Tim Burton visits The Neon Museum ahead of Las Vegas exhibit

LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — The aliens have invaded The Neon Museum.

It's the guys from “Mars Attacks”, the Tim Burton movie, circa 1996, that featured the destruction of the Landmark Hotel and Casino.

Which is why "Kitty", that's what they call him--is outside the Neon Museum on a Monday. He's dressed up in his best "Beetlejuice:" a white suit with bold black stripes, with a head colored completely white with big black saucers around his eyes. Just think about the character actor Michael Keaton made famous.

“Oh, you know, I've been a fan of this man since I was 13. I'm 42 now,” he says, referring to the creative force behind the movie.

He's here because artist and director Tim Burton will be here, too. Burton, who specializes in the eccentric, the edgy and the unique, met the press Monday to talk about his new exhibit at The Neon Museum.

He's back in a city he loves, back in a city he visited as a California kid.

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“It's a very powerful place for me. I've had a lot of strange amazing memories in Las Vegas,” says Burton.

Starting Tuesday, Burton's own unique artistry is on display at The Neon Museum for a four-month run.

He has more than two dozen installations here, including 15 created just for this exhibition.

Outside, beginning Monday morning, hundreds showed up for a chance to meet Burton himself, who was stopping by the museum for a book signing.

Inside, they'll see the aliens, flying saucers, a big dome - by the way, you need to go inside - and a lot of the neon ghosts of historic Las Vegas.

“He has integrated these objects into our collection so it’s really unique,” says Neon Museum President and CEO Rob McCoy.

“What you've kept -- the beauty, is the thing that I've always loved, the artistry, the color, the lights, the way that the signs are alive, is something that was very powerful for me growing up,” Burton said.

Burton loves neon, which makes this partnership fit like a hand in a glove.

“We’re the most unconventional museum probably in the world, and I think it's safe to say Tim Burton is probably one of the most unconventional artists in the world,” McCoy told me.

Burton is big “get” for a museum that is setting attendance records, according to McCoy. This time, the artist came to them.

“Tim Burton contacted us. He wanted to do this at the Neon Museum,” says McCoy.

The museum is currently in the process of expanding across North Las Vegas Boulevard to the old Reed Whipple cultural center. McCoy tells me the expansion should be finished in about a year.

Tim Burton’s “Lost Vegas” runs at the Neon Museum from October 15th to February 15th next year. For information call the Neon Museum at 702-387-6366 or www.NeonMuseum.org.