Corpse Bride

Leave it to Tim Burton to take a story that at first glance seems terrifyingly creepy and turn it into a touching and charming fairy-tale people of all ages can enjoy. Using the same stop-motion animation with which he made A Nightmare Before Christmas, Burton again makes movie magic with the story of two people who want to get married. Victor Van Dort is the shy son of the owner of the largest fish business in the village. His family has plenty of money but not a lot of social standing. Victor is engaged to be married to Victoria Everglot, the daughter of one of the noblest yet poorest families in town. Victoria has to marry into a family with money post haste, or prepare for life in the streets. Victor, already nervous about meeting is new bride for the first time, becomes more flustered when he falls in love with her at first sight. To make matters worse, Victor’s nervousness bubbles over while at the rehearsal and after hours of practice with no avail, the weary pastor sends the groom away only to return when he can recite his vows. While walking in the forest to gain his composure and to practice, he accidentally marries a corpse, named Emily, who died while waiting to elope with her fiancée. Victor is transported to different world full of what is left of the dead. While Victor is away, a new and calculating candidate with plans of his own has come into the picture to marry Victoria. Victor now has one bride too many and his true love will marry someone else if he does not return from “downstairs” in time. He has to devise a plan return “upstairs” to the land of the living, and save Victoria from marrying an unsavory character.

There are three main ingredients in turning an animated movie into a superb animated movie: a clever story, voices that match the characters, and use of a type of animation that is pleasing to the eye. The story in Burton’s Corpse Bride sounds like something out of a horror movie, but with his special touch and viewpoint the story becomes whimsical and unique. As for the voices, Burton turned to some of his favorite actors for the job. Emily is voiced by Helena Bonham Carter and she is brilliant at making her gentle and kind with an inner strength. Johnny Depp is hardly recognizable as the voice of Victor Van Dort. The usually suave and debonair personality transforms into a shy and unsure young man.

The last ingredient and the most important, is the type of animation chosen for telling this delightful modern fairy tale. In the age of the technical leaps and bounds made in animation using the computer, stop-motion animation is a refreshing and fitting choice in telling this story. The amount of talent and intimate craftsmanship it takes make a good stop-motion film is mind-boggling, but Corpse Bride is a great stop-motion film. Burton uses this opportunity to fill every aspect of the film with his trademark attention to detail. From the expressions on the characters’ faces to the bricks in the buildings, nothing has been ignored. Great consideration was also given to the use of color. In a reverse of most stories, Burton portrays his “downstairs” underworld as a colorful and warm place in striking contrast to the watered down real world. Without a doubt the ingenious attention to detail from the story, to the voices, and down to the buttons on the clothes, Corpse Bride is a Tim Burton classic that will be entertaining movie fans for generations to come.