His early film career was fueled by almost unbelievable good luck, but its his talent and originality that have kept him at the top of the Hollywood tree. Tim Burton began drawing at an early age, going on to attend the California Institute of the Arts, studying animation after being awarded a fellowship from Disney, for whom he went on to work. Although he found that the mainstream Disney films he worked on The Fox and the Hound 1981 were far removed from his own sensibility, Disney let him have the freedom to work on his own personal projects, the sixminute animated blackandwhite Gothic Vincent Price tribute Vincent 1982, and the 27minute liveaction Frankenweenie 1984, which was judged unsuitable for children and never released. However, Paul Reubens aka PeeWee Herman saw it and decided that Burton, still only in his midtwenties, would be the ideal person to direct his feature debut, Peewees Big Adventure 1985. An enormous and surprise boxoffice hit, it led to the supernatural comedy Beetle Juice 1988, which in turn led to Burton being entrusted with the reins on the hugely expensive Batman 1989. Although his least personal film, it was one of the most successful films of all time, and gave him unprecedented power in Hollywood considering the originality and adventurousness of his work thus far. Edward Scissorhands 1990, another hit, saw him at the peak of his creative powers and established a fruitful working relationship with actor Johnny Depp. Batman Returns 1992 was a far darker and quirkier film than the original, a reflection of how much creative freedom Burton had won though Warner Bros were reputedly unhappy with the final result. And although Ed Wood 1994, his loving tribute to the life and work of the legendary Worst Director of All Time, Edward D. Wood Jr., was a boxoffice disaster, it garnered some of the best reviews of Burtons career, and suggests that hell continue dazzling audiences for many years to come.

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