Frankenweenie (2012)

***Frankenweenie*** is a 2012 American 3D stop motion-animated science fiction comedy-horror film directed by Tim Burton and produced by Walt Disney Pictures. It is a feature-length remake of Burton's 1984 short film of the same name and is also both a parody of and homage to the 1931 film Frankenstein, based on Mary Shelley's 1818 book Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. The voice cast includes five actors who worked with Burton on previous films: Winona Ryder (Beetlejuice and Edward Scissorhands), Martin Short (Mars Attacks!), Catherine O'Hara (Beetlejuice and The Nightmare Before Christmas), Martin Landau (Ed Wood and Sleepy Hollow), and Conchata Farrell (Edward Scissorhands) along with some new voice actors, such as Charlie Tahan and Atticus Shaffer.

## Plot

Young Victor Frankenstein (Charlie Tahan) is a science nerd and outsider at school, but he does have one good friend: his dog, Sparky. But then, tragedy strikes, and Sparky shuffles off this mortal coil. Victor is heartbroken, but his science teacher (Martin Landau) gives him an idea of how to jolt old Sparky back to life. The experiment is successful, and all goes well, until Victor's fellow students steal his secret and use it to resurrect other dead animals -- with monstrous consequences.

## Why It Rocks

1. The stop motion animation is great and amazing. Similar to The Nightmare Before Christmas and Corpse Bride, it's usage of the stop motion medium manages to match the film's overall dark tone due to it's uncanny appearance.
2. The Black and White works in this movie, and it makes it like the original short. And, along with the stop motion animation, said color palette also plays a part in setting up the bleak and creepy tone that this movie relies on.
3. It faithfully follows the original short with a few new things to make it it's own feature film.
4. Just like the original short, the film isn't pure shock value in the slightest, as it has a robust and interesting plot, lore, and message.
5. The character designs are nice, even know they can look sometimes creepy, especially on Sparky.
6. Likable characters such as Victor (the main protagonist, a young genius who's scientific knowledge is to the extent that he managed to bring his deceased dog Sparky back to life), Sparky (Victor's dog who keeps his lively personality even after being brought back to life after being killed), and Elsa (Victor's kind-hearted and naive neighbour).
7. The special effects are amazing even for a stop motion movie.
8. The scene where Victor brings Sparky to life looks amazing.
9. Sparky's death at the end was very emotional. Even if he comes back to life not long after (something that serves as a major part of the film's plot and was heavily advertised to be a major event in the film before it was even released), the impact of the moment that it had on the characters and audience is still there.
10. Good humor.
11. Good twists and turns.
12. The film's main antagonist, the vampire cat, is great and it's battle against Sparky is very satisfying. And his death of being impaled through his entire body by a flaming rafter is absolutely terrifying.
13. The voice acting is amazing, as it features actors who worked with Burton on previous films, such as Catherine O'Hara.
14. The intro is a nice re-creation of the original's intro.
15. While the movie is still scary, at times it can feel a bit toned down so kids can enjoy it as well.
16. A good plot twist and turn.
17. The ending was pretty nice. As it has Sparky being revived by the townspeople via car batteries after his second death during the battle against Mr. Whiskers, and him and Persephone kiss.

## Reception

*Frankenweenie* received positive reviews. Based on 221 reviews, the film holds an approval rating of 87% on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, with an average rating of 7.54/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "*Frankenweenie* is an energetic stop-motion horror movie spoof with lovingly crafted visuals and a heartfelt, oddball story.". Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, gives the film a score of 74 based on 38 reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.

## Awards and nominations

The movie was nominated for the Academy Award for the best animated feature but lost to *Brave*.

## External Links

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