Tim Burton Talks Frankenweenie

We have heard wind of a Frankenweenie remake, and today we have words from Tim Burton himself about the project. We get the scoop from Sci Fi Wire:

Director Tim Burton told SCI FI Wire that he’s eager to begin shooting a full-length version of Frankenweenie, the short film he made in 1984 while working for Disney. Burton will produce and direct Frankenweenie, the Frankenstein-inspired story of a boy who brings his beloved dog back from the dead, as a 3-D stop-motion-animation film.

“We’re going to do that real low-budget,” Burton said in an interview while promoting his latest film, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. “The thing that excites me about it and that will make it different is that when I look at my original drawings, there are certain things that are in those that I couldn’t get in the live action when I made the film. So I’m quite excited to try to get a certain emotion and other characters in the new version, and I want to make it a slightly bigger story.”

I have seen Frankenweenie and am tickled that Tim Burton is returning to the film later in his career, and using 3-D stop motion animation to tell the same story a different way. I have a soft spot for 3-D, and for stories about boys that bring their dead pets back to life. Resurrection is a power we will all desire at some point in our lives; it is as timeless a wish as the fountain of youth or yeti sex.

I certainly would not want to see every picture done in stop motion animation, but from time to time – it really hits the spot. I like to see the mix up in formats and find that for some stories a change in format enhances the story. Team America is probably one of my favorite comedies of all time, and the use of marionettes was essential to the film’s magic. I am curious to see if Frankenweenie is a better experience, and causes more emotional response in this new format. Tim Burton seems to think so, and now we wait.