Tim Burton’s 2012 feature-length stop-motion film about a boy and his resurrected dog is Frankenweenie.
The film follows Victor Frankenstein, a young science enthusiast who brings his beloved dog Sparky back to life after a fatal accident. Victor’s experiment inspires other children to attempt their own reanimations, producing increasingly chaotic results.
Frankenweenie expands Burton’s 1984 live-action short film of the same name. Both versions draw on the basic premise of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein while using a boy-and-dog relationship as the emotional center. The feature uses black-and-white stop-motion animation and was released in 2012.
The title is a blend of “Frankenstein” and “weenie,” a nickname for a small dog. It should not be confused with The Nightmare Before Christmas or Corpse Bride, which are also stop-motion films associated with Burton but have different stories and production histories.