Frankenweenie: Atticus Shaffer on Tim Burton's 'Giant World' & Challenging Impressions

Atticus Shaffer is one charming 14-year-old kid. Well spoken, polite and sweet, I imagine that talking to him outside of an interview is probably quite easy. As we sat across from each other at the press day for Frankenweenie, I learned that he's even more fascinating when he's talking about something he truly cares about.

Shaffer lends his vocals to Edgar 'E' Gore, a peculiar outcast with a huge gapped-toothed grin and a desperate yearning to be accepted by his peers. When he finds out that Victor Frankenstein miraculously resurrected his dead dog Sparky, Edgar demands to learn his secret in order to copy it for himself and win the upcoming science fair. Despite promising Victor silence about Sparky and the experiment that brought him back, Edgar spills the beans and suddenly their little town of New Holland becomes invaded by a slew of resurrected pet monsters.

During the lengthy audition process, director Tim Burton asked the young actor if he was comfortable doing an impression of late Hungarian actor Peter Lorre, who was the inspiration behind Edgar's voice and mannerisms. "I love doing impressions and this new one was a challenge," explains Shaffer. "So challenge accepted!" After renting The Maltese Falcon and re-watching Casablanca, Shaffer began fine-tuning his version of Lorre's voice. "I really studied his emotions. I was able to pick all of that up and formulate a character voice." A year later Shaffer won the role.

To help strengthen his vocals during recording sessions, the Frankenweenie crew hired veteran voice actor Tom Kenny (better known as the voice behind SpongeBob Squarepants) to read opposite Shaffer. "The way I work is that if I hear it, I can do that impression right away. When they hired Tom, he would read the line in his Peter Lorre impression and then I would then do an impression of his impression."

While Victor and Sparky's connection remains the film's emotional anchor, Edgar injects a sense of comedy and awkwardness thanks to his quirky personality and inability to think before speaking. While both characters are seemingly very different, the young actor freely admits to being able to relate to them both. "I am definitely the weird one, so I can relate a lot to Edgar. If I was in school, I would probably be the one shoved in lockers," laughs Shaffer. His understanding of Victor came later, as a result of an untimely incident that made his experience with Frankenweenie resonate a bit deeper. "After we had finished recording, my dog of 6 years passed away," he says. "So I understand that feeling of loving something so much that you would go through every step possible to bring that something back or to honor its memory."

Not a rookie to voice acting (he’s confirmed for season 3 of the Disney Channel show, Fish Hooks), Shaffer found the experience of a Tim Burton stop-animation project to be an entirely different entity. "It's just yourself, your voice and the people directing you. Then you see it all come together - after all of the animating, editing and it becomes this giant world that you can say that you helped create," he explains. "I refer to it as a part of my soul going into the puppet because I'm giving it his voice and it's an amazing feeling."

As for what's next for the busy young actor, Shaffer is currently shooting season 4 of the ABC hit, The Middle and is very vocal with the direction he hopes to steer his career. "I'm very picky. I like things that have meaning," he confesses. "(Frankenweenie) has that. If I can continue doing stuff like this, then that would be phenomenal."

Frankenweenie will be unleashed Friday, October 5th.