Frankenweenie

(PG) WDHE DVD/BD

Tim Burton has crafted a full-length, stop-motion animated feature with Frankenweenie based on his own short film.

Burton is the arbiter of all things weird. From Corpse Bride and The Nightmare Before Christmas, to live action features like Edward Scissorhands and the recent Dark Shadows, his vision of Gothic neighbourhood noir has always been one of cinema’s oddities.

So comes Victor Frankenstein and the tale of a boy who can’t part with his pooch Sparky. It’s not a spoiler to say that Sparky meets and untimely death, and rather than letting go, Victor decides to reanimate the corpse of his dog to bring back his best friend.

Decidedly odd subject matter for a family film you say? Well, like the recent Paranorman there seems to be a resurgence of family films dealing with the undead.

The film features a scene-stealing collection of characters at every turn, from the saucer-eyed Weird Girl with her equally saucer-eyed cat companion Mr. Whiskers, to Edgar “E” Gore, a pig-nosed kid who won’t be outdone by Victor in the science project stakes. Sparky, meanwhile, is a marvel of stop-motion animation, so much so that you’ll adore him just as much as Victor does come the finale.

And the voice cast perfectly complements these visuals with a collection of Burton alumni supplying vocals for the puppet cast.

Adrian Drayton