While Guillermo del Toro has been instrumental in the career of Roy and Arturo Ambriz, having mentored the I Am Frankelda filmmakers over the past 17 years, another iconic director, Tim Burton, has been an inspiration to the brothers for nearly their entire lives.
Directed by Henry Selick and produced by the filmmaker, who based it on his original poem, Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas was released in theaters in 1993 and captured the attention of the Ambriz brothers early on.
“The Nightmare Before Christmas inspired us [from the time] we watched it when we were each 3 years old,” Roy Ambriz, seated alongside Arturo Ambriz, said in a recent Zoom conversation. “Someone gave us a VHS when we traveled the United States. We didn’t quite understand what it was at first [because we were young], but we couldn’t stop watching it, and continued to watch it every year. We were obsessed with it.”
Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, of course, takes place in two decidedly different worlds — Halloween Town and Christmas Town — that Jack Skellington (voiced by Chris Sarandon) navigates through. Danny Elfman, who wrote the film’s songs and score, provides the singing voice of Jack.
New on Netflix, the stop-motion animated feature I am Frankelda is similar in that the film’s title character (Mireya Mendoza), an 18-year-old Mary Shelley-type author, finds herself on a spellbinding trip to her subconscious mind from her home in 19th century Mexico — which is in the Realm of Existence — to the Realm of Terror, where her literary creations come to life in a world of nightmares.
The Ambriz Brothers Are Thrilled With ‘I Am Frankelda’ Comparisons To Tim Burton’s ‘Nightmare’
Produced by Roy and Arturo Ambriz’s Mexico City-based studio Cinema Fantasma, I Am Frankelda, much like Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, is imbued with musical numbers throughout. As such, journalists covering the release of I Am Frankelda are comparing it to Burton’s 1993 stop-motion classic.
“Hearing that kind of stuff is marvelous for us, Roy Ambriz said before Arturo Ambriz added, “And we met Tim Burton last year.”
Recalling their visit with the legendary filmmaker upon the launch of his exhibition Tim Burton’s Labyrinth in Mexico City, Arturo Ambriz said, “He told us, ‘I’m excited about watching your film,’” as Roy Ambriz added — crossing his fingers — “So, let’s hope that he watches it.”
Roy Ambriz said that he feels to this day that Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas “is still one of the best stop-motion films ever. It’s without any CGI. It’s so beautiful … it feels so physical. It doesn’t age, and that’s what we wanted for Frankelda.”
While Burton has created several vintage characters in his stop-motion films — from his beloved short Vincent to his classic features including Nightmare, Corpse Bride and Frankenweenie — the Ambriz brothers said their favorite puppets from the director’s works are the Martians from Mars Attacks!
A live-action film release in 1996, Burton’s plans for stop-motion appearances by the Martians were scrapped in favor of creating them via CGI. However, the unused puppets from the film — created by Burton’s longtime stop-motion collaborators Mackinnon and Saunders — are accessible to the public as part of Tim Burton’s Labyrinth exhibition.
“The most beautiful stop-motion puppets I have ever seen are the ones he didn’t use for Mars Attacks! Those are mind-blowing,” Arturo Ambriz said. “Those are the exact same characters that we would love to create here at Cinema Fantasma.”
I Am Frankelda, which is a prequel to the Ambriz brothers’ 2021 Cartoon Network Latin America series Frankelda’s Book of Spooks, is streaming exclusively on Netflix. Frankelda’s Book of Spooks, meanwhile, is streaming on HBO Max.