In addition to low-budget alien pictures, Burton cites a series of lurid Topps trading cards on similar themes as a source of inspiration. But you take something like that away from kids, and they want it more. So they became kind of cultish. I never felt they damaged me. I felt they helped me.
Kids have a lot of weird energy that they've gotta get out.
Burton's hands, like his mass of wayward, curly brown hair, seem to have a life of their own. Same for his words. He speaks in fits and starts, skipping to some new idea before he's anywhere near done with the previous one, churning the air with his arms all the while. In a business that values conformity, he's definitely odd man out. And not just because of his looks or conversational style.