3 Notes on New Photos of "Frankenweenie"
Sunday, October 30, 2011 at 8:05PM My beloved cat has had some health issues this weekend so time has been short and I've been majorly occupied (hence Oscar chart update/ column delay). But here's a quick bit about a beloved fictional pet, "Sparky".
• Tim Burton's Frankenweenie, due in theaters less than a year from now, is a remake of sorts. That's all Burton does these days but at least this time he's reworking something from his own imagination. Frankenweenie was originally a short in 1984 and if you ever get a chance to see that one, do so. It was from the time frame when Burton was THE young director to watch, making magic every time... or every other time. Damn. Whatever. From 1982 through 1994 it was all spellbinding. I'd even throw 1996 in there but I realize Mars Attacks! isn't for everyone. ACK!
• I'm so pleased this will be a black and white stop-motion picture. With so many animated films debuting each year, it's good to have some variety.
• Is there any other director who has never changed his hairstyle?
• Speaking of awesome short films, Tim's Sparky looks just like Brad Bird's "Amazing Stories: Family Dog", doesn't he?
• Little Known Fact: Films about beloved animated pooches require awesome actresses in the soundbooth:Frankweenie (1984) had Shelley Duvall; Family Dog had Annie Potts; Wallace and Gromit and The Curse of the Were-Rabbit had Helena Bonham Carter; Bolt had Miley Cyrus; the new Frankenweenie gets Winona Ryder and Catherine O'Hara !
• Are you a cat person or a dog person? And if so do you think your pet is fairly represented on film?
Frankenweenie, Tim Burton, animated films, dogs, zoology
Reader Comments (12)
Miley IS an awesome actress.
tim burton was the animation designer on 'family dog'
I *love* the Frankenweenie short, so I'm actually looking forward to this. Plus, as you say, black and white stop motion animation? Hell yeah!
I'm a cat person, but cats are so unfairly treated on film it's a joke. True story though: ever since I first saw "Frankenweenie" I've said that if I ever got a dog I'd want it to be the kind of dog that's in Frankenweenie.
CATHERINE O'HARA- I miss her a whole lot. When I hear Burton and O'Hara in the same sentence I just think of her dancing to the Banana Boat song in Bettlejuice and I just have to smile.
I'm a cat person! I don't think they get a fair representation...cats can be bitchy, grumpy divas, but my cats love me more than anything in the world! They cuddle me ridiculously and won't stop loving on me. I just wish people saw more of the loving nature.
Sigh...I reallyyy miss my kitties. That's the hardest thing about being away at college. :'(
I'm also a cat person. Cat always be represented in movies (especially in animation) as wise (are they really? ^^), lazy (look at Garfield), bitchy (Puss in Boots, a cat in Shaun the Sheep) and sometimes outright ugly (like Mittens in Bolt). But somehow I love it.
I shared you a link here, it's a short film (1 min) by Makoto Shinkai (director of The Paced Promised in Our Early Days; 5 Centimeters Per Second) about a cat that wanted to get revenge on human. It's hilarious and I enjoyed it very much without understanding what they talking. You should check it out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAhZ-rz91Eo
Dog person, have a black lab, golden lab and chihuahua but I love my cat Miko too who is incredibly friendly. Now I just wish they were all here with me!
I'm an all-animals person but maybe I prefer cats because their showing tenderness is more of a surprise when it happens? I don't know...
Jarmusch. Jarmusch has never changed his hurr.
I am a cat person.
In film, dogs get the best parts as they are better at taking direction.
Maybe cats really want to direct.
^ Hahah, I could see that! :P
I also want to say that I love dogs too! Just prefer cats.
I'm not sure how thrilled I am by Burton regurgitating his own stuff - if the short was so brilliant in it's original form (and it was), will extending it improve upon it? I'm not so sure. Some pieces are meant to be short form. So I'm taking a "wait and see" attitude.
I don't know if Miley Cyrus is an "awesome" actress or not (I have no particular interest in her one way or the other at the moment), but I will say she did some very good voice work in Bolt. So, for that matter, did John Travolta - to the point that in both instances I had no idea who was doing the voicework until I read the credits. I think in this case, that was a plus. (Recognizing the voice can be a plus when it's interwoven into the film as part of the joke, and the fit between character and actor is perfect - Banderas as Puss in Boots, Generes as Dory; other times it's just distracting and even annoying - Robin Williams in Happy Feet. Scratch that, maybe it's just that Robin Williams is damned annoying.)