Frankenweenie 4-disc Blu-ray Combo Pack Review

Title: Frankenweenie (Four-Disc Combo: Blu-ray 3D/Blu-ray/DVD + Digital Copy)

Release Date: January 8, 2013

My Review:

If you missed seeing Frankenweenie in the theater (or even if you did see it AND loved it), you can now bring it home on Bluray/DVD combo pack, digital download, or watch it On Demand as of January 8th, 2013. Frankenweenie is a “must watch” for any Tim Burton fan, and is kid friendly.

Familiar Tim Burton stars Catherine O’Hara (Mrs. Frankenstein), Winona Ryder (Elsa Van Helsing), Martin Landau (Mr. Rzykruski), and Conchata Ferrell (Bob’s Mom) lend their voices to this darkly humorous tale inspired by Mary Shelley’s classic Frankenstein.

Victor Frankenstein, a lonely little boy with no friends, has a heartwarming bond with his beloved dog, Sparky. When Sparky is tragically struck by a car and laid to rest, Victor becomes inspired by Mr. Rzykruski to bring him back from the dead. At first, it doesn’t seem his experiment has worked, but soon little Sparky is as good as new–with the occasional body part needing to be reattached.

When Victor’s classmates catch on to his experiment, several of them go on to create ghastly, monstrous creations of their own and soon the small town of New Holland has been taken over by their monstrous creations.

I am a fan of Tim Burton’s films (and Danny Elfman’s musical scores), especially older ones like Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Beetle Juice. If you’ve also seen most of the films he’s been involved with as director and/or producer, then you’ll appreciate Frankenweenie for following that tried and trued formula, which makes for a wonderful film your whole family should enjoy. I went into my first viewing only having seen the trailer and a few images from the film, so parts of it were different from what I’d expected. In a nut shell, Frankenweenie is a fun love letter not only to the past works of Tim Burton, but also to horror film classics. If you’re curious how horror films could possibly tie into a film friendly enough for kids, you’ll just have to watch and see for yourself.

Frankenweenie Trailer

Bonus Features

Captain Sparky vs. the Flying Saucers One of Victor’s short films featuring Sparky and Victor.

Miniatures in Motion: Bringing ‘Frankenweenie’ to Life Producer Allison Abbate, Producer and Director Tim Burton discuss the years long process of making this film. Burton expanded a story idea into this feature length film from a live action short he made in 1984. Footage also shows how the puppets are cared for when damaged during filming, how the puppets are built from the ground up, original storyboard art, and more.

‘Frankenweenie’ Touring Exhibits Footage from ComiCon 2012 regarding a touring exhibit of the artwork, puppets, and sets from Frankenweenie. Also contains commentary from Don Hahn and Allison Abbate.

‘Frankenweenie’ Original Live Action Short Barret Oliver (remember him from The Neverending Story and The Secret Garden?), Daniel Stern, Shelley Duvall star in a live action short film which was the basis for the stop motion Frankenweenie.

‘Pet Sematary’ Music Video The style of this music video featuring the group Plain White T’s is black and white as a tribute to Frankenweenie. It contains scenes from the film, and is feature in where else?–a cemetery.

*I received a sample of this product for review, but was not compensated financially in any way. The opinions are my own and are based solely on my experience with the product.*