It's beyond ironic that Disney is giving Tim Burton money to make a stop-motion animated feature based on a live-action short film that he helmed back in the early 1980s that more-or-less got him canned from Disney. For those who don't remember, Burton made a 25-minute black-and-white feature about a young boy who brings his dead dog back to life. It was intended to be shown before the 1984 re-issue of Pinocchio, but was pulled after Frankenweenie got slapped with a PG rating. After that, Burton left Disney, ended up getting a shot at Warner Bros directing Pee-Wee's Big Adventure the next year and the rest is history.
Anyway, this does look like an entertaining bit of old-school Burton, although I wish that Burton had again chosen the animated format to tell an original story rather than remaking an old project. Still, I'm among those who likes The Corpse Bride more than A Nightmare Before Christmas, so I'm happy to see many from that team returning. It is indeed ironic that the most exciting thing about this project is the fact that it's the first Tim Burton film without Johnny Depp in nearly ten years (Burton alumni Winona Ryder, Martin Landau, Martin Short, and Catherine O'Hara do lend their vocals). Ah, for the days when Burton had to beg/plead to cast Depp in Sleepy Hollow... I will say that I hope we don't see another trailer for this one, as the above perfectly sets up the premise and establishes the world and tone without divulging any further plot points. Anyway, Frankenweenie opens on October 5th. As always, we'll see...
Scott Mendelson
Scott Mendelson
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