Frankenweenie

Frankenweenie is a 1984 short film directed by Tim Burton, produced with Walt Disney Pictures and co-written by Burton with Leonard Ripps (Lenny Ripps). It is a parody of and an homage to the 1931 film Frankenstein based on Mary Shelley's book of the same name. Burton is currently working on a full-length stop motion remake for cinematic release.

Plot

Victor Frankenstein (played by Barret Oliver) is a young boy who creates movies starring his dog, Sparky (a bull terrier). After Sparky is hit by a car, Victor learns at school about electrical impulses in muscles, and gets the idea to bring his pet back to life. He creates elaborate machines which bring down a bolt of lightning that revives the dog. While Victor is pleased, his neighbors are terrified by the animal, and when the Frankensteins decide to introduce the revitalized Sparky to them, they become angry and afraid. Sparky runs away, with Victor in pursuit, and they find themselves at a local miniature golf course, and hide in its flagship windmill. The Frankensteins' neighbors, now an angry mob, arrive on the scene, and while using a cigarette lighter to try to see in, the windmill is accidentally lit on fire. Victor falls and is knocked out, but Sparky rescues him from the flames, in time to be crushed by the windmill. The mob realizes its error, and use their cars, along with jumper cables, to "recharge" Sparky. He is revived, and all celebrate. Sparky later falls in love with a poodle with a hairstyle strangely resembling the Bride of Frankenstein's.

Cast

• Shelley Duvall ... Susan Frankenstein
• Daniel Stern ... Ben Frankenstein
• Barret Oliver ... Victor Frankenstein
• Joseph Maher ... Mr. Chambers
• Roz Braverman ... Mrs. Epstein
• Paul Bartel ... Mr. Walsh
• Sofia Coppola ... Anne Chambers (as Domino)
• Jason Hervey ... Frank Dale
• Paul C. Scott ... Mike Anderson
• Helen Boll ... Mrs. Curtis
• Sparky ... Sparky
• Rusty James ... Raymond

Controversy

Burton was fired by Disney after the film was completed; the studio claimed that he had wasted company resources and felt the film was too scary for young audiences. But after the mainstream success of Burton's features Beetlejuice, Pee-wee's Big Adventure and Batman, the film was given a home video release in 1994.^[1] It is currently available as an extra, along with Vincent, on The Nightmare Before Christmas DVD, Blu-Ray and UMD for PSP.

Remake

In November 2007, Tim Burton signed a deal with Disney to remake the film as a feature length, 3D stop motion film.^[2] In January 2009, the film was scheduled for a November 2011 release date^[3] and John August was hired to write.^[4] Burton began the casting of his movie end of November 2009 and Disney Pictures will produced the movie.^[5]

Notes

External links

• Frankenweenie at the Internet Movie Database