Beautiful and weird

Rating: 9/10 (24 October 2005)

Artistically speaking, this is a beautiful film with incredible stop motion camera-work AND a really stylish atmosphere. The characters are really captivating and just plain "cool". Halloween Town is also a visual delight. In almost every way I consider this a wonderful film. However, for people like me who are not particularly enamored with musicals, the music is definitely the low-point. It's not that the songs are bad, but that there are so many of them. The dialog is mostly sung and I found it detracted, slightly, from my viewing experience. However, considering that almost all the high school students I teach LOVE this movie, I certainly seem to have the minority opinion. So, for those who are not into musicals, still watch it--you'll enjoy it. But, like me you may also wish they'd done a few less numbers! PS--On the DVD, you also get FRANKENWEENIE (a half hour short) and VINCENT (also a short and the seeming inspiration for NBC). They make this a MUST-HAVE DVD.