Before he was Tim Burton, the director of Batman and Ed Wood, he was simply Tim Burton, a young animator trying to make
a name for himself at Disney. He first gained notice in 1982 with a stop-motion
animated short called Vincent. His
follow-up was a half-hour live-action piece, Frankenweenie, about a boy who brings his beloved dog back to life.
Unfortunately, Disney execs felt Burton had wasted company resources with a
movie that wasn't kid friendly and fired him. On the positive side, Paul
Reubens was a fan of Frankenweenie
and got Burton the job of directing his first feature film, Pee-Wee's Big Adventure. The rest as
they say is history, which has vindicated Burton. When he became a big name, Frankenweenie was released in edited
format on VHS and later included, unedited, as an extra on the DVD and Blu-ray
versions of The Nightmare Before
Christmas. That holiday classic has raked in a ton of merchandising money
for the House of Mouse, which went to the bank once again when Burton's Alice in Wonderland made over a billion
at the box office. It's no wonder Disney allowed Burton to remake Frankenweenie, which was originally intended to be done in stop-motion.
The film is set in New Holland, an idyllic
suburbia where Victor Frankenstein (Charlie Tahan) is seen as a bit of an
oddball by his parents Edward (Martin Short) and Susan (Catherine O'Hara). Victor's
only friend is his bull terrier, Sparky, who is tragically hit by a car. Inspired
by a classroom experiment, Victor builds an elaborate array of equipment to
harness the town's frequent lightning storms and brings Sparky back to life. The
little fella may be stitched together and have two bolts in his neck, but he's
his usual frisky self. Victor tries to keep the resurrected Sparky a secret,
but is discovered by a hunchbacked classmate named Edgar Gore (Atticus
Shaffer). E. Gore, get it?
Edgar blabs about the process to the other school kids, who
proceed to bring their own deceased pets back to life. Soon, New Holland is
under siege by a vampire cat, a mummified hamster, a horde of ravenous sea monkeys,
and a giant Gamera-esque turtle cleverly named Shelley.
The last few years have seen Burton direct slick and garish
blockbusters like Alice, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Dark Shadows. So it is a relief to see
Burton return to his roots with Frankenweenie,
which resembles a greatest hits reel. The screenplay was adapted by long-time
collaborator John August and once again scored by the great Danny Elfman. The
pre-fabricated suburbs of New Holland appear to be lifted right out of Edward Scissorhands, which was the last
movie Winona Ryder did with Burton. She returns as the voice of Elsa van
Helsing, the sullen girl next door, who looks and acts a lot like Lydia Deets
from Beetlejuice.
Frankenweenie
could certainly be considered one of Burton's more personal films, which gives
it more heart and soul than any of his recent efforts. Burton has projected a
lot of himself into the character of Victor. The picture opens with Victor
screening a home movie he shot using toys and Sparky as his star monster.
Burton's influences are on full display with the third act that pays homage to
the classic Universal horror flicks. His hero, Vincent Price, is represented by
a lookalike science teacher named Mr. Rzykruski played by Martin Landau, who
dips into his Bela Lugosi voice. The nominal antagonist is Mayor Burgemeister
(also voiced by Short), whose name and permanent scowl are a reference to Burgemeister
Meisterburger from Rankin/Bass's classic Santa
Claus is Comin' to Town. Christopher Lee even pops in for a cameo as Mr.
& Mrs. Frankenstein watch Horror of
Dracula in their living room.
While the story isn't particularly inventive, the visuals
more than make up for it. The puppets are lovingly crafted and exquisitely
photographed in stark black and white. Unfortunately, kids may not be impressed
by a movie that isn't CG animated or done in color. Frankenweenie is one of three horror-themed animated movies
alongside ParaNorman and Hotel Transylvania, which was the most
financially successful and garish of the bunch. It would be a shame for Frankenweenie to be ignored. It's a
well-made movie and at less than 90 minutes doesn't overstay its welcome.
Rating; *** (*****)
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