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Tim Burton

Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie – A Fun Homage To Creepy Movies Past

6 October 2012 by Suzannah Otis 3 Comments

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FrankenweenieFans of Tim Burton will no doubt have seen or heard of the original incarnation of Frankenweenie, which was produced by Walt Disney Pictures in 1984 as a live action black and white short film. Burton was fired for making the film, for “wasting company resources.” Disney later saw the error of their ways and came to understand Burton’s creative genius. As a result, we now have such classics as The Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach, the live-action Alice in Wonderland and now a full-length stop-motion animation version of Frankenweenie.

For those who have not seen the original Frankenweenie from 1984, I urge you to take the time to watch. The new film, released on October 5, is a loving tribute and enhancement to Burton’s original concept, to the point of specific scenes, sets and lines being recreated. I just re-watched it myself in preparation for this review, after seeing the new film twice, and loved seeing little details such as the pet cemetery, rain on the window, and the first classroom scene, are almost identical in the original. The windmill, which acts as the iconic centerpiece for the town of New Holland in the full-length version comes from a miniature golf course in the original short. As a note, this review will discuss characters and plot points from the new film, so consider this a spoiler alert and proceed at your own risk.

Frankenweenie is, at its roots, an homage to the 1931 movie Frankenstein, based on Mary Shelley’s novel. The main character of Frankenweenie is Victor Frankenstein, the same as in the book. In the new movie, Victor’s neighbor is Mr. Burgermeister, a name which you may recognize from the pioneers of stop-motion, Rankin-Bass, and their Christmas special, Santa Claus is Coming to Town. Mr. Burgermeister not only shares the demeanor of his namesake but a bit of his look too. The Rankin-Bass Burgermeister was voiced by Paul Frees, who is of course famed among Disney fans as the voice of the “Ghost Host” in the Haunted Mansion, along with countless narrations for Disney attractions, including Disneyland’s beloved Adventure Thru Inner Space, now sadly closed. In the new movie, Burgermeister’s niece, Elsa Van Helsing, is a nod to another classic horror story: Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

Mr. Burgermeister
Mr. Burgermeister

There are many other tributes to movies past, which may be open for interpretation depending on your cinematic knowledge. I felt like the Sea Monkeys we see take over the town were very reminiscent of the Gremlins in how they acted, and the scene where they attack a phone booth reminded me of Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds. These could just be coincidences of course. One more obvious point of reverence was toward Godzilla movies.  An ex-turtle named Shelley – a nod to Mary Shelley and Shelley Duval, who played Victor’s mom in the 1984 version, becomes a giant Gamera-sized turtle like we’ve seen Godzilla battle in the past. At one point, the monster turtle stomps in front of a cinema which has a marquee declaring Bambi is coming soon. I wasn’t the only one that thought of the classic animation short Bambi Meets Godzilla when seeing that on screen.

More than movie history appreciation, the general style and feel of the film is a wonderful collection of Burton’s artistic designs. The creatures, townsfolk, and main characters resemble past creations and drawings we’ve seen in concept art and the books he’s published. I could be wrong, but I swore I saw a Jack Skellington mask on my second viewing of the film, right after Nassor is knocked into a cart of souvenirs at the fair. Also, fans of the Amazing Stories series Family Dog episode will recognize the design of Sparky as being directly descended from that character. Burton assisted with character design and production of the Brad Bird story. So in that sense, the film is a wonderful little homage to Tim Burton himself.

Mr. Rzykruski
Mr. Rzykruski

The science teacher, Mr. Rzykruski is modeled after Vincent Price, well-known as Burton’s inspiration for much of his work. Voiced by Martin Landau, who played Bela Lugosi in Burton’s production of Ed Wood, he is part of the ‘family of voices’ we’ve now come to expect from Burton’s productions. Mr. Rzykruski is the voice of reason, exposing the children of the school to new ideas and urging them to reach their potential as human beings. His comments to the parents at a school meeting are an excellent commentary on life in America, where new ideas are sometimes treated as wrong and bad because of ignorance and unwillingness to see another way. The message is garbled a bit when Victor actually reanimates the corpse of his dead dog, but you know, artistic license and all that.

Now, did I actually like the film? Well, because I am a huge Burton fan, of both his art and his films, I loved Frankenweenie as a display of Burton’s creations and the art of stop-motion animation in general. I think the story lacked a little bit in character development. We never really know what the story is with Elsa, she seems to “like” Victor, but nothing really comes of it, and we don’t really know her background other than owning the dog which eventually becomes the “bride” to Sparky’s “Frankenstein.” Victor’s parents are another area where I wish we’d seen more development. In the original short film, Victor’s mom, as portrayed by Shelley Duval is a working mom who seems to have a more playful bond with Victor. In the current film, Victor’s mom seems only concerned with cleaning and romance novels and is pretty clueless as to the goings-on in her home.

I don’t fault the movie too much for this; the real story is that of Victor and Sparky, and truly, Sparky is the star of the show. Sparky’s dog mannerisms are perfectly executed in Frankenweenie, which must’ve been painstaking with the stop-motion figures. Honestly, it made me appreciate my own little dog more because Sparky was just so cute and watching his day-to-day routine was just adorable and spot-on. I also love the lesson that Victor learned about letting go of a loved one that leaves us. He grew as a person and was going be okay with Sparky resting in peace (of course then the grown-ups of the town had other ideas).

Sparky

All in all, despite the flaws in story, the movie as a whole was entertaining and a must-see for any Tim Burton fan or pet-owner with a sense of humor. As a warning, it is rated PG and there are a few spots that make you jump out of your seat, so be warned before bringing younger children. I made the decision not to bring my almost-4-year-old because of this. Most of the film is just funny and silly though and the use of 3D technology is excellent throughout.

With the amount of promotion in Disney Parks, on the Disney Channel, Frankenweenie merchandise (and a great soundtrack in the  Frankenweenie Unleashed! CD), I hope Frankenweenie is a grand success. If nothing else, it is a wonderful artistic display that is inspiring for any child that may be or look different or see the world in another way. Creativity and expression is always a positive lesson to expose any one to, young or old, and Frankenweenie does just that.

 

*Disclosure: some links may be affiliate links, which, if used to purchase products will give me back a few cents to support zannaland. Further disclosure: I was provided a complimentary screening of Frankenweenie for a guest and me for the purposes of this review. However, I went out and purchased tickets a few days later on my own, and my opinions were not affected. Thanks for reading.

 

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Filed Under: Disney Movie News & Reviews, Movie Reviews, Movies & Books, Reviews Tagged With: Alice in Wonderland, burgermeister, catherine o'hara, Frankenweenie, frankenweenie review, frankenweenie tributes, james and the giant peach, martin landau, martin short, mary shelley, Nightmare Before Christmas, original frankenweenie short, rankin bass, santa claus is coming to town, shelley duval, stop-motion animation, Tim Burton, victor frankenstein, vincent prince, Walt Disney Pictures, winona ryder

NEW 2012 Edition of Disney Couture Nightmare Before Christmas by Harvey’s Bags

23 September 2012 by Suzannah Otis Leave a Comment

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Last week a new edition of the wildly popular Nightmare Before Christmas designs of the Harvey’s Bags for Disney Couture launched at Vault 28 in the Downtown Disney District at the Disneyland Resort. Harvey’s bags, made from seatbelts and carry a lifetime guarantee. In addition to the Nightmare Before Christmas collection, you can find Minnie Mouse-inspired Harvey’s bags at Disney Parks or at the Disney Store online.

 

Harvey's Nightmare Before Christmas 2012

 

Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas is one of my favorites, and I love what Harvey’s has done with the designs from the film that we all know and love. I’ve had many readers ask about this new collection, so I thought I’d share what the new bags look like.

A couple of the bags are website exclusives and many have sold out already, so pick up your favorite today at Vault 28 or at Harvey’s site! Here’s a sneak peak at what you’ll see on the site – click to enlarge:

 

Harvey's Nightmare Before Christmas 2012
The 2012 Nightmare Before Christmas Collection for Harvey’s Bags

 

Harvey's Nightmare Before Christmas 2012
More of the 2012 Nightmare Before Christmas Harvey’s collection

 

*Disney Store link is an affiliate link. If you purchase through it, I will get a few cents to keep zannaland running. Thanks!

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Filed Under: Disney Merchandise, Disney News, Walt Disney World Tagged With: Disney couture, Disney Merchandise, Disney Store, Disneyland, Disneyland Resort, Harvey's bags, Harvey's Bags for Disney Couture, Harvey's Seatbelt bags, Jack Skellington, Minnie Mouse, Nightmare Before Christmas, Nightmare Before Christmas bags, Sally ragdoll, seatbelts, Tim Burton

Frankenweenie Comes to Theatres October 5 – Official Images

22 February 2012 by Suzannah Otis Leave a Comment

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Many years ago, I would attend the Spike & Mike animation festivals that would tour through Boston, with my sister and later, boyfriend (now husband). That’s how we first saw Beavis & Butthead, Wallace & Gromit, and a short called Tin Toy, from a little company named PIXAR. One of those films was Vincent, by Tim Burton. I instantly became a fan of Tim Burton’s style of animation, and have been one ever since. I remember seeing Frankenweenie somewhere over the years, but always wondered why it wasn’t created in stop-motion, which seems to work best with Burton’s fantastical mind.

FRANKENWEENIE Logo

Official description: “Frankenweenie,” a heartwarming tale about a boy and his dog. After unexpectedly losing his beloved dog Sparky, young Victor harnesses the power of science to bring his best friend back to life—with just a few minor adjustments. He tries to hide his home-sewn creation, but when Sparky gets out, Victor’s fellow students, teachers and the entire town all learn that getting a new “leash on life” can be monstrous.

A stop-motion animated film, “Frankenweenie” will be filmed in black and white and rendered in 3D, which will elevate the classic style to a whole new experience.

Burton had originally wanted Frankenweenie to be a stop-motion film, but budget constraints forced him to produce it as a live-action film. The finished product was not appreciated by his then-employer, Disney, who fired him for wasting company resources on the project. Burton had supporters in Disney, however and they eventually worked together again to bring us Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach, and Alice in Wonderland. Budget is no longer an issue and Burton is set to release his stop-motion animated version of Frankenweenie in October of this year.

FRANKENWEENIE Tim Burton
Tim Burton studies a model of Sparky

Some fun facts:

  • Over 200 puppets and sets were created for the film.
  • The voice cast includes four actors who worked with Burton on previous films: Winona Ryder (“Beetlejuice,” “Edward Scissorhands”), Catherine O’Hara (“Beetlejuice,” “The Nightmare Before Christmas”), Martin Short (“Mars Attacks!”) and Martin Landau (“Ed Wood,” Sleepy Hollow”).
  • Several of the character names—Victor, Elsa Van Helsing, Edgar “E” Gore and Mr. Burgemeister— were inspired by classic horror films.

The first official poster has now been released:

Frankenweenie one-sheet
Tim Burton's Frankenweenie - as he intended it

 

frankenweenie scene
A scene from the upcoming film
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Filed Under: Disney Movie News & Reviews, Movies & Books, Official Disney Tagged With: Disney, Don Hahn, Frankenweenie, Frankenweenie official poster, stop-motion animation, Tim Burton, Vincent

Edward Scissorhands Lived in My Backyard! Filming Locations

28 June 2011 by Suzannah Otis 42 Comments

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Figuratively speaking of course. Soon after moving to the Wesley Chapel area of Florida (outside Tampa) in 2005, I discovered that the next town over was one of the filming locations for the Tim Burton classic Edward Scissorhands. Google told me that a tiny subdivision in Lutz (pronounced lootz), FL named Carpenter’s Run was where the infamous cookie-cutter neighborhood of the movie was filmed. The small, single-story ranch homes had served as the backdrop for one of my favorite movies of all time, and I could drive to it and see for myself. So I did. [Nine years after this article was first posted, I’ve updated the links and videos.]

Edward Scissorhands house in Lutz
The house as it looked during filming

 

Edward’s Neighborhood

I decided to do some further research and was able to drive through the Carpenter’s Run subdivision and attempt to find Edward’s house. Or Winona Ryder’s, really. Edward’s house, the Gothic castle-like mansion at the end of the street on a hill (a site that would’ve been pretty noticeable in the flat, Florida landscape), was actually just a facade built in a separate location. Keep reading to get to a fun local news story showing the construction of the castle in Dade City. The neighboring town of Land O’ Lakes was also used to gather the plants needed for filming.

Edward Scissorhand's Castle
The Edward Scissorhand’s Castle facade

 

Shopping Plaza and Cast Hotel

More exterior shots, in the shopping center, were filmed in nearby Lakeland, FL and most of those locations are also still intact today. In addition, the Edward Scissorhands cast stayed at the Saddlebrook Resort, a golf and tennis compound which also features condos, townhomes and houses to vacation in or own. Saddlebrook is actually in the town I lived in back when this article was first posted, and just a few miles down the road from where I lived.

Southgate Shopping Center Edward Scissorhands
Southgate Shopping Center in Lakeland, FL, today

Driving through the Carpenter’s Run neighborhood, I couldn’t easily tell which houses were used in the filming. Tim Burton had them all painted pastel like Easter eggs for filming. In order to achieve that cookie-cutter uniformity, Burton even boarded up windows or other architectural details. When filming was complete, all of the houses were returned to their ‘normal’ state. Now 30 years have passed, and I’m sure many neighbors have made their own changes to the homes there. I was able to find out that the family home was actually on the corner of Tinsmith Circle. I never would’ve recognized it without knowing.

Edward Scissorhand House today
The Edward Scissorhand House today…you’d never know

 

I love little back-stories and behind-the-scenes facts like this. Since I live in central Florida, most of the behind-the-scenes facts I write about are Disney-related. I’m not one to get starstruck, but it would be fun knowing Johnny Depp hung out in your house.

In updating this article, I found an Edward Scissorhands filming locations then and now photo set. The videos below also show you the locations first hand. The local news story from Dade City is pretty funny to watch 30 years later. Enjoy!

 

Be sure to check the comments below. You’ll read some more fun first-hand accounts from folks who experienced this filming or have more insight. I hope you enjoyed learning more about Edward Scissorhands filming locations. Has anything been filmed in your back yard?

The rest of Zannaland features Disney content, so feel free to stick around and read some other fun articles!

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Filed Under: Commentary Land, Movies & Books, Travel, Theme Parks, and Resorts Tagged With: Carpenter's Run, Dade City Edward Scissorhands, Edward Scissorhands, Edward Scissorhands castle, Edward Scissorhands filming locations, Edward Scissorhands mansion, Edward Scissorhands movie locations, Edward Scissorhands neighborhood, Edward Scissorhands subdivision, Edward Scissorhands then and now, Johnny Depp, Lakeland FL, Land O Lakes FL, Lutz FL, Southgate Shopping Center, Tim Burton

Alice’s All New Wonderland-Tim Burton’s Playground

4 March 2010 by Suzannah Otis 12 Comments

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Walt Disney's Alice in Wonderland poster
I have this poster, from Sid Cahuenga's at Disney's Hollywood Studios...

Those who know me offline know I am rather obsessed with Alice in Wonderland. If I could, my entire house, or at the very least a room, would be themed to Alice in Wonderland. Shockingly, I was never TOO into the Disney animated film when I was little – it just always seemed too long. But as I got older, I grew to love Disney’s Cheshire cat and Alice herself. Tom Petty’s Don’t Come Around Here No More video is still one of my favorites. In college I may have owned a tie-dyed t-shirt featuring the iconic caterpillar, but I don’t think I was wearing if for the same reason everyone else was. {I did go through an innocent phase of tie-dyed shirt-crystal-necklace wearing in college…Stacy and Clinton would’ve had a field day with me. Ok, they probably still would. But I digress…}

[Read more…] about Alice’s All New Wonderland-Tim Burton’s Playground

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Filed Under: Family Memories Tagged With: Alice in Wonderland, Disney movies, Family Memories, Tim Burton

Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland OFFICIAL teaser trailer!

22 July 2009 by Suzannah Otis 2 Comments

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Here is Disney’s *official* Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland teaser trailer. That is a link to the facebook fan page where the trailer was released, but it is in HD and the quality is so much better than the previously leaked trailers. Go see! I will update this page when an embeddable video is released. The Disney Pictures site for the movie has not been updated as of this posting.

To say I cannot wait for this very important date is an understatement!!! 😀

I have always been a huge Burton fan, from the very first moment I saw his short film “Vincent” at an Animation Fest in Boston in the late 80’s. I still remember the excitement surrounding The Nightmare Before Christmas when it came out and LOVED seeing the miniatures and maquettes used in the film at the former Disney-MGM Studios. Edward Scissorhands never fails to make me cry. And I haven’t even mentioned his other great works such as Big Fish, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow or his gorgeous take on Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street!

In addition, I have had a lifelong obsession love of Alice in Wonderland. She is so easy to identify with, personally – who hasn’t felt completely overwhelmed and as if you were in another world at one point or another? There are so many wise lessons shared within Alice’s world, from the wondrous personalities like the Cheshire Cat, The Caterpillar and The Mad Hatter, to name but a few. So when I heard Mr. Burton was taking on this role with his usual gang of amazing actors, I began counting down the days. This trailer definitely does not disappoint and will keep me on the edge of my laptop until the film’s release date.

Here is the studio’s release concerning the film:

Johnny Depp stars as the Mad Hatter and Mia Wasikowska as 19-year-old Alice, who returns to the whimsical world she first encountered as a young girl, reuniting with her childhood friends: the White Rabbit, Tweedledee and Tweedledum, the Dormouse, the Caterpillar, the Cheshire Cat and, of course, the Mad Hatter. Alice embarks on a fantastical journey to find her true destiny and end the Red Queen’s reign of terror. The all-star cast also includes Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter and Crispin Glover.

Capturing the wonder of Lewis Carroll’s beloved Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking-Glass (1871) with stunning, avant-garde visuals and the most charismatic characters in literary history, Alice In Wonderland comes to the big screen in Disney Digital 3D on March 5, 2010.

More images from the recent Vanity Fair article and the official Alice in Wonderland Facebook fan page: (click to enlarge for all the beautiful details!)

You may also become a fan of a few characters from the film on facebook:

The Loyal Subjects of the Red Queen

The Loyal Subjects of the White Queen

The Disloyal Subjects of the Mad Hatter

Who is YOUR favorite?

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Filed Under: Disney News, Movie Reviews Tagged With: Disney, movies, Tim Burton

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