Tim Burton knows what it’s like to be a boy with a dead dog.
The filmmaker came to the Comic-Con fan convention Thursday to show footage of “Frankenweenie,” his expanded take on Burton’s 1984 short film of the same name.
The film tells the story of a boy who brings his beloved dog back to life after the pet dies in an accident, using a kid’s variation of Dr. Frankenstein’s laboratory.
“It stemmed from having a dead dog when I was a child and that sort of special first relationship you have with a pet,” said Burton, who later mixed in his love of monster movies such as “Dracula” and “Frankenstein.” ”I just wanted to mix all of those elements, the horror, the humor, the heart of the story.”
Unlike the live-action original, the feature-length version is done in black and white through stop-motion animation using puppets meticulously shot one frame at a time.
Burton, who began as an animator, says it was a new experience back then to work with live actors but that the stop-motion version is the more pure take on his story.
“It’s nice to be able to shoot it this way,” Burton said. “It’s like little sets, and you shoot it like a live-action film. The puppets are so tactile. They’re amazing to feel and to touch.”
“Frankenweenie” hits theaters Oct. 5.
The voice cast includes Winona Ryder, Martin Short, Catherine O’Hara and Martin Landau.
The footage Burton showed off featured the filmmaker’s take on classic horror movie images and lines, including a dog with “Bride of Frankenstein” hair and one of the boy’s school chums uttering the mad scientist line “It’s alive.”
Burton answered questions from fans during his preview panel, among them queries from a group dressed as characters from his films, such as “Alice in Wonderland,” ”Beetlejuice” and this summer’s “Dark Shadows.”
“It’s great,” Burton said. “It feels like my family has come to see me.”
Oscar Nominees Delve Into The Art Of Editing At ACE Session
You couldn’t miss Sean Baker at this past Sunday’s Oscar ceremony where he won for Best Picture, Directing, Original Screenplay and Editing on the strength of Anora. However, earlier that weekend he was in transit from the Cesar Awards in Paris and thus couldn’t attend the American Cinema Editors (ACE) 25th annual panel of Academy Award-nominated film editors held at the Regal LA Live Auditorium on Saturday (3/1) in Los Angeles. While the eventual Oscar winner in the editing category was missed by those who turned out for the ACE “Invisible Art, Visible Artists” session, three of Baker’s fellow nominees were on hand--Dávid Jancsó, HSE for The Brutalist; Nick Emerson for Conclave; and Myron Kerstein, ACE for Wicked. Additionally, Juliette Welfling, who couldn’t appear in person due to the Cesar Awards, was present via an earlier recorded video interview to discuss her work on Emilia Pérez. The interview was conducted by ACE president and editor Sabrina Plisco, ACE who also moderated the live panel discussion. Kerstein said that he was the beneficiary of brilliant and generous collaborators, citing, among others, director Jon M. Chu, cinematographer Alice Brooks, and visual effects supervisor Pablo Helman. The editor added it always helps to have stellar acting performances, noting that hearing Cynthia Erivo, for example, sing live was a revelation. Kerstein recalled meeting Chu some eight years ago on a “blind Skype date” and it was an instant “bromance”--which began on Crazy Rich Asians, and then continued on such projects as the streaming series Home Before Dark and the feature In The Heights. Kerstein observed that Chu is expert in providing collaborators with... Read More