Opening in theaters on October 5th is the new 3D black-and-white stop motion-animation fantasy film Frenkenweenie from visionary director Tim Burton (The Nightmare Before Christmas, Alice in Wonderland), based on his 1984 short of the same name. The film was written by frequent Burton scribe John August (Big Fish, The Corpse Bride) and also features a voice cast of Burton-movie all-stars including Catherine O'Hara (Beetlejuice), Martin Short (Mars Attacks), Winona Ryder (Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands), Conchata Ferrell (Edward Scissorhands), and Martin Landau (Ed Wood), as well as new collaborators Charlie Tahan (I Am Legend), Atticus Shaffer (The Unborn), and Tom Kenny (The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie). 

IAR's Managing Editor Jami Philbrick recently had a chance to sit down with screenwriter John August to talk about his work on Frankenweenie. The talented writer discussed the new movie, its emotional core, using elements of the Frankenstein story, adapting Burton's original short into a full length feature film, once again reuniting with the iconic filmmaker, his own personal relationship with his dog, writing for a stop motion-animation project, hidden Easter Eggs, and the movie's incredible voice cast.

Many comedic performers come and go in the blink of an eye or rely on one shtick for as long as humanly possible, but Martin Short has been enduring and entertaining with versatility and exuberance for well over three decades.  A veteran of the innovative Canadian sketch show SCTV and American institution Saturday Night Live, Short is known and loved for a variety of performances, including turns in fondly remembered comedies such as Three Amigos!, Father of the Bride, and Innerspace.

In this Friday's Frankenweenie, Short reunites with his Mars Attacks! director Tim Burton (Ed Wood, Alice in Wonderland).  The 3D stop-motion animated feature is based on Burton's 1984 short film, and follows young Victor Frankenstein, a budding suburban scientist who gets more than he bargained for when he resurrects his beloved dog Sparky, inadvertently putting the small down of New Holland in danger.

Both Short and fellow SCTV alum Catherine O'Hara (Best in Show, Home Alone) voice Victor's parents, the loving and altogether normal Frankensteins.  In addition, each provides voices for two supporting characters.  In Short's case, those characters are Victor's aloof classmate Nassor and civic-minded neighbor Mr. Burgemeister.

At the Frankenweenie press day at Disneyland in Anaheim, California, Martin Short spoke with IAR in an exclusive interview, discussing the challenges of voice acting, creating the characters, different avenues of performance, branching out dramatically, and the (im)possibility of a Three Amigos! sequel.

Synopsis: After unexpectedly losing his beloved dog Sparky, young Victor harnesses the power of science to bring his best friend back to life—with just a few minor adjustments. He tries to hide his home-sewn creation, but when Sparky gets out, Victor’s fellow students, teachers and the entire town all learn that getting a new “leash on life” can be monstrous.

Yesterday, Disney dropped no less than seven official images from The Lone Ranger, next summer's tentpole action-adventure starring Armie Hammer as the eponymous masked hero and Johnny Depp as Tonto, who in the serialized character's hsitory was his sidekick.  The studio has followed up on those stills with three more looks at the western, along with the first The Lone Ranger teaser poster.

There are no fewer than five Marvel Studios movies on the way over the next three years, and with The Avengers demonstrating the nation's unquenchable thirst for shared-universe shenanigans, a SHIELD television series will add to the cinematic Marvelverse in one hour dramatic installments on ABC.  A casting breakdown has revealed five of the main characters working for the titular security agency.

For his new movie Frankenweenie, Tim Burton is doubling back.  Way back to a time before he was the globally-recognized blockbuster auteur behind films like Alice in Wonderland, Dark Shadows, Big Fish, Ed Wood, Batman, Beetlejuice, and Edward Scissorhands.  In fact, Frankenweenie harkens back to before Burton was even a feature film director.

The new movie, arriving in theaters this Friday, is old-fashioned in that it is a black and white product of stop-motion animation, but it's also a feature-length elaboration on a short film Burton made in 1984, prior to making his directorial debut with Pee-wee's Big Adventure a year later.  The original, a live-action short also executed without color, followed a young boy who, after the death of his beloved dog Sparky, brings the canine back to life using science and a bit of lightning.

Frankenweenie the movie expands upon the idea, adding more creatures and a fuller story filled with strange inhabitants for the fictitious town of New Holland, a locale visually based on Burton's hometown of Burbank, California, which is, coincidentally, the home of Disney Studios. 

In order to promote the upcoming 3D release, Burton and company went south to Disneyland in Anaheim, where IAR was one of many outlets from all over the world participating in a roundtable interview with director in which he discussed the personal aspects of Frankenweenie, the enduring appeal of stop-motion, working with comedic actors, and weird kids in elementary school.

Though most of what we've seen from the film has consisted of blurry set photos, Disney has unveiled a whopping seven new official images from The Lone Ranger, showing off lots of Western action, Armie Hammer in the mask of the title character, and, most extensively, Johnny Depp as Tonto.

While the currently in-production Iron Man 3 is dividing its time between North Carolina and China, Thor: The Dark World is filming in and around London, England.  Being the old school patriot that he is, fellow Avenger Cap is keeping it closer to home, as it seems Captain America: The Winter Soldier will film in Cleveland, Ohio and Los Angeles, California.

The Marvel Studios habit of including a universe-building tease after the end credits has gone well beyond just an Easter Egg, becoming a pop-cultural in-joke that everyone's in on.  With Joss Whedon's truly huge The Avengers, the studio went for a mid-credits bit that revealed the Mad Titan Thanos as the guy pulling Loki's strings and setting him up as the big bad in future Marvel movies. 

We've been speculating as to just what Thanos will do in Marvel's "Phase Two," but there's very little firm information on which films will feature the cosmic despot.  Marvel Studios head honcho Kevin Feige, a man who plays things famously close to the vest, has offered some teasing little nuggets on Thanos.

Disney has unveiled another clip from Frankenweenie, Tim Burton's second movie of 2012, the stop-motion feature adaptation of his 1984 short film that confounded the studio before he became one of the biggest directors on the planet.