As Tim Burton’s newly anticipated animated film “Frankenweenie” hits theaters nationwide today -its art exhibits near home, and if you’re in the area it’s a one of a kind opportunity to peek into Tim Burton’s extraordinary imagination up close.

Inside Disney’s California Adventure is where you’ll find the “The Art of Frankenweenie Exhibition” for a limited time. The exhibit made its first stop in San Diego during this year’s Comic Con back in July and then traveled through cities in Europe and is now back to the States.

The exhibit showcases drawings that Tim Burton sketched in 1984 when the film originally came to fruition and it truly demonstrates Burton’s passion for this project and the attention to detail he paid to every character, setting and costume. Only a group of incredibly talented artists were able to sculpt these drawings into three-dimensional sculptures and cast into silicone and latex to bring to life in the film.

Just to give you an idea of all the time and effort that went into creating and producing “Frankenweenie”, the black and white movie is composed of twenty-four frames per second, which means that animators had to stop and position the puppet twenty-four times to get only ONE second of filmed action; certainly not breezy process. Another example is Sparky, the dog that is suddenly dead and being brought back to life in the movie, has about 300 joint parts and 45 movable joints, making it one of the most complicated puppets to create. Additionally, some character costumes were so intricate that it took five days to make something as simple as a tee shirt.

In total “Frankenweenie” had a crew of over four hundred people; over thirty animators on thirty independent sets were used during the filming each producing an average of approximately 5.8 seconds of animation per week.

This is all part of the stop-motion animation process, one of the oldest animation styles only used in two other Burton films “Corpse Bride” and “The Nightmare Before Christmas”, both Oscar nominees –although he did direct a stop-motion animated short in 1982 called “Vincent” which became the debut of his film career.

“Frankenweenie” is special to Burton because it harkens back to the classic horror films of his influential youth, not only by filming in black and white, but also in the expression of innocence embodied by the use of stop-motion animation, which respects the simplicity of the story and adds both depth and texture to its presentation. In addition, many of the film’s characters and settings come from Burton’s personal experiences, for instance the names. Victor, a boy who, inspired by science and the love for his best friend, Sparky, comes from classic horror films from the 1930’s, like “Frankenstein” and “Dracula”. New Holland, the fictitious town where “Frankenweenie” takes place is very reflective of Burbank, California, where Burton grew up.

Inside details like these are what make a story a bit more heartfelt. Understanding the dedicated labor that goes into creating the little creatures we see on the big screen and knowing that their hair is a wig made of real human hair sewn on strand by strand, that each and every prop was made by hand and hand-painted and detailed by passionate artists is remarkably admirable.

So, yes, “Frankenweenie” is yet another dark and somber Tim Burton tale but as all of his movies do, it carries a message. In this case, boy meets love and it’s a strange kind of love, the kind you feel for a pet and the lengths you will go to, to bring him back to life when he is lost. It carries all the nostalgia that accompanies any film that is circa the 1970s and the innocence of being a kid and feeling a magical power that exceeds real life.

“Frankenweenie” is out at most theaters as of today, and makes for a sweet Halloween movie. “The Art of Frankenweenie Exhibition” will be on display at Disney’s California Adventure through November 5, another inside scoop on this exhibit if you go, you’ll get to see Tim Burton’s actual desk with drawings and artwork on exhibit.