Images from Tim Burton's 1976 rejected Disney storybook, THE GIANT ZLIG

Art Disney Tim Burton about 14 years agoby

Tim Burton just like all of us was once a teen with a dream of what he wanted to do when he grew up. As a high schooler in 1976, he sent his completed children’s book, The Giant Zlig, to Walt Disney Productions along with a cover letter asking them to consider publishing it. He got a very gentle rejection in response.

Thanks to Letters of Note we have both Burton’s cover letter to Disney and Disney’s reply on their website. Even though Disney did not rejected the material, editor T. Jeanette Kroger did send a very encouraging note in response. I wish that the rejection letters I've gotten were as polite as this. Three years later, of course, Burton would go on to work for Disney after all. Upon graduating from Cal Arts in 1979, he quickly snagged a job at their animation studio, where he remained for several years.

Below is a small sample from The Giant Zlig and the response from Kroger.

Full text of Burton’s letter:

Dear Sirs,

I am submitting this book in hopes that you might consider publishing it. The book has been layed out in rough form, and I would be glad to make any changes that you feel would be nessecary. I would hope to hear from you either way. Thankyou.

Sincerely

Tim Burton

Full text of Kroger’s letter:

February 19, 1976

Dear Tim:

Here are some brief impressions of your book, The Giant Zlig.

STORY: The story is simple enough for a young audience (age 4-6), cute, and shows a grasp of the language much better than I would expect from one of today’s high school students, despite occasional lapses in grammar and spelling. It may, however, be too derivative of the Seuss works to be marketable–I just don’t know. But I definitely enjoyed reading it.

ART: Considering that you suffer from a lack of the proper tools and materials, the art is very good. The characters are charming and imaginative, and have sufficient variety to sustain interest. Your layout is also good–it shows good variety in point-of-view. Consequently, I not only enjoyed reading about the Giant Zlig, but I got a chuckle watching him, too.

I hope my comments please you. Thanks for the opportunity to read The Giant Zlig; keep up the good work, and good luck.

Very truly yours,

(Signed, ‘Jeanette’)

T. Jeanette Kroger
Editor
Walt Disney Productions