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Felix Quinonez: I think this looks great. I love how the story is introduced. It starts out a bit sad and then the mom says what she thinks is just a throwaway line to make her son feel better but it becomes the MacGuffin. I love that it's in black and white. It reminds me of Frankenstein, which the movie is obviously trying to do, and it looks like it will have some funny, quirky characters. I'm sold.

Bruce Hall: I agree, it seems a little lifeless. Imagine if Henry Selick had filmed Coraline in black and white? Man, that would have sucked the heart out of that whole picture. You could argue that comparison is apples and oranges, but I'm not so sure. The whole Frankenstein parallel is of course obvious, and this no doubt accounts for the lack of color. I feel as though that shouldn't be a big deal, but it's a kid's movie. I'm not sure how many tots will go for this, what with the subject matter being so inherently morbid. The temptation of every successful director to "pay tribute" to the OG Universal monster pictures has become more than a little self serving, don't you think?

Then again, it's Tim Burton. If anybody can put a smirk on morbid, he can. If anyone has a shot at making a vanity project pop despite itself, he does.

David Mumpower: I have never drunk the kool-aid on Tim Burton like a lot of people here. For me, his Planets of the Apes/Mars Attacks!/Alice in Wonderland disasters occur as often as his grand slams like Big Fish and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. What he has in mass quantities is imagination. What he lacks far too often are boundaries. Frankenweenie and our discussion topic in the last column, Dark Shadows, are both examples of how fine the line is between genius and abject failure with his projects. I have no idea if either of these movies will be any good yet I can say with certainty that I enjoy the Dark Shadows trailer quite a bit more. Edwin mentions that The Corpse Bride did little for him and I concur with this assessment. This is exactly why Frankenweenie concerns me. Frankenweenie offers innumerable surface level similarities to that thoroughly mediocre movie. And while the trailer starts off in an engaging manner, it tails off a lot after the premise is defined. I am dubious that there is enough of a hook to sustain momentum for an entire movie despite the fact that I looooooove the idea. When a two minute trailer feels a minute too long, that’s a problem.


Kim Hollis: In the past few years, there have been a couple of really fine animated films that sweetly and earnestly illustrate the special friendships we can have with our pets. Bolt and then How to Train Your Dragon both had some wonderful, emotionally resonating moments (particularly the latter film). I feel like Frankenweenie *should* be that same sort of film, but there's just a little something missing here. I don't mind the black and white and I do like the Bride of Frankenstein poodle (very cute), but I agree with the notion that this trailer is lacking something in much the same way that The Corpse Bride did. That was a great-looking film that just didn't move me. I liked the original Frankenweenie short quite a bit, though, so it's possible that they're just saving the best stuff for the movie.

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