Frankenweenie: 3D Blu-ray Review
The Movie:
Tim Burton brings us the stop motion animation film based on his 1984 live-action short film of the same name. With the voice acting of Charlie Tahan, Frank Welker, Winona Ryder, Catherine O’Hara, Martin Short, Martin Landau, Robert Capron and Atticus Shaffer, Frankenweenie tells the story of young Victor (Tahan) and his dog Sparky. After losing Sparky due to an unfortunate accident, Victor is completely devastated. He is inconsolable but his parents (Short and O’Hara) try their best to make him feel better. During science class at school he gets the idea to attempt to reanimate Sparky using electricity. Victor takes a trip one evening to the pet cemetery, retrieves Sparky and that’s when the magic happens. Sparky is once again alive due to Victor’s experiment. Sparky eventually gets out and makes his presence known in the neighborhood causing some of the kids to get very curious regarding the way he accomplished this. Soon enough those same kids attempt to recreate what Victor has done but with monstrous results.
Although stop motion animation wasn’t created by Tim Burton I really do feel like he added a style to it that makes it his own. I love the goth/dark look of most of his films. He does it in a certain way that is creepy but not so creepy that kids can’t enjoy it. This film will be added to the other films in his legacy that people will eventually consider classics. As dark as this movie may look or seem it really is a touching story about a boy and his dog that has tons of heart. All Victor wants is his best friend back and he’s willing to try anything. I watched this with my daughter and she absolutely loved it! I asked her what she loved about it exactly and she told me that she thought the inclusion of Edgar E. Gore (Igor), a character with ties to Van Helsing and the poodle that looked like The Bride of Frankenstein were some of the really cool things about it. With the film being completely in black and white I felt like it added a lot more to the story and paid homage to the classic monster movies of the past.
The 3D:
Disney has had a great track record for their 3D home releases and this was no exception. The already stunning visuals from the stop motion animation combined with a fantastic 3D transfer of the film made for a phenomenal evening. Most 3D features have scenery that wants to pop out at you but this was quite different. It’s hard to explain exactly but it felt more like you were looking at a moving diorama (if that makes any sense to you all). It made me feel like I could reach in and try to grab what was on screen at any given moment. Disney really has done a fantastic job with these releases and I can’t wait to see more!
Special Features:
Original Short: Captain Sparky Vs The Flying Saucers -A neat short about Victor and Sparky looking back at one of the many Super 8 shorts they made.
Miniatures In Motion: Bringing Frankenweenie To Life – An awesome 23 minute feature that shows a lot of detail that goes into creating stop motion animation. This is a really fantastic look at the sculpting process and how many sets are made for the film.
Frankenweenie Touring Exhibit -Once the crew was done filming they decided to take some of the models and set pieces around to the different Disney parks so the public could see first hand these beautifully crafted creations.
Original Live Action Frankenweenie Short -The 1984 short that started it all. It laid out the blueprint for what one day would become the feature we see today. It’s running time is about 30 minutes and stars Shelley Duvall, Daniel Stern, Barret Oliver, Sofia Coppola and Jason Hervey. There are certain scenes that are lifted straight from this short and placed into the the actual feature.
Plain White T’s “Pet Sematary” Music Video – A video for the song that was originally done by The Ramones.
This is another CAN’T MISS release and I suggest you pick it up whether you have kids or you’re a big kid yourself.
Frankenweenie is out NOW from Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment
Below are a few clips from Frankenweenie. Enjoy!
“Starts With A Drawing”
“Bringing Sparky Back”
“Mr. Rzykruski”
“Colossus Lives”
