Directed by:
Tim BurtonComposer:
Danny ElfmanCast:
Winona Ryder, Catherine O'Hara, Atticus Shaffer, Martin Landau, Martin Short, Conchata Ferrell, Tom Kenny, Charlie Tahan, James Hiroyuki Liao (more)VOD (3)
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Young Victor conducts a science experiment to bring his beloved dog Sparky back to life, only to face unintended, sometimes monstrous, consequences. (official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (7)
I felt like Tim Burton has made this movie to film something he’d wanted to do for a really long time. An animated movie in his exact style of directing about pets and also about what it means to the kids and their parents when one such pet dies. Everybody’s been through that, including me. And maybe that’s why I’ve related to this (non)fairytale so much. And I must say that the ending was beautifully thought-provoking.
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It took Tim Burton nine years (since Big Fish) to make a film that I can't fault at all. Well... Maybe it’s that I don't want to criticize him, but it ends up the same. Frankenweenie is definitely a much more successful animated film than Corpse Bride, but unlike Alice, the collaboration with Disney didn't affect it that much... And above all, it's a wonderful homage to the monster horror movies I love so much. Even the lately bland Danny Elfman was a surprise.
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After the overwrought yet empty Dark Shadows, Frankenweenie is an endearingly humble film in which Burton refers to his previous work without stealing from it. The opening scene with the film within a film and the very condensed telling of the following minutes prepares us for the “rewriting” nature of Frankenweenie, which shows what was previously filmed in much more amateurish conditions, only on a larger scale. The film captures Burton’s own transformation from a strange child into a widely beloved filmmaker. Several children embark on the same experiment, but only Victor’s intentions are pure and he ends up being the only one to find support among the adults. As with Burton’s other protagonists, what’s important is not that he becomes part of the group, but that the group accepts his eccentricity, and Burton is overwhelmingly successful in depicting this. I suspect that he made Frankenweenie mainly for his own pleasure and that of his most faithful fans. Black-and-white, morbid, anti-Disney (the cutest animal is a bloodthirsty cat-vampire), with an intentionally predictable story. The familiar plot framework is used in the manner of an atmospheric museum of classic horror films recalling not only celebrated monster movies, but also Burton’s earlier works. If you don’t relish visual quotes from horror movies, you will be entertained by Frankenweenie, depending particularly on how much you are able and willing to appreciate its self-referential and auto-biographical qualities, which take the film out of the realm of light entertainment that the whole family will go to the cinema for on a Sunday afternoon without prior preparation. In the context of contemporary major-studio animated films, Frankenweenie is just as much an outsider as Burton’s obstinate protagonists. Commercially suicidal, but very likable. 75%
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Frankenweenie is visually fantastic. The visages of the figures perfectly reflect their nature. But, as has been the case with Tim Burton lately, the film doesn’t have heart. Although the film deals with subject matter from the director’s childhood and early days as a filmmaker, it does not reach the quality of Ed Wood or the charm of Edward Scissorhands.
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I'm going to repeat myself a lot, but Frankenweenie is just your typical Tim Burton. I didn't like this film as much as Corpse Bride, but it definitely impressed me more than Dark Shadows from the same year. The touching story of a boy and a dog-like pet that even death couldn't separate isn't complicated at all, but it's nice precisely because of its simplicity. The black-and-white visuals perfectly underscore the somber tone, which is what I love about Burton's films. The film is full of references to Burton's films and others, and if it weren't for the overly sentimental ending, it would be nearly perfect. In short, a film that has that typical Burtonian charm that I love to be swept up in.
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Gallery (90)
Photo © Walt Disney Pictures
![Frankenweenie - Photos](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w663/files/images/film/photos/161/035/161035918_1fc682.jpg)
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