Tim Burton Interview For ‘Frankenweenie’

From Tim Burton comes ‘Frankenweenie,‘ a heart-warming tale about a boy and his dog. After unexpectedly losing his beloved dog Sparky, young Victor harnesses the power of science to bring his best friend back to life – with just a few minor adjustments. He tries to hide his home-sewn creation, but when Sparky gets out, Victor’s fellow students, teachers and the entire town all learn that getting a new “leash on life” can be monstrous. A visually stunning black and white, stop motion animated film in 3D, the voice cast for ‘Frankenweenie’ includes Catherine O’Hara, Martin Short, Martin Landau, Charlie Tahan, Atticus Shaffer, Robert Capron, Conchata Ferrell and Winona Ryder. Disney will release the film on October 5th in the US and October 17th in the UK. ‘Frankenweenie’ is the first animated film that Tim Burton has directed for Disney. The screenplay is by John August, based on an original idea by Tim Burton.

You first conceived the idea of ‘Frankenweenie’ as a full-length, stop motion animated feature in the 80s, but due to budget constraints you made a live-action short which was released in 1984. That original short film and this new full-length version must be special to you?

Tim Burton: Definitely. The originals a special film for me because it was the first live-action film that I got to make. So that is special. My background is in animation, so being able to do a live-action film working with actors and working with regular crew, that was an amazing appearance. I think your first experience doing something like that is always special to you. It’s based on my relationship I had when I was a child, my dog – which is probably your first big relationship in your life. And even though it’s revisiting something that I did a long time ago, this feels new and special. ‘Frankenweenie’ is a project that always meant something to me. And the opportunity to do it in stop motion, in black and white, 3D, and expand on it with other kids and other monsters and other characters, it just seemed like the right medium for the project.

With ’Frankenweenie’ being such a personal movie to you, I can imagine the films protagonist Victor shares some similarities to you?

Tim Burton: Yeah, I mean, I use my own experience of not being a very good communicator or a very verbal….kind of having a much more internal life than external life – and that’s like Victor. But Victor, he’s a very serious, very internal boy, he’s very emotional, very quiet, thoughtful. And he has a bit of a mad scientist quality to him – which is always good (laughs).

What was the experience like on ‘Frankenweenie’ working with actors you’ve had a special relationship in the past with?

Tim Burton: For me, ‘Frankenweenie’ is such a personal project so it was nice to work with some people that I’d worked with before – and that I hadn’t worked with in a while. People like Martin Landau and Catherine O’Hara, who are so great at improv – that’s how I first got to know them, seeing their improv work. They’re both amazing and the fact that they came in to do a few characters, that was great. And Winona Ryder, I hadn’t seen her for a long time so it was great to have her on this project for me. I had a lot of people that are special for me to be able to work with. Plus some new kids and people I haven’t worked with before, that always makes it interesting.

How was the stop motion aspect of ‘Frankenweenie’ for you….

Tim Burton: There’s a beauty to stop motion. You can spend hours walking around the set looking at the props and the little details that people put into it. Every time I look at a set I look at something different, you know? Just a crack in a sidewalk with a blade of grass coming out it, which is tiny. Or working Venetian blinds that are so small. There’s an amazing artistry that goes into that. And I think for the people working on it, especially the animators and the people on the set, in that dark room day in and day out for a year, it gives you a certain energy to be there seeing the actual artistry there on the set. That’s something that keeps me going and I think people working on it going. I love it. There’s something that’s so beautiful about it. Just to be able to touch and feel the puppets and move them, there’s something magical about it.

For me, there’s a number of elements that added so much life to ’Frankenweenie’ when I watched it…. 

Tim Burton: Thank you. For me, I’m excited about ’Frankenweenie’ because of all of the elements…. in revisiting something that meant something to me, also trying to capture the spirit of the drawings, the opportunity of doing stop motion, black and white, 3D – all of those elements together, making it a new creation, you know? ‘Frankenweenie’ is very exciting for me, and to be able to see it in black and white, that just makes it feel strangely new and beautiful, and it really fit’s the character of the piece.