Few directors in mainstream Hollywood have managed to keep their own unique vision and still find regular work. For a dream factory the Hollywood way of making movies has always adhered to the tried and tested method of drawing in the crowd. Yet for filmmaker Tim Burton the tried and tested way has never held any hold on him.

Tim Burton wasn't the child that everyone thought would become a Hollywood director. He was quiet and reserved, more interested in books than in interacting with his peers. But being born and raised in the rarefied air of Burbank, California his overactive imagination was given free reign. He glutted himself on horror movies, particularly monster movies. Movies with the actor Vincent Price also held a special place in the young Burton's pantheon of films. It was this love of monster films that would give rise to themes of the social outcast and outsider in his future films.

Art has always been a part of Burton's life but it wasn't until he graduated from the California Institute of Arts that he was given the chance to fully utilize his artistic abilities. Disney recognized his potential and offered him a job after his graduation. Many long and fruitless hours of working as an animator convinced Burton that being an animator was not his life long calling. Even Disney realized that his talent was stagnating. They gave him another job as a conceptual artist.

Needless to say that none of the designs that Burton came up with remotely coincided with what the House of Mouse were used to. It was in this period that he came up with the ideas for what would eventually become The Nightmare Before Christmas. Burton also made a short animated film Vincent and the short film Frankenweenie.

The two films were certainly the strangest that Disney has ever released. Vincent is a thinly disguised tribute to his idol Vincent Price. Frankenweenie is semi-autobiographical in nature. The short film is about a boy who brings his dog back to life after it is hit by a car. As a child Burton had also been traumatized by the death of his dog. What is most impressive by these two short films is that despite being derived from old Hollywood films, Burton had already started to express his trademark style of dark stories with a whimsical and oftentimes childish take.

Burton's first feature film is about Pee Wee Herman. Pee Wee's Big Adventure received poor reviews but it's zany comedic elements were a favorite of audiences everywhere. The film may not have been a smashing success but it did give Burton more freedom to choose his next screenplays. Beetlejuice is a black comedy about a dead couple who is disturbed by a couple who is intent on redecorating the haunted house. This time the movie was a success, no doubt largely because of Burton's deft mix of humor, horror and social satire. Michael Keaton was also wonderful as the zany title character.

Batman is Tim Burton's most commercial and mainstream film to date. This film is also partly responsible for the huge success of superhero films the last few years. But in truth there is no superhero that is more suitable for a film by Tim Burton. Much like the young Burton, Bruce Wayne was isolated from his peers. He wears a mask and hides behind a secret identity. The city of Gotham is replete with dark, garish architecture.

Burton has remade the iconic tale of the Dark Knight even more accessible to new viewers. And even though he was hampered by unoriginal characters and story, Burton was still able to showcase his own vision. In fact the sequel Batman Returns was darker and more original than most critics had thought for a comic book hero movie.