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1[[quoteright:220:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Frankenweenie_1_5611.png]]
2[[caption-width-right:220:It's ALIVE!!!]]
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4''Frankenweenie'' is an unusual film from the mind of Creator/TimBurton. The movie is a remake of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankenweenie_(1984_film) a short movie with the same name]] that he made in 1984. It is also both a parody of and an homage to the 1931 film [[Film/Frankenstein1931 Frankenstein]], which in turn was loosely based on Mary Shelley's 1818 book [[Literature/{{Frankenstein}} of the same name]].
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6Set in the 1960s, Victor Frankenstein is reimagined as a young American boy with an interest in science. He doesn't really have many friends, but he really does love his dog Sparky, and even creates movies starring him. After Sparky is killed by a car, Victor learns at school about electrical impulses in muscles, and gets the idea to bring his pet back to life. He creates elaborate machines which bring down a bolt of [[LightningCanDoAnything lightning]] that revives the dog. While Victor is pleased, his neighbors are terrified by the animal, and when the Frankensteins decide to introduce the revitalized Sparky to them, they become angry and afraid.
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8The movie was first made as a short film in 1984 by Tim Burton for Creator/{{Disney}}, which resulted in his termination from the studio under the idea the movie was too scary for children. The film was [[ScrewedByTheNetwork shelved]] and didn't see the light of day in American theaters (it was initially supposed to be attached to reissues of ''WesternAnimation/{{The Jungle Book|1967}}'' and then ''WesternAnimation/{{Pinocchio}}'' prior to this), though it managed to secure a [[ShortRunInPeru theatrical run in the UK]]. Despite the trouble, the film caught the attention of Creator/PaulReubens, who would champion Burton for directing on his film ''Film/PeeWeesBigAdventure'', which would be Burton's feature length film debut.
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10The film received a feature length remake as a [[AuthorAppeal black and white stop-motion animation]] film in 2012 with Tim returning as director and his long time composing partner Creator/DannyElfman. The cast includes [[Film/HomeAlone Catherine O'Hara]], [[Film/{{Beetlejuice}} Winona Ryder]], [[Film/EdWood Martin Landau]], [[Film/MarsAttacks Martin Short]], [[Film/DiaryOfAWimpyKid Robert Capron]], [[WesternAnimation/{{Thundercats2011}} Atticus Shaffer]], [[Film/IAmLegend Charlie Tahan]] and [[Series/TwoAndAHalfMen Conchata Ferrell]]. This version expands the story with some of Victor's fellow students discovering Sparky's miracle revival and deciding to create their own monster animals out of pets both living and dead. This only serves to bring more chaos to the town.
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12This was Disney's last theatrically released horror film for seven years, until 2019’s ''Film/{{Ready or Not|2019}}'' (albeit via Creator/SearchlightPictures).
13----
14!!This film contains examples of:
15* ActorAllusion:
16** Clips of Creator/ChristopherLee from ''Film/HorrorOfDracula'' appear in the movie Mr. and Mrs. Frankenstein are watching on TV.
17** Creator/WinonaRyder's character Elsa looks a lot like Lydia from ''Film/{{Beetlejuice}}''.
18* AdaptationExpansion: The 2012 remake expands the cast and story of the original. For one, it adds the ongoing plot with the science fair, which causes each of the kids minus Victor to become aggressive competitors.
19* AdaptationalNameChange: Victor's parents were named Alphonse and Caroline, but are renamed Edward and Susan. Igor meanwhile is renamed Edgar Gore.
20* AdaptationalNationality: Victor and his family are now American instead of Swiss like in the book.
21* AdaptationalPersonalityChange: A double example when it comes to Victor.
22** In the original novel Victor was dedicated towards making the Creature simply to see if he could, and was immediately horrified by his creation. In this film Victor was motivated out of love to bring his dead dog back and continues to love him after he succeeds.
23** In regards to the original short, Victor was an ordinary kid who films monster movies with his PreciousPuppy and turns to science to save his beloved pet from the grave. He's pretty calm and dresses in the normal clothes of the time period. Here, Victor is also an introverted and passionate scientist; his parents try to encourage him to go out and do things like play baseball.
24%%* AdorablyPrecociousChild: Victor.
25* AffectionateParody[=/=]{{Homage}}: Of not only ''Film/{{Frankenstein|1931}}'', but 1950's [[ScienceFiction sci-fi]] {{horror}} films. The second trailer is even called "Homage."
26* AgeLift: A full grown adult in the original novel, Victor in this film is a child. Igor is usually an adult, but like Victor is made a child.
27* AlternativeForeignThemeSong: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4Iuv7PaU8k "Wonder Volt"]] by Creator/KaelaKimura is the theme song for the [[UsefulNotes/{{Japan}} Japanese]] version.
28* AmbiguousTimePeriod: At first glance, the setting seems to be somewhere between TheFifties and TheSixties. You can tell it from the look of the cars, clothes, or domestic electrical. Plus Mrs Frankenstein is an {{Housewife}}, there is (save for Toshiaki and Nassor) a MonochromeCasting as if the segregation was still in effect, there are no cell phones (but there are phone booths), people film in super 8... It make sense if you consider that Victor is an AuthorAvatar, and Tim Burton was a kid in TheSixties. And yet, Pluto demoted from its planet title is evoked (it happened in 2006). Also, Bob suggest to use a computer simulation rather than him as a guinea pig for the scientific experience of Toshiaki. And the Barbie doll Weird girl is seen playing with have a contemporary look.
29* AmbitionIsEvil: Edgar, Bob, Nassor and Toshiaki's desire to win the science fair leads to all hell breaking loose.
30* AnimationBump: Actually ''inverted'' with the 2012 remake. Burton noted that, during the production of ''WesternAnimation/CorpseBride'', many people thought the puppets moved with such fluidity that they mistook the animation with that of actual CG. He thought it undermined the beauty of the artform, and thus decided to make the animation cruder for this film.
31* AppliedPhlebotinum: Lightning can apparently do a multitude of magical things.
32* ArtisticLicenseBiology: For a movie that [[{{Anvilicious}} reveres science so much]], it sure has some strange ideas about what science can do. Somewhat justified in that it's an {{Escapis|m}}t Fantasy about bringing your pet back to life after a senseless accident.
33* AttackOfThe50FootWhatever / {{Kaiju}}: [[spoiler:Toshiaki's tortoise, Shelley. [[Film/{{Gamera}} He's really neat, though not exactly "friend to all children."]]]]
34* AttackOfTheTownFestival: The resurrected animals break loose and wreak havoc on the Dutch Day festival.
35* AvoidTheDreadedGRating: Inverted; according to the book ''Burton on Burton'' Disney wanted a G rating on the 1984 short film but the movie was given a PG rating. Though Burton asked the MPAA what he could do to get a G rating, the MPAA said there was nothing he could do to have the rating changed.
36* BaitAndSwitchCharacterIntro: When we first see Colossus, one of the undead pets, he's seen with a [[ScaryShadowFakeout huge shadow]] and his footsteps were making loud booming noises. As it turns out, he's only a small hamster; the booming was because he was in an echo-y tomb.
37* BattleAmongstTheFlames: Sparky and [[spoiler:Mr. Whiskers]] battle inside a flaming windmill.
38* BigNo: Twice, both from Victor. For added dramatic effect, he's even in ''the exact same pose'' both times: he has the exact same expression on his face, the same exact recording of the shout is used, and his parents are gripping him by the arms so he won't impulsively run forward into danger.
39* BigShadowLittleCreature: The reveal that Colossus is ironically named (though to be fair, he did appear to be quite hefty [[spoiler:for a hamster]]).
40* BilingualBonus: Toshiaki mumbles, "Where did you go?" in Japanese when his experiment [[spoiler:on Shelley the tortoise]] seems to have failed.
41* BittersweetEnding: On the one hand, [[spoiler:the adults realize they were being jerks towards Sparky and his humans when Sparky pulls a HeroicSacrifice saving Victor and Elsa from a burning mill. They help revive Sparky a second time, and he renews his budding romance with Persephone. On the other, the rest of the kids had to relive their pets dying a second time while becoming carried away with resurrecting them. They will also probably be grounded forever for causing an undead rampage]].
42* BizarreBeverageUse: Toshaki and Bob try to make a jetpack using shaken-up bottles of soda. Unfortunately, it only works for a short moment, and Bob ends up breaking his arm after falling off the roof.
43* BodyHorror: [[spoiler:Mr Whiskers' transformation into a cat-bat.]]
44* ABoyAndHisX: In this case, a boy and his undead dog.
45* BunnyEarsLawyer: Mr. Rzykruski. He's flamboyant and eccentric, teaching science in a remarkably theatrical manner, but he does manage to teach his subject with accuracy and (somewhat) competence.
46* CameBackWrong: Not Sparky himself, but [[spoiler:the other animals Victor's classmates try to revive]].
47* CastingGag:
48** Creator/FrankWelker not only voiced a character named "Sparky", in the ''Franchise/LiloAndStitch'' franchise, but had voiced another another Frankenstein like creature ''WesternAnimation/AlvinAndTheChipmunksMeetFrankenstein''.
49** Creator/RobertCapron playing a character who suffers an accident resulting a broken arm, similar to Rowley in the ''Literature/DiaryOfAWimpyKid'' films.
50* CatsAreMean: [[spoiler:When fused with a possibly-rabid, possibly-vampire bat via mad science!]]
51* ComedicWorkSeriousScene: ''Frankenweenie'' is [[LightmareFuel horror elements played comedically]], but what kickstarts the plot is a dog named Sparky getting hit by a car and dying. This causes a lot of sadness for the Frankensteins, especially Victor, which is what causes him to reanimate him.
52* CreepyChild: This being a Creator/TimBurton production, pretty much every kid in the thing is a tad disturbing in their own way, but Weird Girl takes the gold.
53* CurbStompBattle: [[spoiler:Literally with Shelley against Colossus.]]
54* DeliberatelyMonochrome: The movie being in black-and-white is just another homage to Universal Horror films.
55* DirtyCoward: The mayor, who hides behind his niece when the monsters attack then flees for his own life. He shortly gets his LaserGuidedKarma.
56* DiscOneFinalBoss: [[spoiler:Shelley is electrified and brought back to her/his tiny and dead state.]] It was by this time that you probably forgot about [[spoiler:Mr. Whiskers.]]
57* DisneyDeath: The first example of a death doesn't ''quite'' count because the audience knew going into the theater that this movie was about a boy bringing his dead dog back to life. [[spoiler:The ''second'' example of a death counts, because Sparky dies a second time after Mr. Whiskers drags him back into a burning windmill, said burning windmill then killing both Mr. Whiskers and Sparky. However, this time Victor's parents give Victor explicit permission to bring Sparky back to life, which he does]].
58* DogStereotype:
59** Played straight with Persephone, at least in terms of "poodles are always female."
60** Averted with Sparky; bull terriers are usually portrayed as large and vicious, but Sparky is friendly, affectionate and good with kids, which is more accurate to how the breed is in real life.
61* EarAche: At one point in the film, Sparky scratches his ear, causing it to fall off. Victor quickly reattaches it.
62* EnthusiasticNewbieTeacher: Victor's class gets a new science teacher named Mr. Ryzkruzki after their old one gets struck by lightning (it's never said if he died or not). Mr. Ryzkruski is very excitable, loud, and poetic.
63* EvilLaugh: Toshiaki does one when he [[HammerSpace pulls out]] his video camera after Bob and Victor go to the "Dutch Festival" after seeing mutated Shelley.
64** One of the mutated sea monkeys does one to Mr. Burgermeister when they pop out of the portable toilet he's hiding in.
65* {{Expy}}:
66** Most of the central classmates in Victor's class, as well as him, are homages to famous actors in horror movies or Creator/TimBurton films. Victor Frankenstein is a younger (and less meek) version of [[WesternAnimation/CorpseBride Victor van Dort]]. He also resembles the title character of Tim Burton's short film ''Vincent'' (unsurprising since Victor van Dort was basically a grown-up version of the character).
67** Elsa van Helsing looks and sounds a lot like Lydia Deetz from ''Film/{{Beetlejuice}}''. It helps that both are played by Creator/WinonaRyder.
68** Nassor is one of Creator/BorisKarloff.
69** Edgar resembles Creator/DwightFrye, perhaps with a bit of Creator/PeterLorre thrown in, in addition to being an expy of every example of TheIgor ever.
70** Weird Girl seems inspired by Staring Girl from Tim Burton's book of poems "The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories".
71** Toshiaki is a sinister combo of the monster-obsessed TagalongKid characters featured in the original Film/{{Gamera}} series and 60s-70s Franchise/{{Godzilla}} films, and the Japanese genius MadScientist stereotype.
72** Bob resembles Pugsley out of Franchise/TheAddamsFamily.
73** Mr. Burgermeister is obviously the descendant of [[WesternAnimation/CorpseBride Finis Everglot]]. He might also be inspired by [[WesternAnimation/SantaClausIsCominToTown Burgermeister Meisterburger]] because they're quite similar in appearance and personality. While this film is probably not so much inspired by Creator/RankinBass' stop motion Christmas specials, Burton's earlier film ''WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas'' was, so this may be a little callback to that.
74** Mr. Rzykruski is one of Creator/VincentPrice.
75** All of the animals featured turn into deliberate expies of famous movie monsters:
76*** Sparky is [[Film/Frankenstein1931 Frankenstein's Monster]].
77*** The fish is [[Film/TheInvisibleMan1933 The Invisible Man]].
78*** Persephone is the Film/BrideOfFrankenstein.
79*** Colossus is [[Film/TheMummy1932 The Mummy]] (Presumably the Creator/BorisKarloff version).
80*** Shelley is [[spoiler:Franchise/{{Godzilla}} combined with Film/{{Gamera}}]].
81*** The sea monkeys are Film/{{Gremlins}} with a hint of the Film/CreatureFromTheBlackLagoon.
82*** Mr. Whiskers becomes a combination of [[spoiler:Film/{{Dracula|1931}} and Film/{{The Fly|1958}}.]]
83*** The rat appears to be some variant on Film/{{The Wolf Man|1941}}.
84* FamilyUnfriendlyDeath:
85** [[spoiler:Mr. Whiskers, after being transformed into a [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Vampire Cat]] by Weird Girl's attempt to replicate Victor's experiment, gets impaled by a flaming beam within the New Holland windmill while fighting Sparky. They don't show the impact, but you do see the aftermath.]]
86** Not to mention Sparky himself, offscreen. Judging by all those seams and patches holding his body together, it's not hard to imagine what he looked like at the scene of the car accident.
87** The sea-monkeys die by eating popcorn and '''exploding into liquidy guts'''. And this movie got a PG rating.
88* FantasticAesop. You should be prepared to accept death and let go of loved ones, but if you're capable of re-animating the dead, go right ahead!
89%%* FiredTeacher: Mr. Rzykruski, who inspires young Victor.
90* FinalBoss: Mr Whiskers is the final mutant animal that Victor and Sparky have to face.
91* {{Foreshadowing}}:
92** [[spoiler:"Goodbye Kitty" was there for more than just a VisualPun.]]
93** When Sparky is running through the pet cemetery, a headstone reading "Shelley" is seen. Later, [[spoiler:it's revealed that this was Toshiaki's pet turtle, who he resurrects for his science fair project]].
94** When the undead Sparky gets out while Victor's at school. He casts a shadow on the piece of cloth Bob's mother hangs out on the clothesline to dry. [[spoiler:The shadow Sparky casts looks similar to the were-rat Edgar creates]].
95** How Sparky growls at the invisible-fish, [[spoiler:foreshadowing how the animals that Edgar, Bob and Toshiaki's resurrected dead animals turn out quite disastrous.]]
96* FourTemperamentEnsemble: The kids who try to replicate Victor's experiment with disastrous results.
97** The mischievous, friend-hungry, and [[PerpetualSmiler always-smiling]] Edgar "E" Gore (Sanguine).
98** The dangerously ambitious Toshiaki (Choleric), who creates the plan to upstage Victor.
99** The bleak and cynical Nassor (Melancholic), who often falls into TheComicallySerious.
100** The eccentric and [[DissonantSerenity always calm]] Weird Girl (Phlegmatic).
101** The gullible and easily-swayed Bob (Eclectic).
102* FrankenX: Victor revives his dead dog Sparky, an event that causes terror in his neighborhood. And then other kids start copying Victor, with the various revived animals wreaking havoc.
103* GoodParents: Victor's parents, Susan and Edward Frankenstein. They're supportive of Victor's passions, take his grief over losing Sparky seriously, and do everything in their power to look out for Victor's wellbeing.
104* GoryDiscretionShot: Sparky's death. His body isn't seen when he gets hit by the car, but Victor's expression is enough to tell the story.
105* {{Goth}}: Due to the black and white colour of the movie it's hard to tell. But Elsa's clothes in her first few scenes and her monotone voice suggests this.
106* GravityIsAHarshMistress: Shown in a flashback when Weird Girl relates when Mr. Whiskers dreamed about Bob; later that day, Bob went for ice cream and didn't see where he was going until he was standing over an open manhole which he fell into.
107* HammerSpace: At one point, Toshiaki pulled out his video camera from some unspecified place behind his back.
108* HardTruthAesop:
109** It's okay to be "weird"--as long as you're careful about the consequences of your actions.
110** Science is a labor of love and should be practiced by people who are passionate and have good intentions. If not, the results will be disappointing at best, and horrific at worst.
111* HeroicCaninesVillainousFelines: Sparky and [[spoiler:Mr. Whiskers]].
112* HeroicDog: Sparky at the film's climax. [[spoiler:He's the one who leads the town to where Mr. Whiskers has taken Elsa, he's the one who beats Mr. Whiskers, and he ultimately helps Victor and Elsa get away... At the cost of his own life, since Mr. Whiskers drags him back into the burning windmill to die along with him.]]
113* HighVoltageDeath:
114** The were-rat gets killed when it accidentally bites one of Sparky's bolts, causing it to revert back to a dead rat.
115** Victor takes out the giant turtle by electrifying a puddle of spilled beer it's standing in.
116* TheIgor: Subverted. The trailers made it look like Edgar "E" Gore was going to be one of these, but while undeniably inspired by the concept, Edgar doesn't actually get to fill the role of being a MadScientist's assistant and Victor doesn't want him to. However, Edgar does share some of the personality traits of Creator/BelaLugosi's Ygor character in the sense that he is less servile than the typical Igor, and that he openly encourages the resident Frankenstein to experiment with re-animation.
117* InjuredLimbEpisode: When Bob and his friend do the experiment to see if the shaken-up soda bottles will make Bob fly, it doesn't work, resulting in Bob falling off the roof and breaking his arm.
118* InscrutableOriental: Toshiaki. He's serious, stoic, and wears a dour expression throughout the entire movie.
119* IdiotBall: What exactly was going through [[spoiler:Nassor's]] head by having [[spoiler:his resurrected yet normal hamster going against Toshiaki's gigantic mutated tortoise]]?
120%%* IJustWantToBeNormal: Victor's father wants his son to get out more and play baseball, because he doesn't want people to think he is weird. Which is ironic as, by looking at the other kids, it seems Victor is one of the most normal kids at that school.
121* IJustWantToHaveFriends: Edgar, according to the junior novel. Along with the fact he wants to be with the cool kids and sit with them at lunchtime.
122* IKnowYouKnowIKnow: Edger and Victor have an extended version of this when Edger comes to confront Victor about resurrecting Sparky.
123* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: During the fight in the windmill, [[spoiler:Mr. Whiskers]] gets hit by a falling piece of rafter and is brutally impaled.
124* JapaneseRanguage: Toshiaki has a mild form of this, though it's somewhat {{justified|Trope}} by his Japanese accent.
125* JumpScare: When the, there is one when [[spoiler:the reanimated rat attacks the camera]].
126* KilledOffForReal: Averted twice by Sparky, [[spoiler: but played straight with Mr. Whiskers and the other lightning-animated critters]].
127* LargeHam: Mr. Rzykruski's speech about the purity of teaching to children comes off as malevolent because of his [[MilkingTheGiantCow hammy overtures]].
128** Nassor is in ham mode full time.
129* LightningCanDoAnything: Played straight. It even does different things to each animal brought back from the dead (based on "uncontrolled variables.") However, Shelley's growth was most likely helped by a can of Miracle-Gro fertilizer that Toshiaki happened to have around.
130** Possibly justified in that, for [[RiddleForTheAges unknown reasons]], the town has a thunderstorm ''every single night'', indicating there may be something unusual about these particular bolts.
131* LogoJoke: The Disney logo plays as normal with slightly altered music, but near the end, a ScareChord is played and the music becomes creepier. The logo follows suit as [[DeliberatelyMonochrome color is drained from it]], an OminousFog appears around the castle and a storm replaces the previously starry sky as the word "Disney" appears.
132* LyingFingerCross: Edgar crosses his fingers when he promises to Victor that Edgar won't tell anyone about Victor's method of bringing animals back to life. [[spoiler:He ''does'' at first keep Sparky's existence ''specifically'' a secret, but he tells the other kids about his "invisible fish" in order to win favor and eventually lets the part about Sparky slip without meaning to, which is what leads to the other kids trying to resurrect dead pets back to life as well.]]
133* MadScientist: Subverted. Mr. Rzykruski is an eccentric scientist, but he is the ''OnlySaneMan''.
134** Victor plays the role of one, though he doesn't actually fit the trope--he isn't arrogant, is fully aware that what he's doing isn't exactly ethical, and is too mild-mannered to be considered "mad."
135* MeaningfulName:
136** Nassor's name means "victor" in [[UsefulNotes/{{Egypt}} Egyptian]].
137** Persephone, the poodle who falls in love with Sparky, shares her name with the wife of Hades in [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Greek mythology]].
138** Mr. Burgermeister's surname is also his occupation[[note]]''Burgermeister'' means "mayor" in German[[/note]].
139** Shelley refers, of course, to Mary Shelley--the author of the original "Literature/{{Frankenstein}}" (as well as being a [[PunnyName pun]] on the fact that it's a tortoise).
140** Sparky is reanimated by electricity.
141** Elsa van Helsing is a double one, referring to both Creator/ElsaLanchester and Film/VanHelsing himself.
142* MissingTrailerScene: The homage trailer shows Weird Girl holding the paper with Mr. Whiskers'..."message" to Victor in the shape of a skull and crossbones. In the movie, it's just a turd in the shape of a V.
143* MonsterMash: Well, almost. There's a vampire cat, a hamster mummy, an invisible fish, a werewolfish rat, a kaiju turtle, Gillman-like sea monkeys, and, of course, a Frankenweenie.
144* MummyWrap: Nassor ends up mummified by streamers and trapped inside a cabinet.
145* NationalStereotypes: Toshiaki, who is [[InscrutableOriental stoic]], [[AsianAndNerdy willing to go to extremes to win the science fair]], [[YellowPeril cunning]] and underhanded, creates a kaiju from his pet turtle and is obsessed with [[JapaneseTourist catching everything on film]], even if it endangers his own life to do so.
146* NeverMyFault: When Bob breaks his arm doing a science experiment, no one accepts that Mr. Ryzkruzki had no control over the experiment they were going to do, and the parents latch onto him as a scapegoat rather than maybe monitor their kids' homework. Victor's parents argue to at least give the man a chance to defend himself.
147* NoAntagonist: Throughout the movie, both Victor and Sparky have to deal with mean adults, creepy children and dangerous monsters, but there is no single antagonist causing the central conflict, i.e. learning to accept the undead dog.
148* {{Notzilla}}: [[spoiler:Shelley the turtle]] is turned into a cross between Franchise/{{Godzilla}} and Film/{{Gamera}}.
149* ObviouslyEvil: Mr. Rzykruski looks to be this with a creepy tall body, long face, and jagged teeth. However this is subverted, as he is actually very nice and the [[OnlySaneMan only sane adult]]. That is, when he isn't [[NoSocialSkills brutally insulting people to their face]].
150** Nassor, being a LargeHam who looks and sounds like Creator/BorisKarloff, is pretty obviously set up as a villain the first time we see him.
151* OneSteveLimit: Averted. There are two characters named Bob: the fat kid and Mr. Burgermeister.
152* OnlySaneMan: Mr. Ryzkruzki of all people is this as a science teacher. While he is hammy and good at insulting people without meaning to, he understands that science is not inherently good or bad. As he tells Victor, what matters is your intention with science: are you going to do something out of love, or out of glory? Intentions will determine the outcome. Once he exits the movie, the kids go off the rails.
153* OracularUrchin: Weird Girl, via Mr. Whiskers and his litterbox.
154* PerpetualSmiler: Edgar, the creepy hunchbacked kid who discovers the resurrected Sparky.
155* PerpetualStorm: It's mentioned by the students that the town they live in has lightning storms practically every night.
156* PersonalityPowers: All of the monsters the kids raise from the dead resemble them in some way:
157** The short Japanese student Toshiaki makes a Film/{{Gamera}}-esque turtle.
158** TheIgor-like Edgar creates a hunchbacked rat.
159** The creepy pale Weird Girl turns her cat into a [[Film/TheFly1958 monstrous hybrid]].
160** The tall Boris Karloff-inspired Nassor creates a hamster mummy.
161* PlutoIsExpendable: One of the complaints the parents lodge against Mr. Rzykruski is that he doesn't consider Pluto to be a planet any more.
162* PoorCommunicationKills: In this case, it kills your career. Mr. Rzykruski, in all of his hamminess, is very passionate about science and teaching it to others. This, unfortunately, translates to him trying to defend his position as science teacher by saying that he "rip[s] open the children's heads to get to their brains."
163* PossessionPresumesGuilt: The citizens think Sparky the zombie dog killed Elsa the mayor's niece because he was holding her wig.
164* PropheticName: The dog who gets reanimated by lightning is named ''Sparky''.
165* PunnyName: Edgar's full name is Edgar Gore, aka "[[TheIgor E Gore]]."
166* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Victor's parents are very understanding and supportive of their son's hobbies and quirks, even after learning he brought his dog back to life. Though Edward is a little pushy at getting Victor to try sports, it's only because he worries that Victor doesn't spend much time with people other than Sparky (which, to be fair, he doesn't). Best shown when they are the only ones to speak up for Mr. Rzykruski at the town hall meeting.
167* {{Reconstruction}}: Of the original ''Frankenstein'' story. Victor Frankenstein here does resurrect a creature from the dead, but it's his beloved pet. As a result, he dotes on Sparky both before and after the accident, treating him with love and affection. He even makes sure that Sparky has the proper food to eat: electricity! It allows Sparky to remain normal and a PreciousPuppy in turn. [[spoiler:The other pets, in contrast, have more in common with Franksenstein's monster in that they are rampaging mindlessly because they weren't resurrected with love or care]].
168* RetroUniverse: WordOfGod is that that while the setting appears to be TheFifties, it's not quite that, yet not quite present day either, with the closest reference to a modern-day event being a parent complaining how [[PlutoIsExpendable Pluto doesn't qualify as a planet anymore]], which happened in 2006.
169* TheRival: While all of the kids want to stop Victor from winning the science fair, Toshiaki is the only one who sees Victor as a genuine rival (at least when it comes to science).
170* RodentsOfUnusualSize: Played straight with the dead rat Edger reanimates, causing it to grow to the size of a child. Averted with [[spoiler:Colossus, whose name remains non-indicative even after reanimation as a hamster mummy]].
171* SayingTooMuch: How the other kids find out that [[spoiler:Victor has come up with a way to bring animals back to life. The other kids accuse Edgar of lying about his "invisible fish," and in his rush to defend himself, Edgar insists that Victor ''can'' bring animals back to life, because that's how Victor brought ''Sparky'' back]].
172* ScienceIsBad: Played with, but then resoundingly defied. While Mr. Rzykruski says science is neither good nor bad, he also says that it can be used both ways. He says that science needs love to work well. By the end of the movie, however, the science-fearing townsfolk are shown to be unambiguously wrong by the only actual qualified scientist in town.
173** Also played with.
174* SeaAping: Bob conducts electricity into his "Sea Creatures" which turn into small monsters that resemble a cross between a monkey and the Gill-Man from ''Film/CreatureFromTheBlackLagoon''.
175* SecretPetPlot: The young Literature/{{Frankenstein}} and his parents own a dog named Sparky. When Sparky dies from being hit by a car, Victor [[EarlyPersonalitySigns reanimates him]] and keeps the zombie dog secret from his parents.
176* ShoutOut:
177** For starters, Victor Frankenstein, which is the name of the scientist who created [[FrankensteinsMonster the infamous monster]].
178** The gravestone across from Sparky's, on which Victor piles the dirt as he's digging Sparky out reads "Goodbye Kitty" with a picture of Franchise/HelloKitty with [[WingdingEyes X's on its eyes]] on it.
179** Elsa is named after Elsa Lanchester, who played the title role in ''Film/BrideOfFrankenstein'' (that she is an expy of [[Film/{{Beetlejuice}} Lydia Deetz]] just adds to the fun). Her poodle Persephone gets her very own ''Bride of Frankenstein'' beehive hairdo, compliments of a static charge from Sparky.
180*** The Bride of Frankenstein in this version is actually [[Film/YoungFrankenstein a living female who gets]] LockedIntoStrangeness [[Film/YoungFrankenstein by an encounter with the Monster, before getting together with him in the end.]]
181** Mr. Burgermeister is named after Burgermeister Meisterburger of ''WesternAnimation/SantaClausIsCominToTown'' fame.
182** Nassor and his mummy hamster are a reference to Boris Karloff's role in the 1932 version of ''Film/{{The Mummy|1932}}''. Nassor's flat hair is also a reference to FrankensteinsMonster, a role that Karloff famously played.
183*** [[spoiler:Nassor getting wrapped up in streamers and then falling into a matryoshka-shaped cabinet riffs on Karloff being mummified alive in the 1932 film.]]
184** Similarly, Edgar is modeled on Fritz and Ygor, two characters [[TheIgor fulfilling the same purpose]] from the Karloff Frankenstein movies. Though he looks more like the one from ''Film/YoungFrankenstein''.
185** The mutated Sea-Monkeys tiny FishPeople, probably a reference to ''Film/CreatureFromTheBlackLagoon'' (and possibly ''Film/{{Gremlins}}''), given the movies penchant for Creator/{{Universal}} monster movies.
186** The goldfish is pretty much a straight-up shout-out to ''Film/TheInvisibleMan1933'', right up to it starting to go mad [[spoiler:before disappearing altogether]].
187** Elsa's last name is [[Literature/{{Dracula}} "van Helsing."]]
188** Toshiaki's giant turtle monster looks like a cross between ''Film/{{Gamera}}'' and ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}''. Of course, it's also named Shelley.
189** The general premise of the movie (a person's loved one is killed, and out of grief he digs up the corpse and resurrects it, creating a myriad of unintended consequences) seems very much like an homage to ''Literature/PetSematary,'' down to the loved one being run over while chasing a toy of some kind. The use of the ''Music/TheRamones''' ''Pet Sematary'' seems to compound this only further.
190*** [[spoiler:Shelley's death by being electrocuted on an amusement park ride is a reference to the ending of ''Film/TheBeastFromTwentyThousandFathoms''.]]
191** And the Mr. Whiskers / bat hybrid monster is notably vampire-like, though its means of creation mirrors ''Film/{{The Fly|1958}}''.
192** Edgar's re-animated rat becomes bipedal, sprouts loads of fangs, and attacks in the manner of a movie werewolf.
193** The angry mob and burning windmill are oft repeated homages to ''Film/Frankenstein1931''.
194** Mr. Rzykruski's look is based on horror veteran Creator/VincentPrice.
195** Mr. Whiskers' transformation sequence is right out of ''Film/AnAmericanWerewolfInLondon''.
196** [[Film/JurassicPark Man hiding in a portable toilet to escape giant reptilian creature]]. This time thankfully the man doesn't get eaten.
197** Victor's parents hide into a phone booth which is stormed by the sea monkeys. The scene is reminiscent of the bird attacks in ''Film/TheBirds''.
198** ''WesternAnimation/BambiMeetsGodzilla'': The Colossus versus Shelley scene. Later, the movie theater sign shows ''WesternAnimation/{{Bambi}}'' and ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' films as now playing.
199*** Nassor's and Toshiaki's pets battling may also be a reference to {{Mon}}s battling. Nassor even yells, "Go, Colossus!" before setting him down.
200** The movie itself could also be a metaphor for {{stop motion}} in general, in the sense that one of the major themes is the animation (or reanimation) of dead bodies.
201* {{Slurpasaur}}: Victor dressed Sparky up to play a kaiju in his homemade film.
202* SodaCanShakeup: Bob and Toshaki try to make a jet pack out of shaken-up soda bottles, but it doesn't work and Bob breaks his arm.
203* StrawNihilist: Nassor, who has a bleak, "doomsday" view on life.
204* StylisticSuck: By Burton's own admission. The film's stop-motion animation could've easily been animated more smoothly like its rival movie, ''WesternAnimation/ParaNorman'', but Burton declined to do so as he ''wanted'' the film's stop-motion to be a little stiff with the movement in keeping with the horror vibe of the film.
205* {{Suburbia}}: The setting of the movie.
206* TheEndOrIsIt: Victor's home movie ends with this phrase. So does one of the trailers.
207* ThePowerOfLove: This is why Victor's attempt to bring Sparky back to life worked, and the lack of it is why [[spoiler:the other kids eventually bringing animals back to life doesn't work and just turns them into monsters]].
208* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Mr. Rzykruski attempts to give one of these to the townspeople after they blame him for the "science experiment" that resulted in one student breaking his arm. He labels their behavior insane, explains that he was trying to expand the students' minds, and that their charges against him are unfounded. [[spoiler:The speech doesn't work; he's fired and his position is replaced by the gym teacher, who knows nothing of science. It also didn't help at the fact he stated all of this by [[NoSocialSkills calling them idiots and saying he wanted to crack the kids' heads open in his description]].]]
209* RunningOverThePlot: Sparky the dog gets fatally hit by a car, prompting Victor to reanimate him and kicking off the plot.
210* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: After seeing the kaiju-ified Shelley, Nassor sets his pet hamster Colossus on Shelley. While it's set up to seem like Colossus has a hidden skill that will help him fight, it turns out that [[spoiler:he really is just a hamster and gets [[CurbStompBattle curbstomped]] by Shelley]].
211* ToiletHumor:
212-->'''Weird Girl''': Mr Whiskers left a message.\
213'''Victor''': ...Did you get that from the litter box?
214* TorchesAndPitchforks: Well, just torches--it ''is'' suburbia, after all. Still, even torches out of nowhere is pretty out there.
215* {{Uberwald}}: At least, the closest one can make American suburbia into this trope. Many of the characters have Germanic or Slavic last names (Frankenstein, Van Helsing, Burgermeister, Rzykruski), and the town of New Holland celebrates a Dutch Day.
216** Mr. Rzykruski's home country may well be {{Uberwald}}, considering his accent and his comment that back home, "everyone is [[MadScientist scientist]]."
217* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Two examples. First, Mr. Whiskers is responsible for the resurrected Sparky leaving the house the first time and causing trouble, providing quasi-justification to the mayor's feelings of animosity towards Sparky. Second, [[spoiler:Edgar finds out Victor's secret, and then tries to use it to win favor for himself by means of an "invisible fish." This causes a chain reaction that eventually leads to Edgar letting slip the fact that Victor's methods can resurrect animals, which is what leads to the other kids turning their dead pets into monsters by accident and almost getting the town destroyed.]]
218* WeCanRebuildHim: Victor decides to go this route in bringing Sparky back from death. Unfortunately, [[spoiler:Toshiaki decides to do the same thing with other animals in order to one-up Victor, which goes horrifically wrong]].
219* WhatHappenedToTheMouse:
220** The invisible fish does not come up again after its apparent disappearance.
221** None of the other kids are seen or mentioned after the chaos in the town square. [[spoiler:Nassor is stuck in a cabinet, but the others may just be hiding given that their parents will probably ground them for life...]]
222** In fact, the movie ''has'' no epilogue. This seems to be par for the course for Burton.
223* WhatTheHellIsThatAccent: Nassor.
224* WideEyesAndShrunkenIrises: Weird Girl’s eyes have these.

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