Frankenweenie

PG

Released Oct 5, 2012

1 hr. 27 min.

Kids & Family

Fantasy

Animation

List

88%

224 Reviews

Tomatometer

70%

50,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Young Victor Frankenstein (Charlie Tahan) is a science nerd and outsider at school, but he does have one good friend: his dog, Sparky. But then, tragedy strikes, and Sparky shuffles off this mortal coil. Victor is heartbroken, but his science teacher (Martin Landau) gives him an idea of how to jolt old Sparky back to life. The experiment is successful, and all goes well, until Victor's fellow students steal his secret and use it to resurrect other dead animals -- with monstrous consequences.

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Critics Consensus

Frankenweenie is an energetic stop-motion horror movie spoof with lovingly crafted visuals and a heartfelt, oddball story.

Read Critics Reviews

Krystal W

My son enjoyed this movie.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/26/21

Full Review

KerryWhite's S

Rating Now & as a Child: 6/10. 68/100

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

10/23/23

Full Review

Stephen S

A wonderfully fun, spooky, and heartwarming Halloween classic.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

10/18/23

Full Review

Monsol E

A fun, and good looking spooky flick. There's not much in terms of character or story, [kid's dog dies, and he sciences him back to life.], but the presentation is great. I particularly liked how several kids were also mad scientists, and ALL of them casually tried raising the dead once victor did it....and the results of that were a blast! [Especially Legally-distinct-Gamera] It's not an INCREDIBLE movie, but if you like slightly-morbid vibes, old black+white horror movies, or are a Tim Burton Fan, you'll like this. [RIP Mr. Whiskers tho, they did my boy dirty.]

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

10/17/23

Full Review

Rodrigo C

it is good for Disney to make it so good

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

10/14/23

Full Review

Audience Member

It’s over 10 years old and quite a nice treat by Tim Burton Victor Frankenstein is a young boy in his neighborhood that’s really into science His best friend is his dog Sparky But tragedy strikes when his dog dies and he is broken by it With some wise words from his parents Victor gets the idea to use his intellect to bring Sparky back to life But he has to keep it a secret; soon his discovery starts to spread to other classmates and they start to abuse the procedure with scary consequences This made $80 million at the global box office and barely avoided being a financial failure This made film history as the first black-and-white feature-length and stop-motion animated film to be released in IMAX theaters Gotta love Burton and his love for stop motion animation It was a difficult process with the puppets A very overlooked entry in his roster which is actually a remake of the 1984 short film of the same name but he left Disney after they turned him down It got nominated for multiple awards, with the most notable being an Academy Award for best animated feature Despite being nominated for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe and a BAFTA, the movie did not claim any of these accolades This is definitely a family friendly version of Frankenstein's monster involving a boy bringing his dog back to life This also shows the horrors of messing with life and death The film definitely hit me on a personal level losing my own pet Tyler and the middle does meander a bit The message at the end is kind of undercut at the end But I do love the the creative camera angles and the crazy character models being inspired by classic Universal monster characters Love the score by Danny Elfman as usual Science isn't good or bad but it can be used both ways If our hearts aren't in the right place to conduct experiments they fail so we end up changing the variables Not a classic by Burton and Disney but a nice kid friendly version of a beloved tale that’ll get the kids in the Halloween mood

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

10/06/23

Full Review

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Tim Burton

Director

Catherine O'Hara

Mrs. Frankenstein

Martin Short

Mr. Frankenstein

Martin Landau

Mr. Rzykruski

Charlie Tahan

Victor

Atticus Shaffer

Edgar

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Mar Diestro-Dópido

Sight & Sound

Admittedly less eccentric and more classic in style than some of Burton's acclaimed earlier works, Frankenweenie is still chock-full of the filmmaker's old dark magic.

Jul 12, 2018

Full Review

Candice Frederick

Reel Talk Online

... Frankenweenie beautifully merges the old with the new as it also celebrates filmmaking both literally and fictionally with its relatable protagonist.

Rated: B+

Sep 7, 2017

Full Review

Tom Charity

CNN.com

Tim Burton's most enjoyable movie in a long time.

Jan 7, 2013

Full Review

Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

The stop-motion animation looks especially crisp in the film’s black-and-white world.

Rated: 3/4

Feb 15, 2023

Full Review

Sean Axmaker

Stream on Demand

[Tim] Burton mixes in a love of horror movies with an innocently ghoulish sense of humor and harmless gross-out gags, capturing that childhood fascination with monster movies and the macabre.

Jan 7, 2023

Full Review

Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

Burton has set aside his usual, increasingly cloying commercial drives to tell a story that means something to him.

Rated: 3/4

Sep 23, 2022

Full Review

Read all reviews

Synopsis

Young Victor Frankenstein (Charlie Tahan) is a science nerd and outsider at school, but he does have one good friend: his dog, Sparky. But then, tragedy strikes, and Sparky shuffles off this mortal coil. Victor is heartbroken, but his science teacher (Martin Landau) gives him an idea of how to jolt old Sparky back to life. The experiment is successful, and all goes well, until Victor's fellow students steal his secret and use it to resurrect other dead animals -- with monstrous consequences.

Director: Tim Burton
Executive Producer: Don Hahn
Screenwriter: John August
Distributor: Walt Disney
Production Co: Walt Disney Studios
Rating: PG (Scary Images|Action|Thematic Elements)
Genre: Kids & Family, Fantasy, Animation
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 5, 2012, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 8, 2014
Sound Mix: Datasat, Dolby Digital

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