Frankenweenie
Frankenweenie is the story of a boy named Victor who witnesses the death of his beloved dog Sparky. Victor harnesses the power of electricity to bring Sparky back to life but is than later blackmailed by fellow students at school into revealing the secret to bringtheir dead pets back to life which results in chaos. Tim Burton is known for having unusually “strange” films that have social commentary built into the film. This is also Tim Burton’s first claymation which did not feature it as a musical, but executed just as perfectly as the the rest of his claymations. This film even though intended for adults is very entertaining and a must watch for the whole family, or for your group of friends on a movie night. Tim Burton in Frankenweenie pays homage to the Frankenstein story while still portraying the message of the path of death through color and character development.
Through out the whole film you were catch yourself constantly recalling the original Frankenstein. Even the title of the film has part of Frankensteins name in it! You can see Tim Burton’s homage to Frankenstein in two different formats, the first is through imagery and the second is through dialogue. The family that Victor is apart of has the last name Frankenstein while his science teacher, Mr. Rzykurski, looks and talks like Dr. Frankenstein himself. I also won’t forget to mention Igor which is one of Victor’s peers at school. Edger is a seemingly creepy character with a hunchback, misplaced teeth, and comb over, it reminds you of a cliche character which belongs in a Frankenstein type of film.
Through out the whole film you were catch yourself constantly recalling the original Frankenstein. Even the title of the film has part of Frankensteins name in it! You can see Tim Burton’s homage to Frankenstein in two different formats, the first is through imagery and the second is through dialogue. The family that Victor is apart of has the last name Frankenstein while his science teacher, Mr. Rzykurski, looks and talks like Dr. Frankenstein himself. I also won’t forget to mention Igor which is one of Victor’s peers at school. Edger is a seemingly creepy character with a hunchback, misplaced teeth, and comb over, it reminds you of a cliche character which belongs in a Frankenstein type of film.
Mr. Rzykurski appears to be a very dark character ready to create any kind of monster if he has to and speaks in a foreign accent. Whenever he walks he has an echo in his step which makes his moments feel very creepy and unreal. This another simple example of Tim Burton’s ode to Frankenstein.
Tim Burton continues his ode with a character that looks very similar to the Frankenstein monster, Sparky himself. Sparky has so many qualities of Frankenstein, his side metal nails on his neck, the stapled corpse. But since this is a kids film he couldn’t make him look to creepy or act to frightening.
Tim Burton always has some sort of social commentary in his films. This however talks a lot about death and how we as a society fear it so much. Victor goes out of his way to bring back to life Sparky who was his only friend. But he brings him back at the cost of having Sparky look like a monster even though he isn’t. Victor was so afraid of being alone in this world that he developed a scheme that would break the natural order of things. The same goes for Victor’s peer’s that blackmailed him into showing them how to bring their pets back to life. Those characters at first just wanted to win the science fair and be the best, but they develop into something else. Their so fixed on bringing their beloved pets back from the grave they don’t see an consequence in breaking the natural order, they're afraid of losing the ones they love as we all are. But Tim Burton says not to be afraid, it’s just simply another path, one that we all must take. If you look at Burton’s other claymations you can notice that when you go to some type of land of the dead it’s colorful while the land of the living is black and white like in Frankenweenie.
Frankenweenie is a must see for everyone, it’s a great film filled with love, fear, and laughter. Mr. Ryzkurski compares his defection from the Soviet Union to lightning which had me on the edge of my seat with laughter. But never forget the social commentary being portrayed in the film, death is something we all fear as a society. But there's nothing to be afraid of, it’s just nature running it’s course. We can certainly mourn the dead but then we must move on.we must move on.
Frankenweenie is a must see for everyone, it’s a great film filled with love, fear, and laughter. Mr. Ryzkurski compares his defection from the Soviet Union to lightning which had me on the edge of my seat with laughter. But never forget the social commentary being portrayed in the film, death is something we all fear as a society. But there's nothing to be afraid of, it’s just nature running it’s course. We can certainly mourn the dead but then we must move on.we must move on.