"Frankenweenie" tells the story of a young scientist in the making who is working a very personal experiment: He desperately wants to bring his beloved dog back to life. His project eventually succeeds; but it also unleashes chaos on his hometown.
The film is based loosely on a live action short film director Tim Burton made back in 1984. And he returns to his roots: No computers! Burton favors classic stop motion animation.
"There's something that's just beautiful and old-fashioned about the technique and tactile which so as difficult as it is for the animators, it's really so exciting to see it come to life," said Burton.
The all-star ensemble lending voices to the film is filled with people Burton has worked with before. Martin Landau was in "Ed Wood" and "Sleepy Hollow," Winona Ryder was in "Beeltejuice" and "Edward Scissorhands," Catherine O'Hara was also in "Beetlejuice," and Martin Short appeared in "Mars Attacks!"
O'Hara and Short helped with several voices this time around.
"They're so good, that's why I wanted to do three characters," said Burton. "They could be 100 different people, and it was so exciting to see them do three different characters. I've worked with these people and I think that they all enjoy the slightly abstract nature of making an animated film."
"Frankenweenie" is rated PG. It runs just under 90 minutes and is in theatres Friday.
