Giveaway: Frankenweenie on Blu-Ray!

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Blu-Ray Review: Frankenweenie on Blu-Ray!

One of my favorite animated films of 2012 arrived on blu-ray! Frankenweenie is a pure delights and it felt great to have Tim Burton return to his roots to tell a tale of a boy and his dog! And what sort of Tim Burton film would it be without a few quirks!

The story of Frankenweenie revolves around a young boy named Victor and his dog Sparky. Victor doesn't really have any friends except for Sparky. Victor spends his time inventing things and making movies. A tragic accident causes Victor to lose his dog Sparky but a science class demonstration gives Victor the inspiration he needs to try to bring Sparky back from the dead.

I personally feel this is one of Tim Burton's best works in a long time. I think it's because Frankenweenie was such a personal story to him. It also provided the inspiration for such films as Beetlejuice and Edwards Scissorhands. So, going full circle was what Tim needed and what we needed as fans!

This is the charming Tim Burton that we have grown to love. The quirky characters that are full of heart. I mean with a character that just goes by the name of "Weird Girl", you know you are in for a treat! Her cat Mr. Whiskers is my favorite however! He produces some great  laughs and a few wonderful surprises! Watch the clip below and you will see what I mean!



The video quality is of course top notch! Disney is still the best at video transfers! Plus the 3D is great! The details on the clothing, the figures and the props are all shown off in amazing detail! Another fine job Disney!

The audio quality is just as great as the video quality! The 7.1 surround will pull you into the movie! Dialogue is crystal clear, there are several scenes with great directional effects!
  
The four disc combo pack is packed with extras:

• Miniatures in Motion: Bringing Frankenweenie to Life (HD, 23 minutes): A fairly extensive behind the scenes look at the movie. The crew discusses everything from the film's story, to the script, characters, sets, models, puppets, design, style, art direction, casting, voice performances and recordings. Check out the video below for a clip from this documentary.
• Frankenweenie Touring Exhibit (HD, 5 minutes): The exhibit which started in San Diego for Comic-Con, gives you a better look at some of the models, sketches, sets, props, figures and more.
• Original Live-Action Frankenweenie Short (HD, 30 minutes): Watch Tim Burton's 1984 original short film. 
• Captain Sparky vs. The Flying Saucers (HD, 2 minutes): A bonus animated short with Victor, Sparky and a homemade stop-motion short-film-within-a-film.Watch the clip below for a preview!
• Music Video (HD, 4 minutes): The Plain White T's perform "Pet Sematary."
• Trailers & Sneak Peeks (HD, 11 minutes): Oz: The Great and Powerful, Wreck-It Ralph, The Muppet Movie: The Nearly 35th Anniversary Edition, Peter Pan, Peter Pan: Return to Never Land, Planes and Once Upon a Time.

A great animated film from a director that I felt needed to return to his roots! Great video, incredible sound and some great extras make for a great Blu-Ray combo set from Disney! While I did miss a commentary track from Burton and the crew, the documentary made up for that!

An Interview with Tim Burton for the Blu-Ray/DVD Release of Frankenweenie!

AN INTERVIEW WITH DIRECTOR TIM BURTON

FOR THE BLU-RAY AND DVD RELEASE OF FRANKENWEENIE

From Disney and creative genius Tim Burton (Alice In Wonderland, The Nightmare Before Christmas) comes the hilarious and offbeat Frankenweenie, a heartwarming tale about a boy and his dog.

After unexpectedly losing his beloved dog Sparky, young Victor harnesses the power of science to bring his best friend back to life – with just a few minor adjustments. He tries to hide his home-sewn creation – but when Sparky gets out, Victor’s fellow students, teachers and the entire town learn that getting a new ‘leash on life’ can be monstrous.

Boasting an electrifying variety of bonus materials on Blu-ray and DVD, the stop-motion animated masterpiece is filled with quirkycharacters and unexpected twists. The madcap movie features an all-star cast including the voices of Catherine O’Hara, Martin Short, Martin Landau, Charlie Tahan, Atticus Shaffer, Robert Capron, Conchata Ferrell and Winona Ryder.

We catch up with iconic film director Tim Burton to find out more… 

Frankenweenie is described as a semi-autobiographical project. Does this mean the younger characters in the movie are based on your classmates from school?

The kids in the movie are based on various real people, but they are also based on horror icons like Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre and dubbed Japanese movies that I remember seeing as a child. They relate to movies and actors, as well as real people that I remember from my childhood.

The main character, Victor, loves to make movies. Is that what you used to do when you were a child?

Yes, I did. A lot of kids did, actually. It was a fun thing to do, and it became a very easy way to get good grades.

What movies did you make?

Sometimes I’d make stop-motion movies and sometimes I would make live-action movies. Sometimes I filmed drawings, or I did a mixture of things.

Were you also into science projects, just like Victor in Frankenweenie?

I liked the idea of making things and creating things, but I guess I always treated science and art as quite similar thematically. I feel like the idea of science and short filmmaking, and doing science fairs and projects like building volcanoes, is all in a similar vein.

Did you have a pet dog like Sparky when you were a child?

When I was a child, I had a really strong connection with a dog we named Pepe. He was a mutt who was ill for a very long time.

Is Sparky based on Pepe?

This dog is nondescript. He wasn’t meant to be like a literal translation of my dog. He is more of an emotional translation.

Do you have any dogs in your life now?

Right now, I don’t have a dog because I travel a lot and I don’t want to leave it abandoned while I’m away.

Has your family got any pets?

My kid has a tortoise and three terrapins, but that’s about all we can handle at the moment.

When it comes to Frankenweenie, why did you decide to create the movie in black and white?

I find black and white very beautiful. It gives a real sense of emotion. I was really excited about seeing this in black and white because there’s a depth in the black and white, which I love. I was very happy that the studio went along with the idea. If they wanted it in color, I wouldn’t have done it.

Do you dream in black and white or in color?

I’ve had black and white dreams, as well as color dreams. I’ve had both. I love black and white; I always have. I think there’s a real beauty to it. It’s not right for every project, but when you take the color out of something, sometimes you start looking at other things like textures andcharacters. It does something really interesting.

Frankenweenie is an homage to black and white monster movies from the past. Did those movies scare you as a child?

I think I was more scared by real life rather than movies. I could watch a monster movie fine, but I’d be terrified if I had one of my relatives come over. I was never scared by monster movies because I felt like the monsters were always the most emotional characters – at least in those old films. I guess it’s slightly different these days.

What about spiders and bugs? Do they scare you?

I’m not a big fan of spiders or rats and things like that. I got up one morning on a vacation recently and there was a huge centipede in my bed. I wasn’t very happy about that.

Did you worry that the story of Frankenweenie might be too dark and scary for Disney?

No. In my mind, I always felt confident that it was quite a traditional Disney movie. Disney movies like Bambi and The Lion King have dealt with emotional issues that are not dissimilar in some ways. Disney films have a certain element of danger or darkness in them, and if all of that stuff was taken out of every Disney movie, they wouldn’t feel the same. Frankenweenie has got a happy ending, so I never felt like it was pushing the boundaries very much in terms of that.

You’ve worked on such a wide variety of projects and movies… How does it feel when people come up to you to tell you that they identify with one of your memorable character creations?

The best thing that ever happens to me is not so much about reviews or box office [takings]. I try to make the money back for each film, but the nicest thing is when you get people coming up to admit that they have a personal connection with a character. That’s really, really nice. To me, that means more than anything because that’s the reason why I do this.

Frankenweenie will be available on 3D Blu-ray, Blu-ray, DVD and Digital Platforms on January 8

Walt Disney Studios 2012 Animation Celebration Photos!

Images from The Walt Disney Studios' 2012 Animation Celebration honoring BRAVE, FRANKENWEENIE, PAPERMAN and WRECK IT RALPH. The event was hosted this evening by studio chairman Alan Horn at the Beverly Hills Hotel. 

  

And The Winner of The Sparky Plush Is...

Kellie!
kelliewtts@yahoo.com

Congrats! You have 48 hours to email me at sasakitime@gmail.com to claim your prize!

 

The Science Fair Award Show at The El Capitan Theatre

At The El Capitan Theatre to see Frankenweenie again! But this time it was to see the Science Fair Awards hosted by the Discovery Science Center in Santa Ana!

Here were the rules to enter this contest:

The first 50 participating students will receive a ticket to see Frankenweenie at the historic El Capitan Theatre, and a pair of tickets to visit Discovery Science Center. The exciting first round of judging to determine the finalists will happen the week of September 10, 2012, and then finalists will be judged by VIP judges the week of September 27. Of all participating students, six finalists will be selected to have their projects on display at El Capitan Theatre from October 5 to November 1, 2012. In addition, the six finalists will each receive Disneyland tickets for them and three guests for reaching this distinguished level.
The Science Fair competition concludes at the El Capitan Theatre on October 5th when three Grand Prize winners will accept their awards at a special ceremony, on the El Capitan stage prior to the showing of Frankenweenie. Grand Prize winners will receive all prizes listed previously plus a behind-the-scenes tour of Walt Disney Studios.
Interested participants must be entering the 2012-2013 school year as a 5th – 12th grade student. All projects must present an experimentally based research design; illustrating scientific methodology or a demonstration/exhibition of a science or engineering concept based on themes from the movie Frankenweenie.

So, with that being said, let's head into the theatre!

Downstairs they have an exhibit featuring some of the props and sets from the movie though the bulk of these items are in the Animation Building at Disney California Adventure for their Frankenweenie exhibit!

Besides the props, this is where the six finalists for the Science Fair have their experiments.

This one was actually pretty cool! The showed a video of it in action inside the theatre! It really did cook a hot dog!

This was one of the winners of the Best Traditional Science Fair Award!

Daniel's project looked at the influence that tides had on the behavior of the light-tailed clapper rail.

Information about the Science Fair Exhibit!

Another great exhibit brought to us by the great folks at the Discovery Science Center!

The winner of the Grand Science Award!

Colin took hamburger meat and dead flies to generate electricity.

The winner of the Grand Prize for Creativity!

Delaney was the only girl out of the six finalists. She wants to be an imagineer one day. Her project brings Disney films to life.

One of the winners for the Best Traditional Science Fair Entry.

Tre mixed different percentages of reclaimed, aquifer and Colorado River waters to find which mixture encourages little to no algae growth so that businesses such as golf courses can maintain their lawns with depleting natural resources. Two golf courses in Palm Springs are currently using his research to better maintain their courses without doing harm to the environment.

Victor's house!

The backyard where Sparky roams!

The Pet Cemetery!

The movie house!

Just a great contest to encourage our children to learn more about science! Thank you to Disney, The El Capitan Theatre and the Discovery Science Center for putting this together! You can see the exhibits of the six finalists at The El Capitan Theatre until November 1, 2012!

Giveaway: Sparky Plush from Frankenweenie!

 The giveaway begins today October 3rd, 2012 and will end on Monday October 8th, 2012! Good luck!
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Review of Tim Burton's Frankenweenie!

I am a huge fan of Tim Burton's original short of Frankenweenie so I couldn't wait to see a full fledged movie! I went to my favorite place to see a Disney movie, The El Capitan Theatre with a few friends in tow!

The story of Frankenweenie revolves around a young boy named Victor and his dog Sparky. Victor doesn't really have any friends except for Sparky. Victor spends his time inventing things and making movies. A tragic accident causes Victor to lose his dog Sparky but a science class demonstration gives Victor the inspiration he needs to try to bring Sparky back from the dead.

The 3D in Frankenweenie is totally immersive. I think this is one of the best uses of 3D I have ever seen. The illusion of depth plus the decision to keep this film in black and white is unique and plays great homage to the classic horror films of the 1950s!

I am also a huge fan of the art of stop motion animation! I love the painstaking attention to detail as each frame is shot one at a time! You can tell how much Burton has mastered this art form from The Nightmare Before Christmas to Corpse Bride to now Frankenweenie!

I personally feel this is one of Tim Burton's best works in a long time. I think it's because Frankenweenie was such a personal story to him. It also provided the inspiration for such films as Beetlejuice and Edwards Scissorhands. So, going full circle was what Tim needed and what we needed as fans!

This is the charming Tim Burton that we have grown to love. The quirky characters that are full of heart. I mean with a character that just goes by the name of "Weird Girl", you know you are in for a treat! Her cat Mr. Whiskers is my favorite however! He produces some great  laughs and a few wonderful surprises!

Plus, there are lots of great things to look for in the movie! See if you can find the "Goodbye Kitty"! Also look out for Christopher Lee as Dracula! Plus there is a nice tribute to all of the people that were in the original live action Frankenweenie short! 

I look forward to seeing this movie again. I'm actually seeing it again on Friday at The El Capitan of course! This film is full of charm and heart and perfect down to the classic horror film inspired posters! Burton is back!

Frankenweenie: Sparky's Return Poster!

Frankenweenie: Return of The Vampire Cat Poster!

Frankenweenie: Day of The Turtle Poster!

Frankenweenie: Curse of THe Mummy Hamster Poster!

Frankenweenie: Back From Beyond Poster!

"Frankenweenie" Director Tim Burton Visits the Disneyland Resort

Recently, Valarie Sukovaty had the honor of interviewing director Tim Burton. They talked about his connection to the Walt Disney Company and the Disneyland Resort and how the first animated film he's directed for Disney, "Frankenweenie" -- a movie inspired by his California childhood -- brings it all full-circle.

Frankenweenie: An Electrifying Book!

Go behind-the-scenes with Frankenweenie: An Electrifying Book! Explore the creation of the film with photos, art, interviews, 3D model characters and much more.

Get it here: http://iTunes.com/Frankenweenie

See Frankenweenie in theaters October 5. Get tickets: http://di.sn/d3T

In Tim Burton's Frankenweenie, young Victor conducts a science experiment to bring his beloved dog Sparky back to life, only to face unintended, sometimes monstrous, consequences.

Facebook: http://facebook.com/Frankenweenie
Official Site: http://disney.go.com/Frankenweenie
Twitter: http://twitter.com/DisneyPictures

FRANKENWEENIE - IMAX 12:01 Poster

Exclusively for IMAX fans as part of IMAX’s 12:01 program - those attending the FRANKENWEENIE midnight shows in the first hours of October 5 will receive a limited edition FRANKENWEENIE print using an original sketch by Tim Burton.  Check for list of participating theatres on imax.com; while supplies last.

Imax FRANKENWEENIE page: http://www.imax.com/movies/m/frankenweenie-an-imax-3d-experience/

Frankenweenie "The Future" Spot

Published on Sep 20, 2012 by DisneyMovieTrailers

In theaters October 5. Get tickets: http://di.sn/d3T

Have Mr. Whiskers tell your fortune: http://di.sn/o3h

In Tim Burton's Frankenweenie, young Victor conducts a science experiment to bring his beloved dog Sparky back to life, only to face unintended, sometimes monstrous, consequences.

Facebook: http://facebook.com/Frankenweenie
Official Site: http://disney.go.com/Frankenweenie
Twitter: http://twitter.com/DisneyPictures

Brilliant Frankenweenie Tribute at The Haunted Mansion!

Sparky lives!