1. Frankenweenie - 1984

Back when Tim Burton was just an animation school graduate butthole, he started at Disney working on The Fox and the Hound. However, his personality was showcased in a little coveted pet project (no pun intended), a live action black and white short film, called Frankenweenie. After production, Disney deemed it unsuitable for children and shelved it. Lucky for us Paul Reubens saw it and chose Burton to direct his feature length about a boy named Pee-Wee Herman and his bike. And childhood was changed for the better, for many of us, not to mention Burton’s career. After Burton’s climb to fame, ten years later, ol’ Disney edited and released Burton’s original concept of Frankenweenie, for distribution. (Ya don’t say.)

The best thing about this short is that it’s so early in Burton’s career that his influences and appreciations are offered up, long before his dark stylized direction would become so signature that it loses it’s spontaneity. Like Edward Scissorhands, Frankenweenie’s post-war suburban feel compliments perfectly it’s Waters-esque weirdness. The acting is poorly executed, but as soon as that dog is on screen he provokes a squishy smile that makes him feel like your own pet, and that only gets better with the stitches and neck-bolts. Being a take on the classic monster movie, the references are there, including the laboratory scene (complete with a cameo of a Pee-Wee’s bike prototype) and the village lynch mob scene with the burning shelter (a forethought of the ending of Scissorhands.)

Though the copy I watched is the edited Disney-released VHS version, this short can be found unedited, as a special feature on the DVD release of The Nightmare Before Christmas. I do recommend it.