Frankenweenie

Back when he was an animator with Disney, Tim Burton got to make some weird short films. One of them, Frankenweenie, was so weird that Disney fired him for "wasting company resources" on a "creepy film." Years later, Burton's "creepy film" has now been reborn as a Disney 3D stop-motion spooktacular. And this is certainly not a waste of company resources.

Young Victor Frankenstein (Charlie Tahan) just loves to make films starring his dog, Sparky. One day, Sparky chases a ball into the street and gets run over. Sad and lonely, Victor takes up weird science to bring back his doggy. And just like Frankenstein, Sparky is brought back with the right dosage of lightning. After that, Victor has to hide the new Sparky from his neighbors. Of course, that doesn't end well.

Unlike Burton's Dark Shadows from earlier this year, this one knows what it wants to be. From the black and white to Danny Elfman's music, its inspiration from 1931's Frankenstein is obvious. Its characters may be oddly designed, but they're all eccentric and likable. And with its 87-minute runtime, there's never a dull moment. What it wants to be is a quirky take on early day monster movies, and it succeeds. Even when it does get sad, for obvious reasons, it wasn't jarring at all.

As with Paranorman, Frankenweenie does have creepy moments that earn it its PG-rating. If either you or your family can withstand it, then they'll certainly enjoy what it's all about: a tale of a boy and his dog. Either in 3D or Flatscreen, it's certainly a more sane pick for them than something like Sinister.