Frankenweenie Review

Frankenweenie


Release Date: 25th October 2012 - Australia


Production Companies
Walt Disney Pictures (presents)
Tim Burton Productions

Distribution
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Australia


Genre: Animation/Family/

Horror/Comedy

Rating: PG

Runtime: 87 minutes


Budget: $39,000,000

Box Office Gross: $85,613,658 (Worldwide)


Plot Summary
After his beloved dog
Sparky suddenly dies,
young Victor uses the

power of science to

revive his best friend -

with just a few minor

adjustments. When he

tries to hide his creation

from everyone, Sparky

gets out and strikes terror

into the hearts of Victor's

neighbours. He has to

prove to everyone that

Sparky is still a good and

loyal friend.


Voice Cast
Charlie Tahan - Victor
Frankenstein
Catherine O'Hara - Susan
Frankenstein/Weird Girl/

Gym Teacher
Martin Short - Edward
Frankenstein/Nassor/Mr.
Bergermeister
Martin Landau - Mr. Rzykruski
Winona Ryder - Elsa van Helsing

Atticus Shaffer - Edgar 'E' Gore
Robert Capron - Bob
Conchata Ferrell - Bob's Mom
James Hiroyuki Liao - Toshiaki

Tom Kenny - New Holland Towns Folk

Crew
Based on an Original
Idea/Producer/Director - Tim Burton
Based on a Screenplay - Leonard Ripps
Screenplay - John August

Executive Producer - Don Hahn
Producer - Allison Abbate

Co-Producer - Derek Frey
Casting Director - Ronna Kress

Production Designer - Rick Heinrichs

Head of Story - Robert Stevenhagen

Art Directors - Tim Browning and Alexandra Walker

Assistant Art Director - Barry Jones

Supervising Puppet Modeller - Andy Gent

Art Department Lead Modellers - Colin Armitage,

Roy Bell, Charles Fletcher, Maggie Haden,

Grant Humberstone and Gavin Richards

Art Department Illustrators: Los Angeles -

Mike Gabriel, Dennis Gruco, Jorgen Klubien,

Rustam Hasanov, Helen Mingjue Chen and

Abe Ongsysia

Visual Development Art Director: Los Angeles -

Andy Nicholson

Puppet Design and Development: Mackinnon and

Saunders - Ian Mackinnon, Noel Estevez-Baker,

Peter Saunders and Joe Holman

Director of Photography - Peter Sorg
Animation Director - Trey Thomas

Animation Supervisor - Mark Waring

Lead Animators - Anthony Elworthy,

Tobias Fouracre, Brian Leif Hansen and

Dobrin Yanev

Visual Effects Supervisor - Tim Ledbury

Film Editors - Chris Lebenzon
and Mark Soloman

1st Assistant Editor - Tom Kemplen

Supervising Sound Editor - Oliver Tarney

Sound Effects Designer - Michael Fentum

Re-Recording Mixers - Michael Semanick,

Christopher Boyes and Tom Johnson

Foley Artists - Jason Swanscott, Peter Burgis,

Jack Stew and Andie Derrick

Foley Mixer - Glen Gathard
Music - Danny Elfman


Review
In 1984, a young animator named Tim Burton, who was working at Disney, made his live-action short FRANKENWEENIE about a young boy who resurrects his dead dog through the power of science. Unfortunately, the fearful heads at Disney fired Burton when they felt it was too scary for young children and a waste of studio resources. It was not until 28 years later that Burton, a prolific film director, would revisit his old concept with Disney following the joint commercial success of Alice in Wonderland. Admittedly, I never watched the original short, but I always knew that director Tim Burton would remake FRANKENWEENIE into a full-length animated feature. He and writer John August expanded the original story to create a stunning small movie filled with strange yet relatable characters.

There are a few scary parts that may be frightening to young children. I liked the film being in black or white, considering it was a fun tribute to the classic horror movies of the 1930s, 40s and 50s. Martin Landau's voice work as the science teacher is superb with Vincent Price-like glee. The stop-motion animation was good and is the same gorgeous piece of work we've come to expect from Burton's previous forays into stop-motion animation.

FRANKENWEENIE is cute, funny and heartfelt but dark and, at times, a bit frightening with a spooky feel. It follows Tim Burton's vision of what this film is supposed to be and has all the themes like love, loss and science. While it isn't one of Burton's best stop-motion movies, it's a solid film nonetheless. Trust me, this labour of love from the director is worth seeing.

Star rating: (4/5) Good Movie

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