One of the likely contenders for Best Animated feature at this year’s Oscars is Tim Burton’s stop-motion feature, Frankenweenie. The film, which is based on Burton’s 1984 live action short of the same name, is about a boy named Victor (Charlie Tahan) who, after losing his dog, turns to science in an attempt to bring his beloved friend back to life. When some of the students discover Victor’s living-dead secret, they try to steal his technique so that they can win the upcoming science fair. The results are disastrous and soon the town is in for a terrifying and unexpected surprise.
On the one hand, Frankenweenie is an original film based on an idea that Tim Burton had years ago, but on the other hand it’s a straight rip of the classic Frankenstein tale, with a few minor adjustments to make it kid friendly as well as being a send-off to all classic horror/monsters films and Burton’s past projects. Basically, Frankenweenie is a giant, fun reference to other cinematic and novelistic endeavors. It’s not a bad thing that he takes a familiar tale and makes it his own, but what’s surprising is the amount of references that exist in the film. Here are the list of films/characters/novels in which he pays homage to: Jurassic Park, Ghoulies, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Dracula, Mary Shelly, Frankenstein, Godzilla, Igor (pick which one), Bride of Frankenstein, Edward Scissorhands, possibly a Wolf Man and Van Helsing reference, Pet Cemetery, Beetlejuice and there’s also a Hollywood sign send-off as well. As you can see there are a ton of references and I’m sure there are plenty more that I missed but it’s only something the adults will pick up on.
I wasn’t as enthralled by Frankenweenie as some people; I think it’s a quality picture but it didn’t captivate me as much as The Nightmare Before Christmas did the first time I saw that as a kid. I also didn’t think it was that funny, clever yes, but not hilarious like some may lead you to believe. It’s definitely a close return to form for Burton who I personally think hasn’t made a really enjoyable film since Sweeney Todd, but more likely since Big Fish. This film screams his name, the style of the characters is reminiscent of every animated feature he’s been involved with to date, the entire supporting cast of characters look weird, are oddly shaped and have very distinct personas. The nicest part about the film is that it’s easy to follow and one that’s perfect for kicking back and relaxing to. What most will appreciate is its ability to span generational gaps making it a nice picture to watch with the entire family.
The one applaud worthy aspect of Frankenweenie is the animation. The stop-motion looks terrific as you completely forget you’re watching puppets; this is mostly due to the incredible level of detail and time that was put into the sets and characters. It’s amazing to see “real” animation and the use of “real” figurines in a day where CGI rules king.
Overall, Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie is a fun film and most certainly the best he’s made in the past few years. It may run a bit long for its story and is not nearly as funny as you’d like for a family friendly feature, but this dark little passion project is enjoyable enough to help pass the time.
The discs:
The 4-disc Blu-ray combo pack comes with a 3D Blu-ray, a regular Blu-ray, a DVD and digital copy. It isn’t a definitive edition tho
ugh as the special features on the Blu-ray are light, something you know Disney scaled back for a future release of the film.
The video quality on Blu-ray is outstanding and there are no complaints from me on that front. The audio is crystal clear as well providing the quality you’d expect from a Disney release such as this.
· All New Original Short: “Captain Sparky vs The Flying Saucers”—(2 min.) A Victor Frankenstein home movie, similar to the one we see early in the film, which he directed and voiced with Sparky as the main star in which he saves the planet. It’s a nice little short pulled from Victor’s archive.
· “Miniatures In Motion: Bringing ‘Frankenweenie’ To Life”—A 23 min. featurette which gives us an in-depth behind the scenes look at the set of Frankenweenie in the London studio where it was shot. There’s commentary from Tim Burton, producer Allison Abbate and various animators, set designers, painters and more. It gives us a nice look as to how the entire stop-motion process works, how slow and detailed a process it is, giving the viewer a newfound appreciation for the art of these types of animated films. The most interesting part to me was seeing the characters in color, something I wish the film could have been in since I think it would have had a drastic, but positive, impact on the film’s tone.
· “Frankenweenie” Touring Exhibit—A 5 min. segment featuring interviews withproducer Allison Abbate and executive producer Don Hahn at San Diego Comic Con talking about the travelling Frankenweenie tour which shows the original artwork from Tim Burton, has actual pieces of the sets put together for viewing and shows off the various props, costumes and individual characters for a fascinating little art exhibit that Burton fans can enjoy.
· “Frankenweenie” Original Live Action Short—This is the 30 min. original live-action short that Burton made back in the 80s and based this feature on. The short is by no means modest either as the production value is fantastic and features some big names in its cast like Shelly Duvall from The Shining, Daniel Stern from Home Alone, Sophia Coppola, and Barret Oliver from A Neverending Story. It’s a touching and engaging short that might actually be better than the its full length version.
· Music Video—“Pet Sematary” performed by Plain White T’s
Film Rating: Not Oscar worthy but it’s an enjoyable piece of stop-motion gothic art (6.5/10)
Blu-ray rating: Looks great but a little too light on the special features for a stop-motion picture (5/10)
Frankenweenie is now available on Blu-ray and DVD from Disney Home Entertainment.
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