OVP: Frankenweenie (2012)

Film: Frankenweenie (2012)
Stars: Charlie Tahan, Catherine O'Hara, Martin Short, Winona Ryder, Martin Landau, Conchata Ferrell
Director: Tim Burton
Oscar History: 1 nomination (Best Animated Feature)
Snap Judgment Ranking: 3/5 stars

Tim Burton has fallen on hard times creatively-yes, everyone in the world seemingly saw his look down the rabbit hole, but that doesn't make it a good movie.  In fact, it's hard to fathom that the man who made the dreadful Charlie and the Chocolate Factory remake also was responsible for the blissful Nightmare Before Christmas.  Happily, he still occasionally graces the world of animation, and so we got the fun, if fairly simple, Frankenweenie.

The film, shot in a beautiful black-and-white, is about a young boy named Victor (just one of many allusions to the Mary Shelley novel and the James Whale films) whose beloved dog has died from being hit by a car.  Not one to take mortality lying down, Victor is struck by an idea during a wildly manic lecture by his science teacher (brilliantly voiced by Burton treasure Martin Landau).  He decides to bring back his aptly-named dog Sparky with a combination of lightning and household appliances.  The sequence is probably the best part of the movie-eerily filled with old monster movie magic and lots of fun (but not excessive) Burton touches, of course the dog comes back to life, patched together with pillow sheets and handy sewing work on the tail.

Of course, this being the Frankenstein story, Sparky doesn't stay a secret for long, and in a quest to win the science fair, Victor's many classmates blackmail and scheme there ways into bringing back pets of their own, though they end up being true monsters rather than the adorable Sparky.  Since this is a children's movie, we learn that it is love that caused Sparky to be able to be sweet and stay alive, but don't let that sugary anecdote make you think that the film doesn't have a dark-and-twisted side.  While Burton doesn't seem capable of manifesting that macabre into his live-action films, instead relying on grand and ornate set pieces and costumes to make up the difference, his animated films still have that sense of dement.

I will throw in a caveat right here about the dement-I'm not normally a good gage of what children should watch or not (this isn't a Movie Mom blog), but I will say that the four-year-olds sitting in front of me were loudly sobbing both times that Sparky died, so parents should proceed with caution.

Burton relies on many of his regulars in the vocal cast, though oddly his most-used favorites of late, Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter, are nowhere to be found.  O'Hara, Short, Ryder, Landau, and Ferrell have all been in Burton's films prior to this, and they quickly adapt well to the tone of his film.  I've already mentioned Landau, playing the over-the-top science teacher, as a highlight, and while O'Hara voices a number of characters, the best by far is the character simply named "Weird Girl," who has an unhealthy obsession with her cat, and its feces alleged psychic ability (it sounds weird, and it is, but it works in the film's grossest sight gag).  This is their third film together, and once again Ryder is cast as the goth, good-natured but odd girl, and though she's fine, it's not exactly out-of-the-box casting-before she even spoke I could tell that this character would be played by Ryder.

The film gets a teensy bit repetitive in the final third of the film, and the sappy/sweet ending had an internal war over whether it was charming or saccharine, but overall this is a film I'd recommend.  Though its box office has been weak, it's got the sort of delicious animation the Academy goes for, particularly in a five-wide field, though I do hope that it doesn't come at the expense of the similarly-themed, but better Paranorman.  Paranorman may not have had as flashy of animation, but its story was solid, and its characters will stick longer with you.  Either way, though, both are fun ways to spend Halloween viewing, and its always good to see Burton striving for excellence once again.

And now, over to you-what'd you think of Frankenweenie?  Where does it rank in Burton's lengthy filmography?  And between Frankenweenie, Paranorman, and the similarly themed Hotel Transylvania, do you have a favorite?