Frankenweenie
By Sandie Angulo Chen,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Burton's creepy young Frankenstein is perfect for tweens.

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Frankenweenie
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Based on 18 parent reviews
Creepy!
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the best from Tim Burton in my opinion
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What's the Story?
Victor Frankenstein (voiced by Charlie Tahan) isn't a popular kid; his best friend is his pet dog, Sparky (Frank Welker). The only positive thing at school -- where Victor has no pals -- is his new science teacher, Mr. Rzykruski (Martin Landau), who explains how lightning and electricity can be harnessed and assigns all the kids a science project. After Sparky is accidentally run over during a baseball game, Victor is despondent ... until he decides to experiment on Sparky's corpse during a thunderstorm. But reanimating Sparky comes with its own set of problems, most notably Victor's classmates, who want to learn his secret and try it on their own dead pets. The blu-ray release includes an original short titled Captain Sparky vs the Flying Saucers.
Is It Any Good?
FRANKENWEENIE was originally a black-and-white short film that Tim Burton directed and released in 1984, and turning it into a feature-length movie was obviously a labor of love for the director. Both an homage to classic monster movies and a tender relationship drama about the love between a boy and his dog, this is a film that works on so many levels. For kids and tweens, there's the basic story of a boy who will stop at nothing to get back his best friend; for young scary-movie buffs and adults, there are countless references to the horror genre that are seamlessly woven into the story.
What's brilliant about Burton is the emotional range his movies portray. Frankenweenie is undoubtedly frightening in parts -- particularly when the resurrected animals are unleashed onto the town festival -- but there's so much humor (a dead pet named "Colussus" turns out to be anything but) and tenderness as well. The tears that young Victor spills over Sparky are genuinely heartfelt, and, for once, Frankenstein doesn't seem like a mad genius -- just a young boy who misses his favorite creature in the world.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the Frankenweenie's scare factor. Are the frightening scenes too much for little kids, or are they funnier than they are scary? Who do you think they're intended to appeal to?
Do you think kids will get the movie's references to horror movie characters? Why do you think Tim Burton's signature style is so dark?
Would the movie have the same impact if Sparky was a different kind of pet? What's the appeal of dog movies?
Movie Details
- In theaters: October 5, 2012
- On DVD or streaming: January 8, 2013
- Cast: Charlie Tahan, Martin Landau, Martin Short, Winona Ryder
- Director: Tim Burton
- Studio: Walt Disney Pictures
- Genre: Family and Kids
- Topics: Magic and Fantasy, Cats, Dogs, and Mice, Monsters, Ghosts, and Vampires
- Run time: 87 minutes
- MPAA rating: PG
- MPAA explanation: thematic elements, scary images and action
- Last updated: February 19, 2023
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