Frankenweenie

Director: Tim Burton

Voices by: Winona Ryder, Catherine O'Hara, Martin Landau, Martin Short

****

Back in 1984 when he was an animator for Disney, Tim Burton made a short black-and-white film called Frankenweenie, about a boy who wants to bring his dead dog back to life. Now he has made a feature-length, stop-motion animated version of his story, aimed as much at grown-ups as children (in fact, below-10s will probably find it too frightening). With numerous scary movie and horror novel references (including, of course, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, as young Victor attempts to bring Sparky back to life), this is a treat for fans of the old Universal and Hammer movies, packed with knowing nods and little chuckles. But it's also a surprisingly heartwarming movie that is perhaps Burton's most touching film since Edward Scissorhands.