On the joys of old-school Tim Burton-ism

My sister-in-law took me to see the new Tim Burton movie Frankenweenie yesterday, and I've gotta say I was pleasantly surprised.




Without spoiling too much, I can say that it was a welcome break from the way Burton's been doing things for the past few years. Frankenweenie, reminiscent of the 1982 stop motion animation Vincent and the 1984 short movie Frankenweenie,


was an amazingly charming story of a boy and his dog, that made me want to go out and get a dog like right now. It featured neither Johnny Depp nor Helena Bonham Carter, both of whom I'm kinda sick of in Tim Burton movies (despite being a fan generally). I really enjoyed the subtle references to the original Frankenstein story, as well as the tributes to old-school monster horror movies from the 50's and 60's. All in all a cute story with a lot of soul.

The dad in the movie did seriously piss me off though. Victor, the protagonist, was a kinda geeky introverted kid who loved his dog and didn't really have all that many other friends (although looking at his class, he didn't seem like a reject in any way. Everyone seemed weird), and while I can understand that parents might worry a little at the prospect, forcing your kid to play baseball by threatening to not sign his permission slip for the science fair and calling it a compromise is just a shitty thing to do. Do people actually do this? Is not doing sports such a big deal? My mom made me play the violin for a large portion of my childhood - something I hated with a passion. But I can't remember her ever holding it over my head that way, bargaining for something I wanted to do with something she wanted me to do. Isn't that just horribly shitty parenting? I'd be thrilled to have a kid like Victor some day - smart, talented, sweet and really loving. Also with a healthy dose of confidence and a 'don't give a fuck what others think about me' attitude. Science is awesome. Why not just let the kid do what he's into? It made me seriously love the teacher's speech.


Gotta say that a large part of my emotional reaction came from the little kids sitting next to me who during the sad scenes sobbed quietly in a heartbroken way. Now I generally find sad adults to be the most heart-wrenching thing ever, but these little kids sure gave them a run for their money. I'm not one to cry at movies, but those little sobs kinda made me choke up.

All in all, it was well worth a watch and probably something I'd like to see again. I'm not sure if it'll rise to the top of Tim Burton stardom like The Nightmare Before Christmas or Edward Scissorhands, but in my book it's certainly one of the better. Probably the best since Mars Attacks! in my book, even though I quite liked Big Fish as well (despite upon reflection figuring out that the main character was a horrible stalking liar, something I'll possibly get into at another time). If you haven't seen Frankenweenie, go do so. Plenty of aww-ing to go around.