Frankenweenie

Ah, Tim Burton. One of the greatest and strangest directors in the world. I was lucky enough to have seen "Frankenweenie". It was one of the many wonderful extra features on "Nightmare before Christmas". I would highly recommend this to any Tim Burton fan. It is in fact probably a must. You get to see his early work. It is very interesting on his take of "Frankenstein". The story has some laughs. I think it was meant that way. So if you enjoy any of Tim Burton's stories, I think you will definitely enjoy this one. "Frankenweenie" is a great story. Tim Burton. He has come a long way from these days.

10/10

Along with Vincent, this short is featured on the DVD of The Nightmare Before Christmas. Since I first read about it here on IMDb, I've wanted to watch it. It's a delightful little film version of Frankenstein, seen from a child's perspective, and with charm and a sweet sense of humor. You'd be hard pressed to find a film that, whilst remaining somewhat dark, still manages to appeal to the kid in all of us so well. Most anyone can enjoy this. The fact that Burton was fired from Disney for making this kind of film is quite sad. This short displays beyond any doubt that Tim could easily have handled great children's films. The plot is well-written and moves along nicely. The scene of Sparky's demise is almost painful to watch, as it is so easy to see where it's going, how it'll end. But Burton holds us there, keeps us in a position where we can only watch, anticipating what will happen but do nothing. The way the story develops and ends works very well. I shouldn't write it out in detail, as it is far too great to spoil. The acting is solid, with few, if any, performances lacking. The characters are credible, if slightly grotesque at times(a trait Burton brings to most of his projects, be they about the living or otherwise). The writing is very good all-round. The humor is neither cruel nor juvenile... just about everyone can laugh at it. It is at times somewhat dark, though. Not much left to say... I enjoyed this simply shot, fun little movie, a sign of great things to come for Tim Burton. I recommend this to any fans of him and anyone looking to watch alternate re-tellings of the great novel. 7/10

Saw this on the Nightmare Before Christmas DVD and thought it was pretty good. Apparently Disney thought it was too dark but with the exception of one shot of the dead dog it was actually pretty cute.

Some of the performances were over the top (neighbors) but I am pretty sure that was supposed to happen - I mean come on we're talking about resurrecting a dog people. The ending is a little sappy but that's because it's a family film I suppose. I really did enjoy seeing Frankenstein replayed in the tale of a dog as well as references to Bride of Frankenstein etc. What is particularly weird is seeing Daniel Stern & Shelly Duval play parent roles, as well as the kid who played the older brother on The Wonder Years. For the most part the pacing is good since I almost never checked my watch.

Good camera work for a young Tim Burton and overall decent movie which shows the latent talent of Mr. Burton before he got really famous.

8/10

Though this is one of Burton's earlier, shorter, and less popular films, it is perhaps one of his most creative and early "spoofs" (though I would not truly call it a spoof.) Burton created a wonderful, childish look at the classic horror film on which this was based. The greatest scene of the movie is the pet cemetery, with the small tombstones displaying the types of pets buried there (a fishbowl for fish, a cat with X's as eyes, etc.) And the putt putt golf course that serves as the famous windmill scene. I must also commend Burton for choosing to make this film in black and white. During the first few minutes I was not sure if it was going to work, but after most of the film, I realized that it was perfect. Original, cute, and obviously Tim Burton, this film is good for everyone, regardless of what Disney thinks (I guess they were afraid that kids would start digging up the graves of their old dead pets and end of shocking themselves.)

I viewed the stop-motion animated 2012 expanded remake of this first, and this live-action original is much better because its plot is direct, and it's focused on referencing mostly only one monster movie, the 1931 "Frankenstein," although it ends with a poodle with a white-lightning-striped Nefertiti hairdo à la the 1935 sequel. Having seen this, it's now more apparent how much padding unrelated to the pastiche of monster movies is in the 2012 movie: the father pushing his son to play baseball, the parents getting a science teacher fired, the school science competition, the Dutch festival, etc. The movie would've been better without all of that, and this 1984 short film is the proof.

It also doesn't reduce Victor's parents to negligible nincompoops, so it doesn't have the ridiculous message of the 2012 feature that children are smarter than adults. Additionally, professionals like Shelley Duvall and Daniel Stern add credibility to the parts. I don't recall my favorite line from this film being in the 2012 remake, either: "I guess we can't punish Victor for bringing Sparky back from the dead." The windmill scene bothers me in both movies, though; the adults should've and could've ran in there. Thankfully, the 1984 film is also less saccharine than the 2012 one.

The focus on paying homage to one horror film also benefits the plotting. Almost everything in the 1984 version is directed towards it. Dog dies, Victor reanimates dog with household appliances in a scene that otherwise resembles the 1931 film with flashing and spinning gizmos and the spark of life from a lightning bolt, townsfolk react in horror towards the creature and form a mob per usual for Universal's classic horror films, chasing dog and Victor to a fiery windmill climax--in a miniature golf course this time, which is a humorous touch absent from the 2012 version.

The one thing the 2012 one did better was the opening film-within-a-film, as it was a pastiche of the B-picture giant monster movies of the Atomic Age, which the outer movie, then, went on to parody. We don't get that here, although it's likewise pastiche from a young artist just as the outer film of "Frankenweenie" itself is, so the reflexivity to the film and to its director, Tim Burton, still works.