Tim Burton Was Suprised by the "Frankenweenie" Oscar Nom

His passion project scared Disney at first.

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Complex Original

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Director Tim Burton nabbed his second Academy Award nomination for his stopmotion movie Frankenweenie. It was a remake of a short film he made in 1984 about a little boy who uses science to resurrect his dog, Sparky. 

"The idea was it would go out with Pinocchio as a featurette. Then when Disney saw it, they got freaked out by it, and so it didn’t get released," he told Deadline. He originally never thought of taking it any further.

"Over the years, I just kept kind of thinking about the relationship with my dog, but also other monster movies, the kids and teachers from my school, and even the downtown places in Burbank," Burton said. "A lot more thoughts came into Frankenweenie, and it just felt like the right medium for it."

It's nominated for Best Animated Feature up against Brave, ParaNorman, The Pirates! Band of Misfits, and Wreck-It Ralph. His first nomination was for Corpse Bride in 2005. Burton said he can't set out to make an "Oscar-worthy" film.

"There are a lot of things that are quite abstract about the whole thing, so I think for me it’s not something that’s in your control. It’s hard to analyze or predict things. I think if I ever had that thought, it would freak me out and I wouldn’t be able to do a project!"

How do you rate Frankenweenie against Burton's other films?

RELATED: The 10 Most Visually Stunning Directors 

[via Deadline]

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