Museum staffers Andi Wang (right) and Anel Muller (left) review movies--past and present--inspired by, related to, or produced by Disney. In honor of The Walt Dinsey Family Museum's first anniversary YouTube contest in which they starred, Wang and Muller will be rating each movie on a scale of facial hair: scruff (worst), mustache, goatee, mutton chops, and full-on beard (best). Today, "Wang and Muller, Watching Movies" take a look at Tim Burton's new film, Frankenweenie!
It must be the season of stop motion animation as we embark on our second movie review of a stop motion feature film this year. As mentioned before in our review of ParaNorman, stop motion has never gone away, but instead, comes in and out of the shadows of popular consciousness. Tim Burton/Disney's Frankenweenie, which hits theaters today, is the newest in the canon of stop motion gems—and the first feature length stop motion film to be released entirely in black and white, and for IMAX 3D. It follows the story of a boy, Victor, who brings his beloved dog back to life, a-la-Frankentstein style.
Here at The Walt Disney Family Museum, stop motion is at the forefront of all our thoughts as our new exhibition—Between Frames: The Magic Behind Stop Motion Animation—opened a week ago, so it seems timely that we would be reviewing this film today.
The first thing we have to mention is the animation of this film: it is seamless. It is obvious that countless hours of calculated thoughts and effort went into bringing the world of Frankenweenie to life. There were so many moments where you’d step back and think, “HUH?! How did they do that??” The magic was all in the details. Keep an eye out for Frankenweenie’s run on a treadmill, the wheels on Victor’s bike, the shadow of raindrops in Victor’s room, and a really amazing scene where Tim Burton has created a stop motion short film within his stop motion feature film. It’s like Inception, but cooler.
We caught ourselves constantly tilting our heads from side to side, trying to see around certain objects because we kept forgetting we were watching a film. This is what makes a great animated film, much like the intricate animation of Pixar’s Brave. The audience is completely immersed into the film’s environment, that reality is suspended for a moment as we’re transported into a different world. Moreover, as we are both not fans of 3D films, this film is a perfect example of how to do 3D well, without the “pop-out-at-your-face” gimmicks.
Additionally, as compared to ParaNorman where the puppets/characters looked very true to life, the puppets in Frankenweenie—for the most part—are not. Many are absurd exaggerations of reality, but are necessary to the film as they are what make the story plausible in the crazy world of Tim Burton.
However, while we are writing this review, we find that we are still asking questions about what was what, who did what, what happened in certain scenes, and trying to put all the many story lines together to figure out what it was all about. We sit with Google open on our browser, hoping that it will help us put the pieces together. Don’t get us wrong—on the outside, it seems like a very simple storyline—boy loses dogs, boy loves dog, boy brings dog back to life, insanity ensues. Frankenweenie is a variation on Frankenstein, which pays homage to many other cult-favorite monster films. But it’s the interjection of so many little nuances, characters, and tangents that muddy the plot, and impede full character development. Overall, the story as a whole—especially the ending—was entirely too predictable.
While it’s very exciting to see a stop motion film infiltrating mainstream entertainment, the integrity of the story was lost as it tried to cater to too many audiences. If Frankenweenie had gone with one storyline--instead of trying to draw the audience in by constantly referencing other popular monster films--it could have been a successful monster film on its own. Because of this, we do not feel that there is one clear message or a sense of closure when leaving the theater. And for this, we have to give Frankenweenie—on our scale of mustaches—a GOATEE. Go see it for the (amazing, spectacular, unbelievable, SUPER COOL) animation.
The views and opinions expressed in the "Wang and Muller, Watching Movies" series are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the official position, thoughts, and opinions of The Walt Disney Family Museum, Walt Disney Family Foundation, or any of its affiliates. [Images and video from Frankenweenie above ©Disney, Inc.]