Aww Frankenweenie, where have you been all my life? And I have almost been waiting all my life for this, as it is almost 30 years ago since Burton made the original short film. This is the film that Tim Burton has been waiting to make for a long time. When he worked for Disney as an illustrator he made a short live action version of the story, and well, they were not amused (They fired him). So he has now revisited the story and made it into a stop motion animation, filmed in black and white and played out in 3D. And it really works perfectly. The black and white nods back to the old horror films (as does the story) and the 3D works so well with the puppets (are they referred to as puppets? More like little works of art). It’s beautiful, scary and you can really feel the passion and emotion that Burton has put into this, it really is his pet project. There were several moments when I had to hold back the tears too (I get emotional when people’s pets die, and that’s not a spoiler!)
Winona Ryder has lent her voice to an awkward gothic young girl, dressed in the customary black Burtonesque outfit. Ryder seems to be forever trapped as the girl in Beetlejuice - representing every person who was a little bit odd as a child- and this is how she should remain forever.
The film is a wonderful homage to 1930s horror movies, and you even get a glimpse of Christopher Lee. For me this was one of the best, if not the best, Tim Burton films, as it captures his style and passion perfectly. I read one review saying that all his films were too ‘samey’ and he needed to do something different. Of course he has a style, like many other artists and film makers, and Burton should keep doing what he’s doing, he does it well J
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