Frankenweenie

Tim Burton first made this story in 1984 as a 29 minute live action short. Disney shelved it, said he had wasted company resources on work unsuited to the children it targeted, and fired him when it was finished. The short never reached American cinemas, played in Britain in 1985 and arrived on video in 1992. Disney financed and released the feature anyway. How it was made explains the texture: the shoot ran two years, about 33 animators worked mostly alone, one averaging 5 seconds of footage a week. More than 200 puppets were built, 18 versions of Victor and 15 of Sparky, by Mackinnon and Saunders from Burton’s drawings. The town is voiced by a small company. Catherine O’Hara plays three parts: Victor’s mother, the gym teacher and Weird Girl. Martin Short takes three too: Victor’s father, Mayor Burgemeister and the classmate Nassor. The designs carry open references: Nassor’s flat head from Frankenstein’s monster, his face and voice from Boris Karloff, Mr Rzykruski from Vincent Price. The film was nominated for animated feature and Brave won. A good fit if you will notice half the town speaking with two actors’ voices and take it as a trick, not a fault. Not for small children; the dog dies on screen and the film carries it as a loss.