Reisz Frankenweenie

Victor Frankenstein & Sparky

Frankenweenie illustrates the touching story of Victor Frankenstein’s love for his dog, Sparky, in an old-time horror film adaptation for children. Victor is an outcast within his community. The only people who he understands are Sparky and his science teacher, Mr. Rzykruski. His science teacher explains how electrical energy can be harnessed after Sparky is hit with a car. This lecture gives Victor the idea to bring his only friend back to life. However, crossing the line between life and death has greater consequences as the other children in town discover Victor’s secret. Several other pets are brought back to life but not in the same light or same good will as Sparky. The town and children try to decipher the age-old question of what is right and what is wrong in this cross between children’s film and animated old horror film.

Based on Burton’s short film in 1984, this version brings back several of elements that Disney had previously rejected. Burton refused to produce the film in anything other that black & white. With a history of paying homage to other artists and original films, he chooses to keep the film in its old time horror-film black & white color scale. Events take place in a similar manner and with similar camera choices. However, the major difference is that Burton chooses to tell the story all through stop-animation in this recent version.

Stop-animation allows viewers to be less critical about the film’s plausibility. Films cast with real life people are subject to criticism on accuracy and focus on which stars feature in the film. Stop-animation invites the audience to look more into the messages behind the film. Burton and other crewmembers are also given more creative freedom with the use of stop-animation. Each caricature appears bigger than life or has one feature especially featured. Burton uses this to provide insight into characters, create another world for the audience, and make the world more inviting for the children audience. The stop-animation also holds a special place for Burton since it was his earliest professional artwork.

After 28 years of film experience since his first Frankenweenie rendition, Burton makes the recent film more his own and furthers it thematically. The 1984 film reflected the stereotypical 60s family with a white picket fence and 2.5 children. When a car in the original hits Sparky, viewers see the entire family on the front porch in that typical American Dream picture. This incident is a shock to Victor about the eminent reality of death. Americans often ignore the fact that life is short because they are striving so much for the future throughout their lives. This same idea was explored in Burton’s film Beetlejuice. In the 2012 Frankenweenie, Burton focuses less on this stereotypical picture and focuses more on Victor Frankenstein as an outcast from society. This outcast theme is represented in all of Burton’s films since his first short of Frankenweenie. When Sparky is hit with a car in the recent film, it was as a result of Victor playing baseball. Victor’s father and his desire for Victor to be “normal” is the reason that Victor is even at the baseball game that Sparky dies at. These differences from the original short versus the full stop-animation production create larger messages for the audience and present an overall different children’s film. 

The question of crossing the line between life and death is raised. Also, the responsibility of man with science is a prominent issue with the children raising the dead for the wrong reasons. While this idea of misuse of power and the greater issue of death run throughout the film, Burton presents the issue in such a different way that still attracts a younger audience. No matter what your age I would suggest watching Tim Burton’s recent Frankenweenie and perhaps even the original short if you’re feelin’ ambitious. While not his best production, the small differences certainly can reflect his progression through film over the years and is a Burton-esque film.