Tim Burtons early films.

Tim Burtons earliest known film is "The Island of Doctor Agor" which was made in 1971, when Burton was just thirteen years old. It was an animated film shot on Super 8 with a group of his friends. Around the same time, the budding filmmaker also made a short film called Houdini, with himself playing the famous escape artist.


In !979 he decided to make his first “proper” film, a pencil drawn cartoon called "Stalk of the Celery Monster" this film attracted the attention of Disney, who offered the young Burton a job.

Burton apparently never really fitted in at Disney, especially as it existed in the eighties. While working fruitlessly as an animator on "The Fox and the Hound" and "The Black Cauldron,"

Burton spent his spare time indulging his real passion by directing cheapo films such as "Doctor of Doom" (1980) and coming up with ideas for his own personal projects, including what would later become "The Nightmare Before Christmas."

Burton then directed during this time the infamously bizarre film, "Luau" which involved things such as surfing, disembodied alien heads and other weird things. (Clips from the film are available on the A&E biography of Burton) He also came up with the film "Trick or Treat," but we are only offered tantalising hints for those of us who have not seen the film.

"Vincent" was Burton’s first film that actually saw a release, albeit a limited one. A stop-motion animated movie shot in beautiful black and white, it was based on a poem Burton had written himself (1982)

"Frankenweenie" (1984) The film Frankenweenie expanded on many of the classic Burton themes that first surfaced in Vincent. Unfortunately, the film never saw a release at the time. Disney had planned to screen it before a re-release of Pinocchio, but that plan was cancelled when Frankenweenie was given a PG rating, making it “unsuitable” for younger kids. The film was then shelved for about 10 years but praise from people in the film industry who had seen it (which included Stephen King) would eventually lead Burton his first feature film work.

That same year, Shelly Duvall (who had starred in Frankenweenie) asked Burton to direct an episode of her Faerie Tale Theatre series. Burton was chosen to helm "Aladdin and his wonderful lamp" (That episode is now avalible on dvd)

Burton did a respectable job in what was essentially his first “director for hire” role. However, it was not a completely satisfying experience for the director, and he vowed in future to only direct projects he had a personal connection to. His next project was, of course, "Pee-wees Big Adventure."

Burton’s final directing job for TV was an episode of the new Alfred Hitchcock Presents series. The Jar (which aired in 1986) was a memorably creepy story with Griffin Dunne carrying around a sinister head in a jar.

After this, Burton’s feature film career took off and, aside from the odd commercial and web cartoon, he left behind the world of short filmmaking.

Burton’s early films vary wildly, both in production quality and storyline. However, they all have some degree of his fantastical vision stamped on them and are an intriguing portrait of a young director’s developing style.

References:IMDBBurton on Burton by Mark Salisbury (Faber and Faber)Tim Burton by Jim Smith and J Clive Matthews (Virgin Books)Images courtesy of Le Monde de Tim Burton