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
