Frankenweenie (2012)

[sunhuntin]

they showed the preview for frankenweenie before finding nemo 3d and im rather looking forward to seeing it. havent seen a burton film in cinema since nightmare.

[monorail91]

Just saw Frankenweenie today in theaters. One word: AMAZING.

Honestly the best Burton movie since Big Fish, maybe since Edward Scissorhands. I found it incredibly moving, was in tears at the end. So many people have experienced the loss of a pet so this movie really hits home for me, and I'm sure many others. I definitely wasn't the only one in my theater crying!

[pap64]

Just read on Box Office Mojo that the movie landed on fifth place for the opening weekend, while Hotel Transylvania kept its spot as the number one family movie for the week. While analysts will have a field day with this one, I expected this to happen despite the somewhat heavy advertisement on Disney's behalf.

The first is that it isn't as family friendly as the other "horror" themed animated movies. Yeah, Paranorman may have been dark, and Hotel Transylvania may have typical Adam Sandler humor, but they both speak to a wider range of family audiences. Frankenweenie deals with very morbid concepts of life and death, and its characters are a reflection of that.

Second, it's the way the movie is is presented. These are not beautifully detailed or wacky looking characters. They are very tall, very slender and with grotesque features like very wide eyes or humps. You see some of these characters and it can be hard to warm up to them when they remind you of Slenderman. Not only that, it is a movie that is shot in black and white.

Finally it's the story. Like I mentioned before, the story of a boy's struggle to accept the death of a beloved family pet may just be too dark for people, especially those that relish their pets. The image of an undead puppy with stitches may just scare people away. Then there's the fact that it references horror movies, and I don't mean current horror movies, but the classics from the 30s and 40s.

Now, I have not seen the film, so I am not saying that it is bad. I am stating that it's apparently weak first week could be attributed to a concept that can be hard to warm up to. But on the upside, I see the movie was being a success. In an era in which animated films feel like they have to be manufactured in order to be financial successes, seeing a movie like Frankenweenie being made (and produced by DISNEY of all people) just warms my heart in an odd way. It was a movie that was made for the sake of the story and not the audience. It explains why Alice in Wonderland, despite being highly successful, was a miss with audiences and critics, yet Frankenweenie has been a success with people. Frankenweenie may very well be a labor of love, a project that got Burton fired from Disney, yet brought him back with a better realized idea, and it is a success because of it.

[ajmrowland]

Taken 2 was the no.1 movie this week.

But here's how I see it; while most succesful movies are in the 1 and 2 slots opening week, Frankenweenie might be one of those that stays consistently in it's place in the top 5 at the BO for a few weeks, especially as it gets closer to halloween and parents are looking for fun family friendly monster movies and the like.

[pap64]

Taken 2 was the no.1 movie this week.

But here's how I see it; while most succesful movies are in the 1 and 2 slots opening week, Frankenweenie might be one of those that stays consistently in it's place in the top 5 at the BO for a few weeks, especially as it gets closer to halloween and parents are looking for fun family friendly monster movies and the like.

Note...

The number one family movie for the week.

I do see a strong word of mouth for this movie, if the reviews are to be believed.

[ajmrowland]

^exactly why I said what I said; to keep others from being as confused as you thought I was.

[Prince Edward]

"A number of factors conspired to thwart Frankenweenie's box office prospects. Disney's decision to release the movie just a week after Hotel Transylvania is a baffling one: yes, Hotel Transylvania wasn't expected to perform quite so well, but it still seems foolish to expect to draw family audiences in this head-to-head matchup. The bigger problem, of course, was in the product itself: stop-motion animation already is a niche genre, and to throw black-and-white on top of that made the movie even more inaccessible. The marketing did have Tim Burton's name slapped all over it, but it's unclear how strong Burton's brand is without regular collaborator Johnny Depp.

Audiences gave Frankenweenie a "B+" CinemaScore. Without any real competition (besides, of course, Hotel Transylvania), the movie should hold well leading up to Halloween, but this start is so poor that it's not going to make much of a difference."
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=3541&p=.htm

Disney sure knows how to pick a release date and how to market a movie, right?

Here in Norway we will not be able to see it in cinemas before late January. Stupid when you consider how suited it is for the Halloween season.

[ajmrowland]

around that second sentence in the quote, I started to see an opinion leak in.

Stop Motion and Black and White are niche, but not in the way that science fiction has a reputation of being.

[estefan]

John August (the screenwriter of Frankenweenie) wrote an excellent article on his website about the disappointing opening weekend box-office. Definitely give it a read:

http://johnaugust.com/2012/some-first-thoughts-on-fifth

I agree with him, as I think it will find more of an audience as it goes on. I don't know who selected their release date first, but with Hotel Transylvania there, I imagine they had a tricky time at Disney choosing the right time to release. Maybe if they moved Wreck-It Ralph to the Christmas slot (where they've added the Monsters Inc re-issue) and moved Frankenweenie to next week, it could have done better and had more room to breath. I thought it was conventional wisdom not to release two animated films so close together.

In fact, Disney is somewhat an expert in that since they have been known to release their big animated films on the same day as others to swamp the competition, e.g. The Little Mermaid vs All Dogs Go to Heaven, Beauty and the Beast vs Fievel Goes West, The Lion King re-release vs The Swan Princess.

[Sotiris]

I agree with him, as I think it will find more of an audience as it goes on.

Me too. With such a small production budget and the fact that it has yet to open overseas, it will definitely make a profit.

In fact, Disney is somewhat an expert in that since they have been known to release their big animated films on the same day as others to swamp the competition, e.g. The Little Mermaid vs All Dogs Go to Heaven, Beauty and the Beast vs Fievel Goes West, The Lion King re-release vs The Swan Princess.

Don't forget The Little Mermaid re-release vs. Anastasia.

[pap64]

I completely forgot about The Nightmare Before Christmas. I remember it didn't set the world on fire, and it took around ten years for it to enjoy the massive popularity it has today. I don't know if Frankenweenie will have that kind of lasting power, but I do see it becoming a quirky cult hit with a fanbase.

[thelittleursula]

Hotel Transylvania has that Shrek feeling that alot of parents would prefer to take their kids too these days. [ Don't ask me why, I think that those type of movies are dumb and dumb the kids down ]


So it makes sense for HT to do better than Frank. Bloody Baby Boomer Gen.

[Flanger-Hanger]

Saw it today and think it's the best Burton movie since Sweeney Todd. It looks fanastic in black and white and the 3D actually is used throughout the movie in an effective way and not like an afterthought. The humour feels more like the older Burton stuff and there's lots of good references (see the 20K poster in the kids room?).

[FigmentJedi]

The first is that it isn't as family friendly as the other "horror" themed animated movies. Yeah, Paranorman may have been dark ... but they both speak to a wider range of family audiences. Frankenweenie deals with very morbid concepts of life and death, and its characters are a reflection of that.

And Paranorman doesn't? The conflict of the entire film is centered around the aftermath of the lynching of an eleven year old girl. It also turns a lot of the typical expectations for the featured supernatural elements on their heads considering the whole "American Witch Trials actually nabbed a real witch and this has modern day consequences" plot used by Hocus Pocus long ago is again, done with a child instead of cliche wicked witches or how the zombies aren't mindless brain eating shamblers. Just as people are ignorant and prejudiced toward Norman, Norman himself also has to open his mind and look past his own horror genre-savviness.

Frankenweenie could have had a lot more thematic potential like the whole "People hate and fear what science asks/answers while enjoying what it brings them" thing that's touched on lightly by the science teacher and never really used again. It puts interesting ideas on the table but doesn't really use them.

[monorail91]

^ I think that theme comes back very strongly in the climax when (START SPOILER) Victor is helping destroy the other monsters/pets that the other children created. He uses his scientific knowledge of fresh water creatures to kill the sea monkeys, water/electricity to kill Shelley, etc.

For me at least, I think Frankenweenie also had some genuinely scary moments/concepts. The whole idea of losing a pet aside (which is very emotional, definitely had me in tears), I thought the scene with the weird blonde girl's cat Mr. Whiskers turning into a Vampire Cat was pretty scary, plus the idea that your own pet that you love can turn into a monster is disturbing. (END SPOILER)

While I wish this movie was a bigger commercial hit, the fact that it is Disney AND Tim Burton makes it a guarantee to be a cult hit. Word of mouth, plus merchandising, will help this movie live for a long time. Far better than Corpse Bride, I think Frankenweenie is almost as good as Nightmare Before Christmas.

[FigmentJedi]

The kids thing goes back to the changing the variables thing and it seemed rather shallow that they were all motivated by oneupsmanship. Electricity also seemed like a lazy solution to handle both Gamera and the wererat and it bugged me that nobody gave a crap about reviving/reversing Mr Whiskers after that boss fight ended.

[ajmrowland]

^ I think that theme comes back very strongly in the climax when (SPOILER) Victor is helping destroy the other monsters/pets that the other children created. He uses his scientific knowledge of fresh water creatures to kill the sea monkeys, water/electricity to kill Shelley, etc.

For me at least, I think Frankenweenie also had some genuinely scary moments/concepts. The whole idea of losing a pet aside (which is very emotional, definitely had me in tears), I thought the scene with the weird blonde girl's cat Mr. Whiskers turning into a Vampire Cat was pretty scary, plus the idea that your own pet that you love can turn into a monster is disturbing.

While I wish this movie was a bigger commercial hit, the fact that it is Disney AND Tim Burton makes it a guarantee to be a cult hit. Word of mouth, plus merchandising, will help this movie live for a long time. Far better than Corpse Bride, I think Frankenweenie is almost as good as Nightmare Before Christmas.

I think you might wanna put a spoiler tag, but anyway, I was a sucker for that classic moment when we first see the mutated rat

[ajmrowland]

The kids thing goes back to the changing the variables thing and it seemed rather shallow that they were all motivated by oneupsmanship. Electricity also seemed like a lazy solution to handle both Gamera and the wererat and it bugged me that nobody gave a crap about reviving/reversing Mr Whiskers after that boss fight ended.

that last point I kinda agree with, but for all we know, Mr. whiskers was burnt to ashes and the dog was the only one that could be saved. Electricity was an easy solution, but i dont think adding screentime to just come up with another solution would've helped the movie at all. and the oneupsmanship was actually fun and simple cuz we didnt need to look too deeply into it. People compete, and people cheat, and these cheaters never prospered and they were never that central to the film outside maybe Edgar. Ultimately, that was an inspired subplot that keeps in line with what the film tries to be, and that is: not convoluted. A monster movie through and through.

[FigmentJedi]

Thinking about Gamera's death, I could see it in some way being a Beast From 20,000 Fathoms nod with the monster having been killed at Coney Island in that, which can play nicely with the stake through the vampire cat and the Sea Monkey Gremlins eating something they shouldn't have. If they found a way to work in a werewolf weakness for the rat, it would have been a little more acceptable to me.

I thought the movie was good, even with it's weaknesses, but like Corpse Bride, nothing spectacular. Selick did so much to make Nightmare work and Burton's solo efforts in stop motion after that just aren't quite as good.

[monorail91]

Can't wait for this on video...definitely one of my favorites of 2012. I imagine we'll get this by February/March?