Completed Essay

     Tim Burton was born in Burbank, California. Since he was young, he loved painting, drawing, and watching movies. Several times he would make his own short films with regular cameras. He liked poems by Edgar Allen Poe and he enjoyed watching "old-school" horror films. Burton has always been a very introspective person. One of his classmates at the California Institute of the Arts was John Lasseter. He was hired by Disney when he graduated.
     While working on concept art for The Fox and the Hound, Tim Burton began working on his own project. He drew art of a skeleton and wrote a poem, each being Jack Skellington and the Nightmare Before Christmas respectively. He was inspired by the many Christmas movies Disney would make. Since Disney didn't quite accept his style of art, they gave him the freedom to work on his own projects. Although the poem was originally meant to be a children's book, it eventually became a stop-motion animation movie.
     Tim Burton did not enjoy working with Disney very much. His style of art clashed with the "kid-appropriate" style of Disney. They did not like his art for The Fox and the Hound, therefore they gave him free time for his own projects. During this time, he made his own film called Frankenweenie, however Disney didn't think it was very appropriate for their targeted audience so they shelved the film. Overall, he felt bored and "constrained" by the type of art that Disney wanted him to make.
     Although Tim Burton has made many animation films, he himself does not like working as an animator. When he worked for Disney, he was hired as an animator. When Disney saw that he wasn't doing as good as they wanted him to, they made him a concept artist. Instead of being an animator, Burton is usually a director, producer, or writer. He likes expressing ideas in movies but he doesn't like to animate them. Burton has directed 19, produced 13, and written 5 movies.
     His movies have been very well acclaimed by both critics and regular people. His movies have been praised for originality and for making stop-motion animation successful. The musical scores in his movies are praised as well. Critics also enjoy the themes of his movies. The Nightmare Before Christmas was called "a stunningly original and visually delightful work of stop-motion animation" by Rotten Tomatoes. Corpse Bride was called a "sweet and visually lovely tale of love lost" by Roger Ebert. Overall, Burton is praised for being original.
     Burton enjoys collaborating with a lot of the same people in his movies. He often casts Johnny Depp in his movies, as he is a very close friend of Burton. Burton also casts Helena Bonham Carter, who is his wife. For the musical scores, he often works with Danny Elfman, who was in a band that Burton was very fond of. Burton either works with close friends of his, or people that are "up-and-coming". He works with the same actors and actresses because they all share the same vision that he does.
     In conclusion, Tim Burton is an introverted yet creative director, producer, and writer, who loves watching movies and telling stories through movies. He doesn't like to conform to society, instead he likes to introduce new things in the form of art. He is a very well acclaimed director, and is widely known for his quirky movies. Overall, Tim Burton is a very influential person and role model.