BLU-RAY/DVD REVIEWS

A boy’s best friend is his dog, especially if he has no other friends. Young Victor (voiced by Charlie Tahan) loves Sparky, takes him everywhere he can, makes him a star in his home movies. One day, Sparky gets loose and is struck by a car. Victor falls into a depression, until he learns the powers of reanimation from his science teacher (Martin Landau, who won an Oscar for playing Bela Lugosi in Burton’s Ed Wood), who bears a purposely striking resemblance to Vincent Price. Victor digs up Sparky’s corpse, puts on his lab coat and, well, you’ve seen Frankenstein.

Knowing his parents (Martin Short and Catherine O’Hara) might have him committed, Victor makes every attempt to hide his furry, bolt-necked friend from them and the rest of New Holland (which could very well be a sister city of the town in Edward Scissorhands). Eventually, Victor’s classmates find out and want the secret. This, of course, leads to a tremendously destructive third act with burning windmills and giant undead pets.

So many of Burton’s more recent efforts just feel like Burton trying to live up to his reputation. Frankenweenie, with its curious characters and gothic locations, feels like the first genuine Tim Burton film since Sleepy Hollow. (It’s also the first he has directed, produced and written since 1990). Burton is a master of stop-motion animation—as seen in both his directed features (The Corpse Bride) and those he produced/added his touch to (The Nightmare Before Christmas)—so it’s no surprise that the work here is impeccable, rightfully earning him a second Oscar nomination (with a win not out of the question).

Some will see Frankenweenie as Burton going back to the well after so many consecutive critical failures (his last two films averaged a 44.5% on Rotten Tomatoes). That’s not necessarily the case. Frankenweenie is recycled material, but the labor assures naysayers it’s still far from a phoned-in effort. It was shot frame by frame with a large team using hundreds of models. It is perfectly constructed, cleverly demented and fully developed. There is no reliance on Johnny Depp or Helena Bonham Carter. Instead, this is Burton remembering his talents and creating a story that is close to him and one he cares about.

Miniatures in Motion: Bringing Frankenweenie to Life (23:06): Director Tim Burton, producer Allison Abbate, executive producer Don Hahn, and more sit down to discuss the evolution of Frankenweenie, while viewers are given a behind-the-scenes look at the production facilities and models.

Frankenweenie Touring Exhibit (4:36): This featurette shows off the Frankenweenie exhibit (which featured a number of models, sets and storyboards) that traveled the world from San Diego to Japan.

Music Video for Plain White T’s cover of the Ramones’ “Pet Sematary.”

Also included on this disc are two shorts: the new Captain Sparky vs. the Flying Saucers (2:25) and the original 1984 Frankenweenie (30:03), starring Barret Oliver, Daniel Stern and Shelley Duvall.

DVD:

The DVD includes Frankenweenie Touring Exhibit and the Music Video.