Tim Burton has always been obsessed with monsters.
Tim Burton
The 'Mrs. Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children' filmmaker has always been "drawn" to the scary creatures, although he was never afraid of them.
He said: "My parents used to say that I watched monster movies before I could walk or talk.
"I was always drawn to them and I never found them scary."
And the 58-year-old filmmaker has always had an "empathy" for the likes of King Kong and Frankenstein because he can relate to being misunderstood by wider society.
He told Parade magazine: "I always felt an empathy with monsters. In those early films, the monsters were the most emotive characters. The people were the scariest ones
"With monsters it was often a case of, 'Let's try and kill this thing that we don't understand.'
"It is a really interesting and unfortunate human dynamic. King Kong, Frankenstein, the Creature from the Black Lagoon--these creatures are the most emotional things in the films. 'I don't understand you, let's put you in a cage. I don't understand you, let's kill you.' That's a motto I have felt my whole life."
Tim admits he feels frustrated that his work is often criticised for being "too dark", but he doesn't think there's anything to do to change the perception of him.
He said: "I always get accused of that. It happens over and over.
"I could wear white linen suits and dye my hair blond and make happy movies and they'd still think, What is he doing? Something is wrong. I could make The Sound of Music and people would say, 'It's too dark.' Once you get categorised, that's it. You get, 'Oh, well, it's very Burton.' Well, who am I? I don't like thinking of myself as a thing."
However, he still takes the term 'Burtonesque', as a compliment.
He said: "It is peculiar. Even though it makes my skin crawl, I will take that as a compliment. Really, I got into film because I like making things. That was always my primary concern."
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