Question: Dr Frankenstein tells a student at a lecture he is giving that he is not interested in death but the preservation of life. If this is true then why would he continue in the footsteps of his grandfather?
Question: What year is the film set?
Chosen answer: While no specific date is given, Mel Brooks wanted to do a tribute parody to the classic 1930's horror film, thus the Black and White film and the 30's style film techniques. However, Hans Delbrück (the brain Igor is suppose to steal) was a real-life person who died in 1929. Given that and the cars seen, it's a safe bet it's suppose to be set in the early 1930's.
Answer: Near the end of the film the (now improved) monster is in bed reading the Wall Street Journal. The article in the top left corner refers to the Brown Vs. Board of Education Supreme Court case after 25 years. That puts the film in 1979. (It was made in 1974.) Also, the young Dr. Frankenstein refers to his grandfather, the infamous Dr. Frankenstein. The original movie was made in 1931. That places the movie two generations later.
Question: If Frederick wanted to distance himself from his grandfathers "legacy", then why travel to Transylvania? Why not just tell Herr Falkstein that he has no interest in going to Transylvania? That he doesn't want to be associated with the Frankenstein name at all?
Answer: He would go because he inherited the property, would want to inspect it, assess the value, determine what possessions there are, attend to the legal and personal matters regarding an inheritance, liquidate the assets, and so on. Most people would want and/or be required to have some interaction regarding such a large estate.
Question: What elements does Young Frankenstein borrow from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and the 1930s films starring Boris Karloff?
Answer: The laboratory is the same set used in the 1933 movie.
Answer: It mostly borrows from the Karloff film rather than the book. However, it is not a remake but a sequel and a broad spoof of the 1930s Frankenstein movie and is set years later. Dr. Frederick Frankenstein is the grandson of Victor Frankenstein, the scientist who reanimated the dead. Frederick had disavowed his grandfather's work, calling him crazy. However, after discovering Victor's secret lab, he becomes intrigued and recreates the experiment, making his own monster. The similarities included him using the same lab and the same techniques, has a hunchback assistant, steals corpses and uses an abnormal brain to create the same kind of monster. He starts to become a bit crazed himself. The monster also escapes and roams the countryside, and like in the original film, he is befriended by a blind priest and also encounters the young girl. In the DVD interview, Gene Wilder says the film was based on Frankenstein (1931), Bride of Frankenstein (1935), Son of Frankenstein (1939) and The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942).
Answer: That's how he felt at that moment. He became inspired to follow in his grandfather's footsteps after reading his books.
Maria Santos