You can't possibly think how a plot so simple can be very touching-- the unique bond between a boy and his dog. It was nice how Tim Burton was able to really capture how close Victor was to his dog, so it wasn't so hard for the viewers to understand why he would go to extreme lengths to get Sparky back.
I think the reason why Tim Burton was able to evoke that kind of emotion was because the story is loosely based with his own relationship to his dog as a kid. Then I can almost imagine a young Tim Burton making crude stop motion with a cheap camera as a kid, just as Victor was in the start of the movie. It's not hard to see why Frankenweenie would be so close to his heart, a product from an idea almost 30 years ago.
FRANKENSTEIN
Obviously, the movie is a parody of the early book/movie called Frankenstein, which I thought is pretty cool in itself. But I liked how Victor Frankenstein here wasn't portrayed as a mad scientist or anything like that, he couldn't be more normal, a quiet loner who just happens to be really good in science. I also liked that here Victor wasn't repulsed by his 'creation', no matter what his dog has become, he will always be Sparky, Victor's best friend. Never mind that the whole town won't exactly agree with that. I thought the other references were also pretty cool, such as the hunchbacked Edgar "E" Gore, and Elsa Van Helsing. There's also Elsa's dog who looks a lot like Frankenstein's bride, puppy love if you ever saw one.
TIM BURTON TOWN IN BLACK AND WHITE
Now there's a bit of subtle comedy, and everything is toned down. The setting is a typical middle town suburbia where you think nothing out of the ordinary or even interesting ever happens, a Tim Burton signature right there. Just later on will you see how not normal the town can actually become to how downright creepy it could be-- and I think the fact that it was black and white added to that overall effect.
