At the end of Beetle Juice (1988), Beetlejuice metamorphoses into a bizarre creature with a merry-go-round on his head. On the top of this merry-go-round is a smiling skull which became Jack Skellington in The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993). The latter movie had been a pet project of Burton’s since his days as an animator at Disney.

He has an interest in clowns, and his films will often include them or make reference to them.

Credits his former fiancée, Lisa Marie, as his muse. She is often in his projects (Ed Wood (1994), Mars Attacks! (1996), Sleepy Hollow (1999), The World of Stainboy (2000), Planet of the Apes (2001)) or is paid homage in them (she was the inspiration for The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)’s Sally).

Engaged to Lisa Marie from 1992-2001.

Used the song “It’s Not Unusual”, performed by Tom Jones, in Edward Scissorhands (1990) and then in Mars Attacks! (1996).

Lives in Ojai (California) and New York.

Is a “Bollywood” fan.

Nearly everywhere he goes, he carries a pocket-size sketchbook and a small watercolor kit.

Usually dresses in black, because he doesn’t like spending too much time matching colors.

Younger brother Daniel Burton is also an artist.

Was voted the 49th Greatest Director of all time by Entertainment Weekly, being the youngest director on this list of 50.

He was hired as the director of the failed Superman (1997) movie.

Among his cinematic influences are Mario Bava, Vincent Price, Roger Corman and Barbara Steele whom he homaged in Sleepy Hollow (1999).

Is a big fan of “nudie” director Russ Meyer.

He once said he never remembers his dreams, apart from five recurring dreams, one of them involving the girl he was in love with when he was a teenager and another involving his parents’ bedroom.

Played water polo and swam for Burbank High School in California.

Has made six films with Johnny Depp: Edward Scissorhands (1990), Ed Wood (1994), Sleepy Hollow (1999), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), Corpse Bride (2005), and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007).

Ranked #6 on Tropopkin’s Top 25 Most Intriguing People [Issue #100].

Is a big fan of Italian director Mario Bava. He once said he would like to remake Bava’s classic La maschera del demonio (1960) with his former partner Lisa Marie. He also appeared in two documentaries about Bava.

Member of jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1997.

Grew up in Burbank on Evergreen Street, and his family lived in the 2000 block, near Valhalla Cemetary. Attended Providencia Elementary School in Burbank, California.

Was working on a documentary about Vincent Price, called “Conversations with Vincent”. After Price’s death in 1993 he shelved the project and it has never been completed.

Was slated to direct The Fly (1986) with Michael Keaton in the lead role, but he backed out and David Cronenberg took over.

Was originally set to do a re-make of Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari. (1920) in the early 1980s.

Is scheduled to direct the Broadway musical version of his film Batman (1989).

Bought the rights to a Topps trading card series with the intention of turning it into a film, but couldn’t decide between calling it “Dinosaurs Attack!” and “Mars Attacks!”. Jurassic Park (1993) then came out, and to avoid comparison, he made it as Mars Attacks! (1996) instead, but then it faced comparison to Independence Day (1996).

While at WDFA, he shared an office with Andreas Deja.

In October 2001, he began his current relationship with actress Helena Bonham Carter, whom he met while filming Planet of the Apes (2001), and she has appeared in all of his subsequent films. They live in adjoining houses with a hallway that connects the two homes, they have a son, Billy-Ray Burton, born on October 4, 2003, and a girl, Nell Burton, born on December 15, 2007.

Johnny Depp is a godfather of his son Billy Ray Burton.

After seeing his performance as ‘Big Boy’ Caprice in Dick Tracy (1990), he always kept Al Pacino in mind to cast as a villain in a future “Batman” installment. However, after Batman Returns (1992), Burton moved on from the franchise.

Engaged to Helena Bonham Carter [2001-present] 2 children.

As of 2009, every feature film he has directed has been nominated for some sort of Academy Award, with the exceptions of Pee-wee’s Big Adventure (1985), Mars Attacks! (1996) and Planet of the Apes (2001).