With The Lorax marking the first major animated film of 2012, studios have rushed to craft trailers and teasers to run before the sure-fire Dr. Seuss hit. Two of those films are stop-motion animated family films with a horror twist: Tim Burton's Frankenweenie and Laika Entertainment's ParaNorman.
Opening first is ParaNorman, which we saw a teaser trailer for back in October. Let Me In star Kodi Smit-McPhee voices our unlikely hero, a monster-obsessed kid who gets a hard time from his family and has one friend at school, but that's because he can see and talk to the dead. When the world of the dead threatens the world of the living, it then becomes up to Norman to rectify the situation.
ParaNorman comes from the mind of Chris Butler, who served as a storyboard artist on Laika's first film, Tim Burton's The Corpse Bride and a storyboard supervisor on its second, Henry Selick's Coraline. The film also features the voices of Anna Kendrick, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, John Goodman, Leslie Mann, Casey Affleck and Jeff Garlin among others. It opens Aug. 17.
Closer to Halloween, Walt Disney Pictures will release Tim Burton Animation Co.'s Frankenweenie, based on the gothic movie master's 1984 short film about a boy who brings his dog back to life. Disney has treated us to a lengthy teaser for this children's version of Frankenstein, one that sets up the entire premise. Its black-and-white look suggests that this one will have plenty of Burton's edge, enough so that his adult fans should take interest.
Frankenweenie features the voice talents of Winona Ryder, Catherine O'Hara, Martin Short, Martin Landau and Charlie Trahan (I Am Legend, Charlie St. Cloud) as young Victor Frankenstein. It comes alive on Oct. 5.
