At age 13 a young Burton films his first stop motion and live action films Untitled (Prehistoric cavemen) and Houdini: The Untold Story. Throughout high school, he continues to develop his filmmaking skills, directing, filming, and starring in a series of short films while experimenting with stop-motion techniques.

Burton creates Crush Litter, a graphic design entry for an anti-litter campaign sponsored by Beautiful Burbank, Inc. The design wins the competition and reflects his early interest in visual storytelling and illustration.

At 18, Burton creates an illustrated manuscript for a children’s book and submits it to Walt Disney Publishing for consideration. Disney responds with an encouraging rejection, acknowledging his charming artistic style, despite the manuscript not being selected for publication.

In 1977 Burton begins studying Character Animation at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) in Valencia, California. As one of the program’s early students, he is encouraged to develop his own creative style and experiment with new artistic ideas. Burton continues to experiment with his own animated short films.