting The Neighbors
Edward’s arrival is a sensation in the neighborhood, especially among women, but there’s one neighbor in particular who isn’t fond of him. Esmeralda (O-Lan Jones) suddenly arrives at the Bogg’s backyard to tell them Edward is evil and they are all acting like sheep, with Edward innocently saying “we’re not sheep”. Later on, Peg is pressured into hosting a BBQ so the neighbors can meet Edward, and while she gets Edward ready, she tells him to be himself, to which Edward says “myself?”. Once at the BBQ, Edward is approached by adults and children, with the latter teasing him about playing rock, paper, scissors, with Edward, confused, asking “paper, scissors, what?”. Edward says one more line during the BBQ when Bill announces that “the soup is ready”, and as Edward takes everything literally, he tells Bill twice (and with his mouth stuffed with food) “I thought this was shish kebab”.
Edward Scissorhands & Kim Meet For The First Time
Peg’s daughter, Kim, arrives from her camping trip and has no idea Edward exists and is staying in her bedroom, so naturally, she freaks out when she sees him in her bed and believes he’s a serial killer. As Peg tries to calm her down, Bill takes Edward to the basement for a drink, but Edward doesn’t know what that is, so he innocently asks “what is it”. Bill tricks him by telling him it’s lemonade, and so he drinks it while Bill goes on about women, how they start to change at a certain age, and how their glands begin to grow, with Edward asking “glands?”. Unfortunately, the alcohol is too much for Edward to handle, and when Kim comes to the basement to meet him, he passes out in front of her.
Later on, and now working around the neighborhood trimming their hedges into topiaries, Edward is at Joyce’s (Kathy Baker) house and she offers him lemonade, but as he had a bad experience with it, he just says “lemonade?” before throwing up. While working at another house, he sees Kim passing by and calls out to her, but she doesn’t pay attention to him.
Edward Scissorhands’ Rise To Fame
Edward’s peculiar look and talents quickly catch the attention of people beyond the neighborhood, and he’s invited to a TV show to talk about his life. Before his debut on TV, Peg calls one of her supervisors to ask her about some makeup to cover Edward’s scars, and he asks if “she had some ideas”. He’s later dropped at the Boggs' house by one of the neighbors and he tells her “bye-bye”, and finds Kim and her boyfriend Jim (Anthony Michael-Hall) at the entrance of their home, looking for her keys. Kim asks Edward if he has a key and he says “no”, but he’s still able to open the door.
Jumping to Edward’s appearance on TV, he’s asked about what’s the best part of his new life in town, and he says “the friends I’ve made”. Another woman tells him she knows a doctor who could help him, with him replying “I’d like to meet him”, and another one points out that if he gets help, he wouldn’t be “special” anymore, but Edward doesn’t care, and he softly replies “yes, I know”.
Joyce Makes A Move On Edward Scissorhands
Joyce is the stereotypical lonely housewife who flirts with every man that crosses her way, and she was especially interested in Edward. Joyce takes Edward to take a look at the place where his beauty salon will be, and he points out that “Peg could sell cosmetics” there as well. Joyce then takes him to the storeroom to show him some smocks and as she tries to seduce him, he innocently says “I like that one”. Joyce ends up scaring him away, and he quickly leaves the place to meet with the Boggs at a restaurant. Once back with the family, Edward tells them “Mrs. Monroe showed me where the salon’s going to be. You could have a cosmetics counter”, and as innocent as he is, he then says “and then she showed me the back of the room where she took all of her clothes off”. Bill doesn’t pay attention to that last part and keeps talking, mentioning the bank, to which Edward simply says “the bank?”.
Breaking Into Jim’s House
Unfortunately, not everyone had good intentions with Edward, and Jim uses him to break into his own house as his father had everything wired. Of course, Edward doesn’t know what they are about to do and is given a different story, and as they arrive at the house, he tells Jim “this person stole from you?” and to “tell his parents and they’ll make him give it back”. Edward ends up trapped in one of the rooms and the rest run away, and he’s taken to the police station.
Edward Scissorhands Confronts Kim
The next day, Kim is surprised to see him home and thanks him for not telling the police and her parents about her involvement and what truly happened, to which he replies “you’re welcome”, and later admits that “I knew it was Jim’s house”, and only agreed to help “because you asked me to”. Later that day, at dinner, Bill tries to give Edward a moral lesson, but when asking him about what he should do if he finds a bunch of money on the street, he says “give it to my loved ones?”.
Preparing For The Christmas Party
After all the drama in the neighborhood and many rumors about Edward, the Boggs decide to move forward with their annual Christmas party. Peg asks Edward if he can give her a new haircut for the party, and he simply says “again?”. Seconds later, Kevin arrives and Edward says “Kevin, you wanna play ‘scissors, paper, stone’?” but he doesn’t want to, so Edward just says “why?”. As Peg and Kim decorate the Christmas tree, Kim notices Edward is carving an ice sculpture, but when Jim suddenly arrives, Edward turns around and accidentally cuts Kim’s hand. Jim accuses Edward of harming her and more and kicks him out, so Edward flees and destroys his works around the neighborhood, prompting the neighbors to call the police, and when he’s just sitting on the sidewalk, he hears the siren of the police car and simply says “police”.
The Neighborhood Against Edward Scissorhands
Edward returns home and tells Kim “are you okay?” and “where is everybody”, as her parents left to look for him and Kevin was at a friend’s house. Kim then asks him to hold her, to which he replies “I can’t”, but she does anyway. Jim, drunk and enraged, drives around and nearly runs over Kevin as he returns home, but Edward rushes and pushes him to safety, but he inadvertently cuts him multiple times, saying “Kevin! are you ok? Oh! It’s ok!”. This only makes the neighbors angrier and more scared as they believe Edward was attacking Kevin, so Jim starts hitting Edward, who then defends himself by cutting Jim’s arm and flees to the mansion.
Edward Scissorhands and Jim’s Final Stand
Kim follows Edward to the mansion, but so do Jim and the rest of the neighborhood, though only Kim and Jim go inside. Edward asks Kim “are they coming?” and “did I hurt Kevin?” before Jim arrives and attacks him. After Jim hurts Kim, who tries to defend Edward, the latter stabs Jim in the stomach and pushes him from a window, killing him. Kim confesses her love to Edward before she leaves, and Edward’s last words to her and in the movie in general are “goodbye”. Edward Scissorhands is mostly a silent character throughout the movie, but it’s understandable as he spent years at the mansion all alone, and as he shared more time with other people and lived different experiences, he started opening up more and more, though ultimately, he went back to solitude at the mansion.