Winona Ryder has praised Tim Burton, going so far as to credit the director for her success.

From Tim Burton comes ‘Frankenweenie,‘ a heart-warming tale about a boy and his dog. After unexpectedly losing his beloved dog Sparky, young Victor harnesses the power of science to bring his best friend back to life – with just a few minor adjustments. He tries to hide his home-sewn creation, but when Sparky gets out, Victor’s fellow students, teachers and the entire town all learn that getting a new “leash on life” can be monstrous. A visually stunning black and white, stop motion animated film in 3D, the voice cast for ‘Frankenweenie’ includes Catherine O’Hara, Martin Short, Martin Landau, Charlie Tahan, Atticus Shaffer, Robert Capron, Conchata Ferrell and Winona Ryder. Disney will release the film on October 5th in the US and October 17th in the UK. ‘Frankenweenie’ is the first animated film that Tim Burton has directed for Disney. The screenplay is by John August, based on an original idea by Tim Burton. My interview with Tim Burton for ‘Frankenweenie’ can be read here.

Speaking to Tim Burton, he said he really wanted to work with people he hadn’t worked with in a while on ‘Frankenweenie,’ people that he loved. You two in particular have a great background….

Winona Ryder: Yeah. I’ve known Tim Burton for 25 years, and I credit him with my career – I really mean that. I don’t know if….acting was sort of an accident for me, I wasn’t going on auditions and trying to be an actor. I was actually sort of discovered in San Francisco and I’d done only two movies, small parts, and I remember my parents were very picky (laughs) – because we had to drive from Northern California for ‘Beetlejuice,’ it was like 9 hours to get there, and I remember very well when I first met Tim. I was sitting, waiting to meet him and this guy came in and started talking, talking about movies and music and 25 minutes later I was like, “When is this Tim Burton guy coming?” And he was like, “That’s me!” And I was like, “OH….” (Laughs) I had no idea that a director could actually be so cool and I could easily hang out with them, you know? Continue reading Winona Ryder: ‘I credit Tim Burton for my career’