However, it was one of Burton’s final projects working at Disney, the short film Frankenweenie, which reportedly caught the eye of Paul Reubens, resulting in Burton getting his first job as a feature film director with Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure.
It’s entirely possible that Burton’s directorial career wouldn’t even happen without Big Adventure, and to that, he owes Disney and Frankenweenie.
Eventually, Disney came around, and Burton even got to make a feature-length version for Disney in 2012.
Which is a good thing, since some at Disney thought Frankenweeinie was so bad it resulted in Burton losing his job.