Frankenweenie Movie Review | Is it Too Scary for Kids?

I love dog movies. My sister lived with her dad when I was little, and I was 8 before my brother was born, so for a long time my dog Max was my only companion. He’d come to the door when I got home, lay on my papers when I did my homework on the floor, and play fetch with his tennis balls until my arm fell asleep. Unfortunately, when my brother was a toddler, Max didn’t feel quite the same about him- at least not all the time. After an unfortunate incident, Max had to be rehomed. Even though it was hard for me to rationalize at the time, I acknowledged even then that my brother’s safety took precedence, but it was still a life altering thing for a twelve year old. I think that’s why I connected with Disney & Tim Burton’s new movie, Frankenweenie, so deeply.

In the movie, Victor and his dog Sparky are best friends. Victor doesn’t hang out with anyone else and even makes 3D movies starring Sparky. They do everything together, which worries Victor’s dad. When Victor’s science teacher,  Mr. Rzykruski {a great character, by the way} tells them about the upcoming science fair, Victor is excited. But his dad tells him that he can only sign up for the science fair if he also signs up for baseball. Reluctantly, Victor agrees.

Victor swings & misses twice but on his third swing, he knocks it out of the park! Unfortunately, during Victor’s time at bat Sparky has gotten loose from his leash and even worse- he chases the ball. I’m sure you can draw your own conclusion as to what happens, but I’ll simply say this is the first of three or four times during the movie that you’ll need a tissue.

Victor is devastated and has a hard time moving on. When Mr. Rzykruski brings out a dead frog and shows how electricity can make the body work even after death, Victor gets an idea. He goes home and collects anything with a plug from around the house & conducts an experiment. At first he fears that he has failed, but soon, Sparky wags his tail. Sparky is back!

Victor tries to hide Sparky from everyone because he knows they won’t understand, but he still has to go to school. Sparky, once again, gets free and begins to wander. While he’s out one of Victor’s classmates, Edgar E. Gore, discovers Sparky and realizes that he’s his ticket to winning the science fair! He blackmails Victor into helping him recreate the experiment with a fish- with the condition that Edgar doesn’t tell anyone else.

As I’m sure you can imagine, it’s not easy to keep a resurrected fish a secret {especially when it’s also invisible} because really, it’s pretty cool. So Edgar ends up telling the other kids, who all want to resurrect their pets to win the science fair as well!

This is where I’ll leave off, because I don’t want to ruin it, but suffice it to say that things don’t quite go as planned. So what happens to Sparky, and to Victor for that matter? Will New Holland ever be the same? You’ll have to go watch to find out!

The Tim Burton-esque cast on this film includes Winona Ryder {Elsa Van Helsing}, Catherine O’Hara {Mrs. Frankenstein, Weird Girl}, Martin Short {Mr. Frankenstein, Mr. Burgermeister, Nassor}, and Martin Landau {Mr. Rzykruski}. They are joined by three great child actors who are new to working with Tim Burton- Atticus Shaffer {Edgar E. Gore}, Robert Capron {Bob}, and of course, Charlie Tahan {Victor}.

The movie is {very} loosely based on Tim Burton’s childhood, and was actually originally made {also by Tim Burton} as a live action short in 1984. This time around, it is stop motion animated, similar to Corpse Bride & of course, The NIghtmare Before Christmas {both of which have won him Academy Awards}. It is also in black & white and 3D, which seems like a huge contradiction but is absolutely brilliant for this movie.

So what I’d think? I loved it. A lot. I knew I would since like I said, I love dog movies. But I loved it even more than I expected. It was just a very fun movie and I found myself laughing out loud during some of it and sobbing during other parts. I could relate so much to Victor and it was so easy to get lost in his world. The characters were hilarious and while they were obviously exaggerated for a movie’s sake, they each reminded me of people I knew growing up. &Don’t even get me started on Mr. Whiskers!

As far as the scare factor, I think that you have to make the decision for your child based on their ability to handle scary things {and sad things} rather than their age. If I had to guess an age that this would be appropriate for I’d probably say 6, but I’m sure much younger kids could handle it if they were okay with scary things. The scary part isn’t even that long, but my son is a chicken so I know we won’t be seeing it in theaters. That said, when it comes out on DVD we’ll be buying it for sure, and I have no problem starting the movie and seeing how he does. If he gets scared, we’ll turn it off- if not, I’ll allow him to watch it. It really just depends on your child. {But if they are okay with being scared, definitely go see it in theaters so you can get the full experience and see it in 3D!}

You can make a whole event of seeing the movie by downloading these fun activity sheets before or after! &Make sure you follow Frankenweenie on Facebook for more fun!

Note: Disney paid for my travel & accomodations to attend the Frankenweenie red carpet premiere as part of the #DisneyMoviesEvent. All experiences are authentic & all opinions are my own.