Sci-Fi Film and Television Developments

Frankenweenie

1/19/11 - The Walt Disney Co. has moved up 3D pic John Carter of Mars to March 9, 2012 and pushed back Tim Burton's 3D stop-motion feature Frankenweenie from that date to Oct. 5, 2012.  John Carter, directed by Andrew Stanton, is based on Edgar Rice Burroughs' Barsoom series, about a Civil War veteran who wakes up to find himself on the planet Mars.  Frankenweenie is based on Burton's 1984 short of the same name. The short was live-action, however, while the upcoming film will employ stop-motion animation.

9/21/10 - Tim Burton is casting for his stop-motion Frankenweenie remake, according to The Hollywood Reporter.  Voicing characters: Winona Ryder, Martin Landau, Martin Short, and Catherine O'Hara.  Frankenweenie is about a man who brings his dog back to life after it is struck by a car. It is scheduled for release in March 2012, and will be produced by Disney, Tim Burton Animation Co. and Tim Burton Productions.

9/21/09 – SCI FI Wire reported Disney’s announcement to remake the stop-motion-animated, feature-length of Tim Burton's first live-action short, Frankenweenie.  In the short, a boy re-animates his dead dog a la Frankenstein, only to see his beloved pet rejected and persecuted by an angry mob.  Producer Don Hahn to reveal several details.  Burton's short was shot in black and white, like the original Frankenstein movies. Shooting a cartoon for wide release without color must have been a tougher sell. "It was and it wasn't," Hahn said. "I think now, with Tim working at the top of his craft, the top of his game, on movies like Alice in Wonderland, I think Dick Cook really felt like if you're going to take a risk on anybody, why can't it be Tim Burton? A Tim Burton movie in black and white based on Frankenstein, how cool is that? Dick was very supportive of it."  With the expanded script come more characters. The original short starred Barret Oliver as Victor Frankenstein and Daniel Stern and Shelley Duvall as his parents, Ben and Susan. Paul Bartel, Sofia Coppola and Jason Hervey played some of the neighbors. "There are a lot of great new characters in it, really great new characters," Hahn said. "It's the ensemble. It's the Tim Burton ensemble."  About a 2011 release, “I'm not sure it's a 90-minute film," Hahn said. Burton and his team have already built maquettes. "We're underway on it, and I think the most important thing is it has to be a good movie," Hahn said. "So if it's not ready for 2011, then we'll let it drift into the next year, but we're up and running already." Production is underway in London, where Burton did The Corpse Bride. "The primary reason to go there is Tim lives there, and there's a great group of talent over there also that is really into stop-motion animation," Hahn said.

1/22/09 - The Hollywood Reporter reported that John August will write Frankenweenie for Burton and Disney after he finishes Preacher.  Frankenweenie is based on a comedic horror short that Burton made in 1984 while a film school student. The story tells of a man who brings his dog back to life after it is killed by a car.  While the original Frankenweenie was a live-action project, the new one will be made using stop-motion animation and be in 3-D. Like the original, the feature version is to be shot in black and white. Burton is producing, and many of the animation artists and crew from the director's Corpse Bride will be involved, with the studio aiming for a 2011 release.

12/11/07 - Tim Burton will begin developing a full-length version of Frankenweenie, the short film he made in 1984 while working for Disney. Burton will produce and direct Frankenweenie, the Frankenstein-inspired story of a boy who brings his beloved dog back from the dead.  Frankenweenie may release in 2009.

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