Burton’s Revenge- It’s Alive- Again!

A much- anticipated movie from Tim Burton hits theaters today- and it has the air of déjà vu- and revenge –about it! “Frankenweenie”- a stop-motion animated tale about a young boy who uses weird science to bring his deceased pet dog back to life- is sure to be as big a hit as previous stop-motion modern classics from Burton- “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and “The Corpse Bride”. It boasts a tremendous voice cast including Martin Landau, Catherine O’Hara, Winona Ryder, and Martin Short, among others- and was actually a project that got Burton fired from the very studio that will now make a tidy fortune from this new version! Here’s the story- back when Burton was working for Disney around 1984, he made a short live action film in black and white- “Frankenweenie” –in which a young boy named Victor Frankenstein is upset that his dog Sparky has been hit by a car- and decides to bring the pet back to life! With Shelley Duvall as his mother, and Daniel Stern as his dad, Victor (Barret Oliver - who starred in “Neverending Story”) succeeds- but faces the tough task of convincing everyone that this bizarre and terrifying mutt is still his faithful old pal. However, Burton had some convincing to do as well- this short film, made for approximately a million dollars, was supposed to hit theaters on the same bill as the 1984 re-release of “Pinocchio”- but was pulled from that slot when,in test screenings, children became upset (uh- aren’t there some pretty upsetting things in ”Pinocchio” as well?) The Disney company felt that Burton had squandered a great deal of money making something that was too scary for their typical audience, and fired him! Burton went on, at other studios, to make hits and become rich and famous- which suddenly made Disney decide they could cash in on that by releasing “Frankenweenie” on VHS (in a somewhat censored version). When his Disney release (via their Touchstone Pictures division) “Nightmare Before Christmas” came out on DVD, they finally included the original uncut version as a bonus feature. And today- 28 years later- it has come full circle. It’s no longer live action, but it’s still in black and white- and, very possibly, far more effective as a stop-motion animated feature. How incredibly satisfying it must be for Tim Burton to have brought his dog (story) back to life! In keeping with our dog direction, let’s name the “Halloween Horror of the Day”- it’s the Devil Dog! Longtime Sven fans may remember us showing the made-for-TV film ”Devil Dog: the Hound of Hell” on our show way back in 1996- the eerie story of a happy family (whose kids happen to be the same children that starred in the original “Witch Mountain” flicks- Kim Richards and Ike Eisenmann) whose pet has died in an accident (no, Tim Burton did NOT attempt to bring it back to life- sorry); but happiness returns when they accept a puppy from a fruit vendor (whose hobbies include- Satanism!) The dad, Richard Crenna, begins to suspect the dog has evil tendencies- especially after the family maid dies in a fire while dog-sitting! He notices that the dog seems to have nasty mental powers- and that it has taken control of his children- and his wife (the lovely Yvette Mimieux )! Can one man stop a demonic dog that seems to be invulnerable to harm, thanks to the power of Satan? No rolling over and playing dead here- so, today, the Devil Dog will hereby have ,carved above the door of his doghouse, the title of “Halloween Horror of the Day”!