Burtonjuice: Thoughts on Frankenweenie (The Original)

BURTONJUICE... on Thursday nights we're looking at Tim Burton films chronologically. Previously we covered his early shorts including the perfect goth calling card in Vincent (1982).

a boy and his dog. til death do they part

As you may have heard Tim Burton is currently rethinking Frankenweenie as a feature film. The Frankenstein story is so familiar as a myth that its ripe for either riffing on and spoofing in. But the short film is so successful at 29 minutes that it's strange to imagine it padded with another hour of footage. I thought I'd type up "things I didn't remember about the original Frankenweenie" but realized that the list would be far far too long as I didn't remember a single thing beyond the premise, that it was in black and white, and that particular boy (Barret Oliver, a major child star in the 80s. What became of him?) and his dead doggie. More after the jump...

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"Burtonjuice. Burtonjuice. Burtonjuice."

Tim Burton was one of my very first movie loves. I fell out of love abruptly when Planet of the Apes crash-landed but the divorce was lengthy and complicated. My lawyers cited irreconcilable differences (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), emotional neglect (Sweeney Todd) and physical visual abuse (Eyesore in Wonderland) and we thought we had a great case. But somehow Burton still won in court and our alimony is now paid in movie tickets; we are required to see all his movies no matter how terrible!

But by returning to his first stab at greatness with the upcoming Frankenweenie expansion in October and reuniting with his Batman Returns superstar Michelle Pfeiffer for the upcoming Dark Shadows in May, how can we not feel nostalgic for our failed marriage to that wild haired auteur?

A retrospective calls.

BURTONJUICE begins March 15th and we'll do it each Thursday until we finish the movies and/or we can't stand it anymore whichever comes first. (My bets on the latter.) Will you relive the ecstasy and torture with me? I can't go through it alone! If I ask you to "hold me" by the Christmas decorations, the proper response is (say it with me) "_ ____" even if you don't have scissors for hands.