Frankenweenie (1984 film)

Frankenweenie
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Tim Burton
Produced by	Julie Hickson Rick Heinrichs
Screenplay by	Lenny Ripps
Story by	Tim Burton
Based on	Frankenstein
Starring	Shelley Duvall Daniel Stern Barret Oliver
Music by	David Newman Michael Convertino
Cinematography	Thomas E. Ackerman
Edited by	Ernest Milano
Production company	Walt Disney Pictures
Distributed by	Buena Vista Distribution
Release date	December 14, 1984
Running time	30 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$1 million

Frankenweenie is a 1984 Tim Burton-directed short film produced by Walt Disney Pictures and co-written by Burton with Leonard Ripps. It is both a parody and homage to the 1931 film Frankenstein based on Mary Shelley's novel of the same name. It was filmed in 1983. 28 years later, Burton decided to work on a stop-motion 2012 remake of that film.

Victor Frankenstein (played by Barret Oliver) is a young boy who creates movies starring his dog, Sparky (a Bull Terrier, whose name is a play on the use of electricity in the film). After Sparky is hit by a car and killed, Victor learns at school about electrical impulses in muscles and is inspired to bring his pet back to life. He creates elaborate machines which bring down a bolt of lightning that revives the dog. While Victor is pleased, his neighbors are terrified by the animal, and when the Frankensteins decide to introduce the revitalized Sparky to them they become angry and terrified.

Sparky runs away, with Victor in pursuit. They find themselves at a local miniature golf course and hide in its flagship windmill. The Frankensteins' neighbors, now an angry mob, arrive on the scene, and when they attempt to use a cigarette lighter to try to see in the windmill, it is accidentally set on fire. Victor falls and is knocked out, but Sparky rescues him from the flames, only to be crushed by the windmill. The mob of neighbors, realizing their error, use their cars and jumper cables to "recharge" Sparky. He is revived, and all celebrate. Sparky falls in love with a poodle whose fur bears a strong resemblance to the hairdo of the Bride of Frankenstein and the film ends with Sparky's electricity making the words, "The End".