Frankenweenie (1984)

You won't be disappointed!

That was an excellent one.

Strong and Moving!

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

And this is probably also my biggest criticism for Tim Burton's short film "Frankenweenie" from over 30 years ago. A bit of drama, comedy, fantasy, family, horror, a touch of Lassie here, an ounce of Old Yeller there and some elements from "Edward Scissorhands" and of course Frankenstein. The half hour is entirely ion black-and-white. This was already Burton's 7th short film, although he was only in his mid20-s when this was made. Very prolific for such a young age. I cannot draw any parallels to the animated full feature from three years ago, but I was rather underwhelmed by the original here. The cast is decent, you may have seen the actors in "The Neverending Story", "Home Alone", "The Shining" or "The Godfather 3" and they all played major characters in these. Even the dog was in "Blue Velvet". Looks like Burton knows talent when he sees it. Still, something was missing in this short movie, because somehow I really wasn't captured by the story at all. Maybe Burton should really entirely focused on one genre, maybe horror and I'd have appreciated it more. Not recommended.

This is another cult Tim Burton short – although at 29 minutes, live-action, and featuring the likes of Shelley Duvall, Daniel Stern and child actor Barret Oliver (from the same year's THE NEVER ENDING STORY), it is a considerably more ambitious effort.Again, it draws inspiration from classic horror cinema and, in fact, its variation on the Frankenstein theme made for a belated addition to my James Whale retrospective of some months back! Here we have an adorable dog (that is even made-up by its child owner to star in amateurish monster movies!) being run over by a car and killed. The boy cannot get over its loss but, suddenly, during chemistry class at school (presided over by an uncredited Paul Bartel!), he learns how dead things can be literally reanimated via electricity.So he goes to work in the family basement – while his oblivious parents think he is acting strangely as a way of coping with the dog's death – and creates a makeshift Frankenstein (incidentally, that is the boy's very surname and he is, of course, called Victor) lab, complete with mounting slab! Unearthing the dead pet from the nearby graveyard, the funeral set-piece is a veritable homage to the opening sequence from Whale's FRANKENSTEIN (1931), as is the fiery climax at the mill!Immediately after being revived, the dog (appropriately stitched-up, which however makes one wonder just how bad the afore-mentioned accident had been!) runs out into the streets again (the boy having fallen asleep from exhaustion) and, causing no end of havoc, terrifies the neighbors. These in turn, present themselves before the parents to give them a piece of their mind; the latter, naturally, are completely unaware of what has been going on but, even when Stern sees Oliver feeding the dog, he claims the neighbors were mistaken as he clearly needs time to process this astonishing fact! Eventually, the family decides to have the other people in the street meet the dog and verify for themselves that it is its old self. Predictably, however, their plans goes awry as the dog panics and, once more, goes on the lam, heading towards its resting-place (as if it did not want to keep on living unnaturally)! With the boy running after it and the whole neighborhood following in an uproar, we assist to the inevitable near-tragedy as the mill by the cemetery is accidentally set on fire with Oliver still inside. However, the dog springs into action to save its owner and dies again in the attempt; suddenly seen as a hero by the neighbors, the latter put their heads together to revitalize it once more through the combined electrical currents from their car batteries!Unlike his previous effort, VINCENT (1982), then, this comes with a happy ending; still, this was no cop-out as, in spite of the morbid subject matter, it is essentially an uplifting yarn about puppy love. Being a lifelong animal lover myself, I know exactly how the boy felt about the loss of a beloved pet: my large but quiet and friendly 11-year old dalmation called "Renoir" passed away only last year – right on the day that the World Cup final was held! Besides, a few years before it was lost to us for 3 whole weeks when someone inadvertently left a couple of doors in the house open and, until we found it again in the company of other stray dogs, we had already gotten ourselves another dog – easily the loveliest and liveliest we ever had but also needful of constant medical attention at first – so we dubbed it "Bresson"!

It's easy to see where this wonderful little tale got its inspiration from. It was from the 1931 film 'Frankenstein', which is only strengthened by the fact that this is filmed in black and white. This short is like a lighter version of 'Frankenstein'. It's more cute than scary or macabre, although it still has some of that familiar dark feeling. Above all the things, this is film-making of quality, with awesome visuals in a Gothic style.The music is terrific, the pace is excellent, the locations cinematography is marvelous, the characters are generally likable, the actors are great, there is humor... it's a little movie that oozes charm and nostalgia.Barret Oliver, the cute kid from 'The Neverending Story' (1984) and 'D.A.R.Y.L.' (1985), is once again terrific, here as Victor Frankenstein. Shelley Duvall aka "Olive Oyl" offers another great performance as Susan Frankenstein. Daniel Stern is Ben Frankenstein. Even here he already showed potential as a comic (and this was years before becoming a superstar with the first two 'Home Alone' movies). Even looking younger and without beird and mustache, ain't no mistaking on that "Marv" face.And there is also Sparky the Bull Terrier, awesome as Sparky (just like his name in real life). Sparky is a nice name for a dog. Bull Terriers have got to be among the most peculiar-looking dogs, in great part thanks to their unique head in the shape of an egg.The title 'Frankenweenie' is unusual. I can perfectly see where it got the "Franken" from. As for the "weenie", it probably is meant to make one realize it's a "kid's version" so that it's suitable for kids to watch and not scary like the original tale.This "piece of a watchmaker's shop" is the best thing Tim Burton ever did. This is his masterpiece.Title in Portugal: 'Frankenweenie', I guess.

I like Tim Burton in general, he has been hit and miss recently, but as I've said many times when he's good he is good. Frankenweenie is an example of when Tim Burton was good. It is a delightful homage to Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein, yet in a child's perspective. It benefits hugely from crisp black and white photography, a beautiful score from David Newman, fine direction and a witty script. The story is also well structured and well paced, and the dog is wonderfully trained. While funny and atmospheric, Frankenweenie also has a somewhat poignant ending. The acting is great, Barrett Oliver is very engaging(as he always was), Shelley Duvall is very good and Daniel Stern is both entertaining and warm-hearted. I even liked Sophia Coppola in this. All in all, brilliant and one of the best in Burton's career. 10/10 Bethany Cox