I will be honest in saying that I was not that keen on seeing Disney's new movie Frankenweenie. It's a Tim Burton film and his movies are known for being strange and a little "out there." But the thing that made everyone in the audience fall in love with this movie is the fact that at the core of the film, it's really a lovable story about a boy and his dog - even though the dog is dead.
Victor (voiced by Charlie Tahan) lives with his parents Mr. and Mrs. Frankenstien (voiced by Martin Short and Catherine O'Hara) in a small town called New Holland where everyone knows every one's business. Victor is very intelligent and is a scientist in the making. He loves to do science experiments and tinker with whatever his active imagination can come up with. And he is looking for a way to win the science fair at school. His parents are worried about him because he is always hold up in the attic and has no friends. But Victor does not need any friends because his best friend is his dog Sparky.
Sparky and Victor do everything together and they have a great friendship. But Mr. Frankenstien insists that Victor join a softball team so he can get some exercise and make friends. When Victor hits a home run ball, Sparky runs after it into the street - and you can guess the rest.
Victor is devastated at losing Sparky. When he is in science class with his new teacher who is giving a presentation using electricity and a dead frog, he gets an idea that he just cannot get out of his head. New Holland gets electric storms all the time and Victor takes every electronic appliance in and out of his house up to the attic and waits for the next electric storm to happen. He digs up Sparky from the pet cemetery and does the experiment of a lifetime - and Sparky lives - well as long has Victor gives him a boost of electricity every now and then.
But now that he has his best friend back, how does he keep this fact hidden from everyone in town? Especially since Sparky's tail keeps falling off. When the strangest boy in Victoria's class learns that Sparky is alive, he blackmails Victor into showing him how he did it - and then tells every kid in town which sets off some of the strangest (and funniest) events that the sleepy town of New Holland has ever seen.
Despite the dark story line, this movie is really lovable and cute. Sparky is the most adorable dog in the world and he is a cross between Lassie and Benji. And the town's people of New Holland are a hoot. For parents who wonder if kids will be disturbed by the fact that Sparky is, well dead, I can tell you that my son loved this movie and so did all the other kids at the screening. And this movie is perfect for 3D, especially the monster scenes.
Frankenweenie opens in theaters on TODAY Friday, October 5, 2012 and is a great movie to see for Halloween.
Go behind the scenes with Tim Burton's stop-motion animated film, "Frankenweenie" with this exclusive interactive book. Delve into the details of the concept, creation and execution of the film with beautiful photos, art, interviews, music, 3D model characters, and much more! Created with Apple's unique iBooks Author app, the book will allow the audience to immerse themselves in Tim Burton's process from sketch to screen.
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Enjoy!
Disclosure: I and my son attended a media screening of the movie. All opinions are my own.
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