Frankenweenie
2012
****
Director: Tim Burton
Cast: Catherine O'Hara, Martin Short, Martin Landau, Charlie Tahan, Atticus Shaffer, Winona Ryder
Young Victor loves science, moviemaking, and his dog Sparky. When Sparky is killed, Victor uses lightning to resurrect his faithful companion. The twist is that there is no twist: Sparky returns as his usual self, it's the response of the kids and grown-ups around the dog that creates the drama. Tim Burton's black and white stop motion animation is a nicely creepy and enjoyably funny gothic horror comedy which pays loving homage to Frank Whale's classics Frankenstein (1931) and Bride of Frankenstein (1935). Burton's film, which he expanded from his own 1984 short, makes a good visual and thematical companion piece to his 2005 animation Corpse Bride.
