Greetings, and welcome back to October Horror Fest! And, of course, welcome to Article Two! At the time I’m writing this bad boy, it’s October 16th, and the 101st anniversary of the Walt Disney Company. Of course, I already WAY talked about Disney last year in the Disney100 special, where I covered the Nightmare before Christmas. As you guys read through the Extravaganza, you’ll notice a trend. Things are about to get dark. Really dark. As we approach Halloween, the films will begin to get scarier and scarier. As a sendoff to the nice and cheery side of Halloween, and to pay a bit of a homage to the mouse, I present to you all, Frankenweenie. Without further ado, sit back, relax, turn off the lights, grab some Candy and Popcorn, and let’s review…

Frankenweenie (2012)

We start our story in typical Tim Burton fashion, in a black and white town. We follow a young boy named Victor Frankenstein (Day 3 Flashbacks). He lives with his parents in his small neighborhood, in a small VERY Burton house. He also lives with his beloved dog, Sparky. The name of our town is New Holland, and in typical Burton fashion once again, it’s creepy but quaint. He is “friends” with most of his classmates and fellow townspeople. These being Elsa Van Helsing (a bit of a romantic interest for Victor), Edgar (mischievous), Bob, Toshiaki, Nassor, and “Weird Girl”. I know that’s a lot, but I promise it’ll be easier! Victor has always been a troubled boy, and he’s been isolated from the rest of the world. And of course, only one thing can solve that. BASEBALLLLLLLLLLL. Victor’s father encourages him to get into Baseball, but this is where it all goes wrong.

Sparky loves to chase after Victor’s toys as he throws them, and on Victor’s last swing, he hits a home run. He’s excited, and begins to run. This is, until, Sparky gets loose and bolts. Sparky grabs the ball, and is hit by a car in a honestly gut wrenching moment, especially for a Disney film. Victor screams, and we fade to black. We pick up a few days later, and Victor is absolutely devastated. He doesn’t know what to do, and honestly just wants to give up, UNTIL, his new science teacher Mr. Rzykruski mentions the science fair. (Let’s call him Mr. R). Mr. R shows his students an example of electricity and lightning being used in an experiment, and Victor takes this newfound knowledge to heart. Dead frogs have movement once given electricity, and Victor has an idea.

Victor digs up Sparky in an intense scene, and brings his corpse up to a makeshift attic lab. With a bolt of lightning, Sparky is reanimated. Victor cries tears of joy, as Sparky returns to the land of the living. The two friends sleep in the attic, until the morning. Victor leaves for school but makes sure to keep Sparky hidden in the attic. At school, Sparky escapes the attic, and has a classic cat and mouse game as he chases Weird Girl’s cat around the neighborhood. Mr. Whiskers is able to escape, but not before Edgar notices the reanimated Sparky. He heads back to school, and blackmails our boy. Victor feigns ignorance, but the jig is up. He takes Edgar to the attic, where he finally meets the reanimated Sparky, and teaches him about how he harnessed the lightning. With this knowledge, Edgar is actually able to resurrect a Goldfish. However, unlike Sparky, this has adverse effects. The Goldfish turns invisible, and a few hours later, disappears entirely.

Victor rushes home to check on Sparky, as the rest of the class go deeper into the Science Experiment. Toshi and Bob try to create a water jetpack, which of course ends with Bob breaking his arm. Mr. R is blamed for the incident, and is even instructed to leave town, having “brainwashed” the children with science. Victor and Mr. R have once last tearjerker goodbye. Mr. R says that Victor is a true scientist, and emotional attachment is directly correlated to the outcome of reanimation. Sparky is truly back because Victor loved him so much.

However, it isn’t over yet, as Edgar spills the secret to the rest of the class. Necromancy is real, and they all want in. At the same time, things somehow get even worse for Victor. His parents find Sparky, and he flees. Victor’s father reprimands Victor, saying how dangerous the line between the living and the dead is. In ANOTHER tearjerker, Victor says how he just missed his dog. His parents understand, and the Frankensteins set out to find Sparky. At the same time, the experiments of the classmates continue. Due to their uncaring nature and the competition between each of them, the re animations are corrupted. Mr. Whiskers becomes a horrific Cat-Bat hybrid, Edgar’s bat fuses with a Werewolf, Nassor’s hamster comes back, much weaker than ever as a mummified zombie, Sea-Monkeys grow into MASSIVE dangerous hybrids, and most important of all, Toshi’s turtle essentially becomes Godzilla, towering over all. All of these corrupted monsters head to the town square and parade, and chaos ensues.

Sparky is eventually found by Victor at the Pet-Cemetery on his own grave. After a heart to heart between the two friends, they set out to stop the apocalypse. Using the POWER OF SCIENCE, Victor comes up with new ideas to take down each of the monsters. The Sea-Monkeys are overloaded with extremely salty popcorn, and the saltwater causes them to explode. The Mummified Hamster is stepped on by Godzilla-Shelly, and both the Wererat and Godzilla-Shelly return to their normal forms using the power of electricity. They are all defeated, except for one…

Persephone, Elsa Van Helsing’s pet dog, is grabbed by the Bat Mr. Whiskers and is dragged to the town’s windmill. Sparky, being the smart dog he is, leads the town to the windmill, although they don’t trust him. A torch sets the windmill ablaze, and the two friends rush inside in a nail biting moment. Victor saves Persephone and Elsa, but falls into the flaming rubble unconscious. Sparky rushes in, and bravely fights off Mr. Whiskers as he saves Victor. Victor is dragged outside, as Mr. Whiskers is impaled by a piece of wood, and the building collapses on Sparky. Victor lets out the same scream he did when Sparky died…

Victor is devastated, but the entire town is moved by what Sparky did. They use all their car batteries to bring the dog back to life. He and Persephone touch their noses together, and sparks fly…

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR READING! I really enjoyed this film, and it was perfect for the story it was trying to tell. As a massive fan of Frankenstein, I thought it was genius. I hope you enjoyed article two, and MORE ARE COMING!!! And, remember everyone, Science is a tool. Use it wisely…