1981–1987: Early work and breakthrough Stalk of the Celery Monster attracted the attention of Walt Disney Productions, which offered Burton an animator's apprenticeship at its animation division.
Before becoming the visionary director and producer he is today, Burton's first job after attending the California Institute of the Arts was as an animator at Disney.
Burton, who became interested in drawing and filmmaking while quite young, attended the California Institute of the Arts and later worked as an animator at Disney Productions.
Burton believed that the entertainment landscape has shifted to the point where it no longer makes sense for him to collaborate with the entertainment behemoth. “My history is that I started out there,” Burton said. “I was hired and fired, like, several times throughout my career there.
And while that movie sounds interesting, it turns out we almost had a version of "The Black Cauldron" designed by one Tim Burton. Animator Michael Peraza shared some insight from the development of the movie on his blog, writing about his and Burton's work in doing early concept art for the film.
The $44-million budget made it the most expensive animated film ever made at the time. The film grossed $21.3 million domestically. It resulted in a loss for Walt Disney Productions and put the future of the animation department in jeopardy (earning it the nickname "the film that almost killed Disney").
Despite those similarities, Tim Burton actually had nothing whatsoever to do with Coraline's production. The filmmaker behind Coraline is Wendell & Wild director Henry Selick, but this hasn't stopped the beloved adaptation of the Neil Gaiman comic from being falsely attributed to Burton by far too many people.
Burton also directed a live-action adaptation of the Disney animated film Dumbo, released on March 29, 2019, with Colin Farrell, Danny DeVito, Eva Green, and Michael Keaton starring.
Director Henry Selick (left) and producer Tim Burton (right) on the Nightmare Before Christmas set. Over the years, Burton's thoughts regularly returned to the project. In 1990, Burton found out that Disney still owned the film rights; he and Selick committed to produce a full-length film with the latter as director.
An international co-production between the United States and United Kingdom and produced by Tim Burton Productions and Laika Entertainment, Corpse Bride is the first stop-motion feature film directed by Burton and his first stop-motion film distributed by Warner Bros.
Why is Tim Burton's name on Nightmare Before Christmas?
Henry Selick directed The Nightmare Before Christmas, not Tim Burton, despite the confusion caused by the marketing credit. Burton's involvement in creating the story and characters warranted his name being put on the film for recognition and to avoid confusion with other horror films.
Burton has directed, produced, and released multiple films with Disney, including the 1993 Halloween hit The Nightmare Before Christmas; 1996's James and the Giant Peach; 2009's Alice in Wonderland and its 2016 sequel, Alice Through the Looking Glass; 2012's Frankenweenie; and Dumbo. So where does he go from here?
For all of this success, Disney has Burton to thank. That being said, Burton no longer seemingly wants to be working with Disney. As noted by MovieWeb, “Tim Burton won't work for DC or Marvel simply because of the way they use culture unethically.
First, the movie Coraline isn't a regular animation. It's stop motion animation and is made from clay. With this being such a time-consuming and tedious process, Coraline took four years to make.
Coraline is a 2009 American stop-motion animated dark fantasy horror film written and directed by Henry Selick, based on Neil Gaiman's novella of the same name.
Burton was born in August 25, 1958 in southern California. His childhood wasn't a particularly happy one. He hated growing up in a suburb, was never close with his parents, and other kids found him odd. “You feel kind of different and isolated and you don't feel like you fit into your surroundings,” he recalls.
A final confrontation ensues, and just as Mr. Whiskers has Sparky cornered, a flaming piece of wood breaks off and impales him. The windmill collapses on Sparky, killing him again. To reward him for his bravery, the townsfolk gather to revive Sparky with their car batteries, reanimating him once more.
Beetlejuice is a 1988 American fantasy horror comedy film directed by Tim Burton from a screenplay by Michael McDowell and Warren Skaaren based on a story by McDowell and Larry Wilson. The film stars Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Jeffrey Jones, Catherine O'Hara, Winona Ryder, and Michael Keaton as the title character.
Despite almost directing the Jim Carrey-led How the Grinch Stole Christmas in 2000, Burton was not chosen for the job. However, the passage of time and Burton's recent success with older franchises suggests that he may still have a chance to bring his unique touch to a Grinch movie in the future.
77 min. Corpse Bride is a 2005 British-American stop-motion-animated musical fantasy film directed by Mike Johnson and Tim Burton with a screenplay by John August, Caroline Thompson and Pamela Pettler based on characters created by Burton and Carlos Grangel.
