While Tim Burton’s recent live-action films have still been raking in gobs of cash, they’ve also taken a bit of a downturn in quality that have left longtime Burton fans feeling a bit cold. Affection for his stop-motion animation efforts seem to still be ever-present and warm, however, so this new trailer for Burton’s Frankenweenie should play as a fun, bow-wrapped surprise to a lot of people.
Check it out after the break, you might just be in for a pleasant shock.
The warped visuals of a Burton film are never in doubt, so to say that this movie looks vintage, strange, and gorgeous probably isn’t necessary; but it also seems to have some thematic connections with past Burton works that might be worth mentioning. The best Burton films have always been about not just about oddities, but about youthful dreamers, and this one looks to have that in spades. It’s got the weird mixing of the Gothic macabre with suburban malaise that worked so well in Edward Scissorhands and Beetlejuice as well. And it explores childhood emotions and the way traumatic experiences effect kids differently than they do adults, because they’ve yet to develop the necessary coping mechanisms (you know, Pee-Wee losing his bike syndrome).
In addition to all that, Frankenweenie also seems to have more homages to classic Frankenstein movies than you could shake a stick at. So even if you’re not typically a fan of Burton’s oddball work, there’s a whole other level that you might be able to enjoy this film on. Whether you’ve been high the man’s recent output or not, this trailer is one that everyone will probably want to check out. Give it a chance.
Frankenweenie opens on October 5. [Yahoo! Movies]