As far as animated efforts from Tim Burton goes, “Frankenweenie” isn’t such a bad bit of fan service. Director Tim Burton has always expressed interest in remaking his short film “Frankenweenie,” and it’s a shame since the original short isn’t a bad movie. All things considered, it’s short, sweet, and to the point. Not to mention it’s cute, sad, and has that Burton American Gothic whimsy we’d later see in “Edward Scissorhands.” With 2012’s remake of “Frankenweenie,” director Tim Burton is able to do pretty much whatever he wants, while expanding on an already interesting twist on Mary Shelly’s story.
Victor Frankenstein is a sweet and loving young boy with a knack for creating interesting inventions and filming his own homemade movies. Frankenstein owns a wonderful dog named Sparky, who is a fun loving and high spirited pooch who, during one of Victor’s baseball games, runs in to the road to fetch a ball and is run over by a car. “Frankenweenie” opts for Burton’s typical stop motion animation style, along with his trademark animation of characters that look pale, and near death, all the while soaking in the black and white color palette for atmosphere. This makes the story all the more tragic as Victor finds himself incapable of dealing with the loss of Sparky, and figures out a solution for getting his dog back once and for all. The general tone behind ‘Frankenweenie” is trademark Burton eccentricity, with all adult characters completely oblivious to their paranormal surroundings, while the younger adults are completely in tune with their god complexes.
The relationship between Victor and Sparky is sweet, especially when Sparky is resurrected, allowing for some interesting mayhem all around Victor’s neighborhood, while Victor’s mom and dad Mr. and Mrs. Frankenstein chalk it up to his inability to cope. The narrative is stretched wider as Edgar “E” Gore is introduced as a nemesis for Victor, who also wants to play God. Victor is blackmailed in to creating twisted creatures for Gore, and soon the entire neighborhood is comprised of children that want their own demented machinations of their own animals. “Frankenweenie” successfully stretches the narrative to where Victor and Sparky have more of a purpose as accidental master and creation whom have to reverse their damage. In a time where Burton seems so interested in patting himself on the back, “Frankenweenie” is a sweet bit of humility. Yet another horror cartoon for the kids I see playing during Halloween for many families, “Frankenweenie” is a bittersweet and delightful bit of animated fare about coping with the loss of a pet, and learning to part with loved ones.