Frankenweenie

Director Tim Burton has worked with Mary Shelly's Frankenstein story three times now, most notably with his “Edward Scissorhands” (1990). His latest film, “Frankenweenie” is a long form of his short film of the same name released in 1984. His new film is a stop-motion animation effort which looks similar to his well-known animated tale “A Nightmare Before Christmas” (1993). This one should win an Academy Award next year.

Frankenweenie is based on Frankenstein, but is not tragic and is far less threatening in tone than the original. A young boy, Victor Frankenstein, lives with his parents and beloved dog, Sparky. Victor is an outsider, shunned at school by most. When Sparky is killed by a speeding car, Victor feels he has lost his best friend. Then he gets the idea of bringing Sparky back to life.

Victor succeeds in bringing his pet back to life, but the secret gets out and other children in the neighborhood duplicate Victor's experiment with scary results. A giant turtle that looks like it came from an old Japanese horror film causes a lot of damage, and a large, menacing combination of bat and cat chases the kids around as well. It is up to Victor and his friends to try to stop these monsters from destroying his town.

There are many references to the old Frankenstein films and other old horror and science fiction films in this movie, including “Bride of Frankenstein,” “Dracula,” “Gamera” and others. In one funny scene, the neighbor's dog gets a shock and gets the distinctive Bride of Frankenstein streaks in her hair. The burning windmill scene, of course, is straight out of “Frankenstein.” Another scene is reminiscent of the cartoon classic “Bambi Meets Godzilla.”

While the film may be a bit too intense for young children, it will certainly be enjoyed by older kids, teens and adults.  It is funny, a bit creepy and it has some heart, too.