‘Stitch Head’ review: Burtonesque animation is adapted from Guy Bass children’s books

Dir/scr: Steve Hudson. Germany/Luxembourg. 2025. 91mins

High in his mountain lair, the Castle Grotteskew, a mad professor (voiced by Rob Brydon) is obsessed with designing his best, most outlandish monster ever. But he loses interest in his creations almost as soon as he zaps them to life; including patchwork boy Stitch Head (Asa Butterfield), the professor’s long-forgotten first freak, who finds a new lease of life in a travelling circus. Based on the children’s book by Guy Bass, the premise of this tale of outcasts and unexpected friendships is not unfamiliar. But this is not just a Frankenstein’s monster of cobbled-together references to other films; Stitch Head has its own distinct personality, an oddball charmer boosted by offbeat humour and enjoyably quirky character design.

Offbeat humour and enjoyably quirky character design

This is the first animated feature from director Hudson, whose previous work includes the 2006 live-action feature film True North, which premiered in Toronto, and several episodes of the television series Cranford. Stitch Head is a change of direction for Hudson, but should raise his profile both in the world of animation and elsewhere. It’s a marketable package which should appeal to younger audiences while sneaking in a few more sophisticated jokes for the parents, The film has already sold in multiple territories in advance of its world premiere in the non-competitive Annecy Presents strand.

There are parallels between the world and the rules that have been created for Stitch Head and his weird and wonderful monster family, and those of previous pictures. There’s a clear kinship with Monsters, Inc, both in the character design – Stick Head’s monocular self-appointed best friend, The Creature (Joel Fry), has elements of Monsters, Inc’s Sully, give or take an extra arm – and in the mutual terror that monsters and humans have for each other. The animation, although predominantly computer 3D, has a worn, frayed and textural quality that evokes the moth-eaten Gothic stop motion aesthetic of Tim Burton’s work with Henry Selick, and numerous other Burtenesque nods including a Danny Elfman flavour to Nick Urata’s opening score.

Put-upon Stitch Head just wants to be seen and acknowledged by the mad professor who brought him to life, but he is neglected by his creator and regulated to acting as a nursemaid to the other monsters. His many contributions to castle life pass unnoticed. It’s Stitch Head who de-programs the newly created monsters, with an information video designed to dissuade them from following their rampaging monster natures for fear of inciting a mob of furious villagers (“Stay hidden, stay quiet, stay safe” is the messaging). It’s Stitch Head who reads the monsters their bedtime story every night. He feels underappreciated.

Then a failing circus sideshow rolls into the nearby town of Gubbers Nubbins, and its owner Fulbert Freakfinder spots star potential in Stitch Head. When Fulbert promises that the world outside will “love him”, Stitch Head decides to leave the castle. Unfortunately, when Fulbert says ‘love’, what he actually means is that the villagers will pay good money to recoil in horror from Stitch Head’s face. Still, he does have a couple of friends it turns out: one is The Creature, who decides to rescue Stitch Head from the clutches of the circus; the other is Arabella (Tia Bannon), a little girl who is fascinated by the castle and its inhabitants. Unlike the hostile, grey-faced villagers, Arabella is welcoming and not in the least bit scared of anything that is different.

The film’s conclusion may be rather predictable, but the lively humour of the execution and the flashes of almost Pythonesque absurdity make for a winning combination of life lessons and monster mayhem.