Tim Burton Found His Mini-Me For FRANKENWEENIE Movie
- Details
- Category: Interviews
- Created: Tuesday, 02 October 2012 08:00
- Published: Tuesday, 02 October 2012 08:00
- Written by Lupe Haas
It's no secret the character of Victor in Disney's FRANKENWEENIE is influenced by the Tim Burton's early childhood. So finding Burton's mini-him took a year long process that resulted in casting Charlie Tahan in the black-and-white, stop-motion animated film in 3D.
At a recent press event with Tim Burton and Charlie Tahan, it was obvious why the 14-year-old won the role of Victor Frankenstein. While the soft-spoken, awkward teen looks far from a miniature Tim Burton, he exhibits the same qualities as the successful filmmaker.
Chosen out of a hundred hopefuls, Charlie tells CineMovie he first auditioned to be the voice of Victor in New York with the casting director, then he went onto a second audition with FRANKENWWEENIE producer Allison Abbate, and by the fourth audition a year after the first casting session, he finally met with Tim Burton. "Tim Burton has been one of my favorite directors since I was very little, even before I started acting. So I was really excited when I got the part," says the actor who names Burton as one of his favorite directors. 
Tim Burton tells CineMovie he was interested in finding someone "emotionally grounded" to play a character loosely based on himself.
"With Charlie, I didn't say go watch a bunch of horror movies. It was more about treating him like he was in a drama and having this emotional simplicity and clarity. Just treat it like it's a live action movie."In person, you could see the attraction to casting Charlie Tahan as the voice of the clever 10-year-old aspiring filmmaker and scientist. Unlike most young Hollywood actors who are very well-spoken and have evidently gone through publicity training, the child actor comes across as a normal kid with an innocent quality. Charlie admits he wasn't nervous coming in to play essentially one of his idols in a story loosely based on Burton's own relationship with his dog, rather he was excited to be part of such a "personal project."
For Burton, FRANKENWEENIE took him back to his childhood and his "intense relationship with this dog." The director of Edward Scissorhands and Dark Shadows was told that his childhood dog wouldn't live long due to distemper, but the pooch survived a few years. That experience with imminent death shaped the Southern California native who often deals with the subject in many of his films including FRANKENWEENIE.
The relationship with man's best friend wasn't the only thing Burton revisited in his third stop-motion film (Corpse Bride, The Nightmare Before Christmas). His love of horror movies and memories from his old Burbank neighborhood were worked into the film. While some of his characters pay homage to his favorite classic horror films from the 1930s, other roles were written with people from his Burbank, Ca neighborhood and schools in mind.
"That was the interesting thing about this project unlike maybe any other thing I've done. It was easy to go back and expand on the memories of that time. Sort of expanding on the thing about the dog, relationship with that, to the place in Burbank, and the other kids in school that you remember, teachers, the whole dynamic of the classroom, and that sort of stuff. It was fun to kind of base it on people and memories, mixture of people, dynamics and all."When asked if he knew a Weird Girl back in his days living in Burbank, he replies, "a few." He then explains that he himself felt "separate and weird" growing up, but thinking back he also felt "quite normal" compared to other kids that seemed weird. He calls it a "strange dynamic."
"It's a strange dynamic that when you go back and think of memories, you think a lot of people have memories of feeling alone yet you're treated as weird although you don't feel weird but everybody else seems strange. It's that kind of dynamic."Burton's Burbank neighborhood evidently holds many good memories for the 54-year-old. Many will find similarities between the 1970s suburban town of New Holland in FRANKENWEENIE and the flat, suburban landscape depicted in Edward Scissorhands (Johnny Depp), as well as a few quirky neighbors. Edward Scisshorhands, ironically, is another character many assume is Tim Burton's alter ego. Burton tells CineMovie you can't escape where you're from.
"Any place that you're from. It's part of your life. I don't have to look at the specific, it was more from the memory of it."
FRANKENWEENIE producer Allison Abbate revealed at the press event a funny story about Burton and his fondness for nostalgia. The long-time collaborator says the director during production brought some of his childhood toys which he wanted incorporated into the film as part of the backdrop to the 70s feel of the movie. He would often bring items from his past throughout the filming, according to the producer.
Adults will appreciate those little nods to the past while children of all ages will relate to the relationship with their pets. Hopefully, these kids won't get any ideas of returning their four-legged friends back from the dead. While FRANKENWEENIE deals with dark themes, this labor of love from Tim Burton will surely be enjoyed by many.
FRANKENWEENIE opens October 5, 2012.
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