Frankenweenie is franktastic!

Last Wednesday, I decided to give another chance to two things that had disappointed me previously: 3D cinema and a film by Tim Burton. Mister B is one of my favourite directors but I don't really rate highly the movies he has released in the past seven years. It was actually one of his works, Alice in Wonderland, whose 3D images made my stomach churn. I kept readjusting my glasses but to no avail. I felt almost seasick and I left the screen with a headache. I was longing for a clear and smooth image and since that experience, I have stayed away from 3D films. But last week, I thought I would give Frankenweenie a try; even though I didn’t read the synopsis, the animation looked cute and the black and white atmosphere appealed to me. Initially I wanted to watch it in 2D but my friend Katia wanted to go to the Rich Mix, a cinema in East London and in the evenings, the showings were only in 3D. So I accepted and I don't regret this decision at all.

Firstly, the Rich Mix has a lot of charm. It’s that kind of art house cinema combined with a gig venue and gallery which I hadn’t come across in England yet. I shouldn't be surprised to find such a place on the land of hipsters (Shoreditch)!

Remarkably, this time, the 3D didn’t put me off at all. It  did help that it was a stop-motion film because the image was not supposed to be as high definition and sharp as a normal film. No headache, no queasiness. Result!

As for the movie in itself, I am not going to write a whole review about it, but I wanted to share with you the elements that made it superior to its predecessors in my eyes.

Corpse Bride, Sweeney Todd, Charlie, Alice did not pull at any of my heartstrings, but as a lover of animals and especially dogs, I was particularly touched by Frankenweenie story and thought it was poetic and heart-warming. Weirdly enough, it reminded me of the feelings I felt when I watched E.T or Wall-E.

The grotesque of some of the characters and their idiosyncratic behaviours were at times hilarious. I particularly loved the scary blond girl with her equally frightening fluffy cat. They looked alike with their tiny eye pupils. Their mere appearance was a source of laughter for me.

The direction was remarkable, probably smoother than Nightmare before Christmas.

I guess what really won me over was the abundance of cultural references and cross-references to Burton’s own films. It was like playing a game ‘Spot the reference’. The film buff in me jumped with excitement.

This part is going to contain a few spoilers so please don’t read if you haven’t seen the film yet, but if you want to step into the screen with an eagle eye, read on, and please let me know if you’ve noticed more references. I am sure my friend Emilie, who has written her Master’s thesis on Burton’s works, will have noticed a few more allusions.

Tim’s obsession with the beautifully arranged and trimmed suburban streets, which featured in Edward Scissorhands, finds its way into the animation film. And Frankenweenie's protagonist is obviously an outsider, a little kid with jet black hair and a pasty complexion, who does not have any friends. He resembles a young Tim Burton, and the director has used that figure in many of his films. Edward is the embodiment of the Outsider, and weirdly enough, Victor finds refuge and builds his laboratory in the attic, just like Edward’s shelter. There is also a reference to Edward’s cutting skills with the mayor trimming his bush in front of his house with big shears.

Burton reuses his common black and white aesthetics (cf. the makeup and clothes in Beetlejuice, Sleepy Hollow, Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood…) and portrays once again characters with pale, unhealthy and lunar complexions. Victor Frankenstein – named after the inventor in the illustrious Frankenstein by Mary Shelley – looks like Johnny Depp’s previous characters, especially Edward. His neighbour, a little sullen girl, is definitely a copy of Winona Ryder in Beetlejuice, Lydia, with the same kind of sad eyes and clothes. The reference is even more evident thanks to the choice of Winona's voice itself to dub the character. She’s got that perfect jaded-full-of-angst teenage tone.
In one way or another, Tim has managed to insert his cult actors in the film: Johnny, Winona, Vincent Price (whose face inspired that of the science teacher), Martin Landau (who dubbed the aforementioned teacher). Christopher Lee, (the most famous Dracula impersonator and one of Burton's idols whom he cast in many of his films such as Sleepy Hollow) gets a cameo on the TV screen playing in the living room of the Frankensteins.

Winona Ryder in Beetlejuice

Vincent Price who inspired the science teacher

As previously mentioned, Victor Frankenstein is the main character of the extremely famous 19th century gothic novel, and people often confuse Frankenstein, the creator, with his creature. The plot of Frankenweenie is inspired by that story but there are also a few original additions to it which doesn’t make it a simple remake done for the umpteenth time.

In Frankenweenie, there is an allusion to the novelist on a tomb in the graveyard, Shelley. We later find out that this was the name of the Japanese kid's dead turtle. One of Victor's classmates is actually the spitting image of Boris Karlof in his role of the creature in the 1931 film. Of course, we witness the resuscitation of the dog with the machine and the lightening and Sparky ends up with the famous little screw which is a cliché image that we have of the creature. There is also a part in the film in which Boris Karloff beseeches his dead animal to “rise”, which echoes the ‘rise’ of the Emperor Palpatine when he begs Darth Vader to stand after his transformation into the armor-clad Dark Lord. I am certain that phrase features in another film, where a mad scientist creates a monster, but I cannot remember which one. (If anyone could help me in the comments, I would be eternally grateful ;))

One of Frankenstein's cinematographic sequels is entitled Bride of Frankenstein. The creature finally gets a partner whose electrified uprising hairdo is famous for its white streak. In Frankenweenie, Victor’s dog gets closer to the neighbour’s well groomed poodle; when their noses finally sniff each other under the fence, the electricity from Sparky runs through the poodle’s body, leaving her with the same recognisable hairstyle as the Bride of Frankenstein.

I also noticed the recurrent theme of Dutch influence that was also present in Sleepy Hollow. The village where the characters live is called New Holland. In Sleepy Hollow, Ichabod Crane sets foot into a Dutch colony. Both places have a windmill which will play an important part in the story. In both films, characters fight on the windmill, especially holding onto the sails. The windmill catches fire and Sparky is prisoner of the flames. This is a direct reference to the ending of 1931 Frankenstein, in which the creature finds himself in the same tricky situation.  
Burton finally names Winona’s character “Elsa Van Helsing”- a mix between Elsa Frankenstein, the daughter of Doctor Frankenstein who appeared for the first time in the horror film The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942), and Van Helsing, a Dutch name and the surname of Dracula’s nemesis.

The aforementioned windmills:

The children’s creatures also refer to famous monsters: Shelley the turtle, after being resuscitated by the Japanese kid, becomes gigantic and has a dragon face. It starts causing havoc and chaos through the city, stomping around, destroying things on its way and scaring the living lights of the villagers. This is clearly a reference to Godzilla, the Japanese monster which first appeared in Ishirō Honda's 1954 film. The sea monkeys created by the fat kid are extremely similar to the Gremlins. They also gorge on sugary treats and explode when they ingest a certain food… A massive rat roams the streets of the town, which is the kind of monster that feature in many horror films. A mummy hamster is supposed to be terrifying but is actually ridiculous.

The bat that Victor uses with kites to attract lightening is an obvious nod to Burton’s Batman films. In an accidental experience, the fluffy cat ends up merging with the bat he was holding in his mouth and turns into a gargoyle or one of those monsters you would see in children’s books for Halloween.

The last reference I can remember is more of a pop culture one. One of the tombs is engraved with the epitaph “Goodbye Kitty” which reminded me of the famous David and Goliath t-shirts featuring an unfortunate cat who always ends up being killed, either by falling into a blender, being stuck in a microwave etc. I couldn't help but giggle when I read that inscription!

Before I wrap up this article, I just wanted to mention Danny Elfman’s score. In itself, it makes references to the music of Burton’s other films as they were obviously composed by the brilliant musician as well. The angel-like voices and little bells evoke Edward Scissorhands’ Main Titles and Ice Dance; the music playing during the scary moments also echoes the strident strings in Batman. Even ‘A premonition’, one of the tracks has a sound reminiscent of the alien-like notes in the Mars Attack soundtrack. 

To sum it up, in Frankenweenie, Tim Burton pays homage to the cult horror films of his childhood, to illustrious monsters and to his own films. If you have spotted any other reference, please leave a comment! I would love to share that game with you and to be enlightened by other film buffs!
The story and the animations have melt my heart. The whole time I was watching the movie, Sparky reminded me of Gino, my friend Litzie’s dog, and it made me feel dog-broody again! This is an adorable collaboration between the Master of Gothic films and Disney Studios, the monarchs in the children’s movies kingdom, and you should definitely head to see this film at the cinema in this bitter wintery cold. You’ll come out all warm, inside and out.

Update after a few days: I've just remembered another cinematographic reference - when the characters find shelter in the telephone box and the monsters throw themselves in flocks at the box. This is obviously a reference to The Birds by Alfred Hitchcock :)