Frankenweenie (1984 film)

Frankenweenie
Frankenweenie
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Tim Burton
Screenplay by	Lenny Ripps
Produced by	Julie Hickson; Rick Heinrichs
Starring	Shelley Duvall; Daniel Stern; Barret Oliver
Cinematography	Thomas E. Ackerman
Edited by	Ernest Milano
Music by	David Newman; Michael Convertino
Production; company	Walt Disney Pictures
Distributed by	Buena Vista Distribution
Release date	December 14, 1984
Running time	30 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$1 million

Frankenweenie is a 1984 Tim Burton-directed short film produced by Walt Disney Pictures and co-written by Burton with Leonard Ripps. It is both a parody and homage to the 1931 film Frankenstein based on Mary Shelley's novel of the same name. It was filmed in 1983. 28 years later, Burton decided to work on a stop-motion 2012 remake of that film.^[1]^[2]

Plot

Victor Frankenstein (played by Barret Oliver) is a young boy who creates movies starring his dog, Sparky (a Bull Terrier, whose name is a play on the use of electricity in the film). After Sparky is hit by a car and killed, Victor learns at school about electrical impulses in muscles and is inspired to bring his pet back to life. He creates elaborate machines which bring down a bolt of lightning that revives the dog. Victor is pleased, but when the Frankensteins decide to introduce the revitalized Sparky to his neighbors, they become angry and terrified.

Sparky runs away, with Victor in pursuit. 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 when they attempt to use a cigarette lighter to try to see in the windmill, it is accidentally set on fire. Victor falls and is knocked out, but Sparky rescues him from the flames, only to be crushed by the windmill. The mob of neighbors, realizing their error, use their cars and jumper cables to "recharge" Sparky. He is revived, and all celebrate. Sparky falls in love with a poodle whose fur bears a strong resemblance to the hairdo of the Bride of Frankenstein and the film ends with Sparky's electricity making the words, "The End" and the it becomes still.

Cast

Barret Oliver as Victor Frankenstein: a young boy expert in science who is sad after his dog's death.
Shelley Duvall as Susan Frankenstein: Victor's mother.
Daniel Stern: as Ben Frankenstein: Victor's father.
Joseph Maher as Mr. Chambers
Roz Braverman as Mrs. Epstein
Paul Bartel as Mr. Walsh
Sofia Coppola as Anne Chambers
Jason Hervey as Frank Dale
Paul C. Scott as Mike Anderson
Helen Boll as Mrs. Curtis
Rusty James as Raymond
Sparky as Himself: Victor's dog. He dies and gets reanimated by Victor.

Releases

This short was included in the Special Edition,^[3] Collector's Edition,^[4] and Blu-ray 3D^[5] releases of The Nightmare Before Christmas and on the Blu-ray release of its remake.

Controversy

Burton was fired by Disney after the film was completed; the studio claimed that he had been wasting company resources, and felt the film was not suitable for the target young audiences.^[6] The short was originally planned to be released alongside the summer re-release of The Jungle Book, its release was rescheduled with the Christmas re-release of Pinocchio on December 21, 1984.^[7] Although the film was subsequently shelved, the film played in UK cinemas in 1985 in front of Touchstone Films' Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend. The film was given a home video release in 1992. It was released as an extra, along with Vincent, on The Nightmare Before Christmas DVD; Blu-ray; and UMD.^{[citation needed]}

Remake

Disney and Tim Burton produced a full-length remake using stop motion animation, which was released on October 5, 2012 in Disney Digital 3D and IMAX 3D. The original film is included as a bonus feature on the Blu-ray home video release.

Notes

^ Wheeler, Jeremy. "Frankenweenie". Allmovie. Archived from the original on September 29, 2012. Retrieved September 26, 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
^ This was the last theatrical release to be distributed under the Buena Vista label. Future releases would be under the Walt Disney Pictures/Productions label.
^ "The Nightmare Before Christmas". 28 September 2010. Retrieved 24 April 2018 – via Amazon.
^ "The Nightmare Before Christmas". 28 September 2010. Retrieved 24 April 2018 – via Amazon.
^ "The Nightmare Before Christmas". 30 August 2011. Retrieved 24 April 2018 – via Amazon.
^ "Tim Burton: How Disney fired me". yahoo.com. Archived from the original on 14 September 2017. Retrieved 24 April 2018. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
^ Mayo, Michael (February 1985). "Frankenweenie". Cinefantastique. 15 (2): 61. Retrieved September 13, 2017.

External links

Official website
Frankenweenie at IMDb
Frankenweenie at the TCM Movie Database

Template:Universal Monsters

[1] Wheeler, Jeremy. "Frankenweenie". Allmovie. Archived from the original on September 29, 2012. Retrieved September 26, 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

[2] This was the last theatrical release to be distributed under the Buena Vista label. Future releases would be under the Walt Disney Pictures/Productions label.

[3] "The Nightmare Before Christmas". 28 September 2010. Retrieved 24 April 2018 – via Amazon.

[4] "The Nightmare Before Christmas". 28 September 2010. Retrieved 24 April 2018 – via Amazon.

[5] "The Nightmare Before Christmas". 30 August 2011. Retrieved 24 April 2018 – via Amazon.

[6] "Tim Burton: How Disney fired me". yahoo.com. Archived from the original on 14 September 2017. Retrieved 24 April 2018. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

[7] Mayo, Michael (February 1985). "Frankenweenie". Cinefantastique. 15 (2): 61. Retrieved September 13, 2017.

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