“If you had the original ‘Frankenstein’, say,” Burton explains, “this is more like ‘House of Frankenstein’ with some other creatures and monsters and, you know, other characters to fill it out.”
The world of Frankenweenie has been expanded to not just feature Victor, but also his classmates. When they learn that their friend has created a living dead dog, they want to get in on the action and begin creating their own monstrous pets.
“Theyre good kids,” says Burton, “The whole point is to kind of go back into that feeling when youre in school and you felt weird yourself and the other kids seemed weird.. Theres kind of a rivalry. I mean, its all that kind of heightened.”
It’s not just their unusual pets that call back classic monster movies, though. Each of the new characters is based on an icon of horror cinema.
“The friend that you thought was weird in school, in this case happens to be more like Boris Karloff or Peter Lorre,” Burton continues. “But, its the same kind of children politics and kid dynamics that you remember growing up.”
For more from Burton, check out our special behind-the-scenes featurette in the player below. It includes snippets from his on-set interviews and lots of new behind-the-scenes footage from 3 Mills Studios and the making of Frankenweenie. We’ve also updated our image gallery, which you can check out by clicking here and, as part of a new contest, you can win a meeting with Tim Burton and a special tour of “Art of ‘Frankenweenie’ Exhibition”. Details on how to enter are available here.
Frankenweenie hits theaters on October 5th.
