Corpse Bride

Corpse Bride (Directors: Mike Johnson, Tim Burton)

CORPSE BRIDE has been nominated for Best Animated Feature










Johnson's first big feature, he worked on James and the Giant Peach and The Nightmare Before Christmas. Burton, who created Christmas along with director Henry Selick, joins the 2005 2-movie club along with Robert Rodriguez, Wes Craven, and Louis Letterier. Just a couple of months ago, he gave us the Charlie & the Chocolate Factory update. Yes, he will also not be the last to join this club. Many-time collaborator John August wrote the screenplay with Pamela Pettler and Christmas co-writer Caroline Thompson.

Puppets and stop-motion animation get a little more high-tech in Tim Burton's latest Halloween-themed production, following The Nightmare Before Christmas some 12 years after it was released. Surprisingly, back in 1993, the feature wasn't a total slam dunk. A modest hit, it found its following on video. Here, we have the use of shiny-new stop-motion cameras taking the shots.

Corpse Bride is, like Christmas, a musical, with a soundtrack and songs from long-time Burton composer Danny Elfman. Victor Van Dort (Johnny Depp) is about to enter into a marriage of convenience with Victoria Everglot (Emily Watson), a match that will save her family's fortunes (parents voiced by Albert Finney and "Absolutely Fabulous's" Joanna Lumley). His parents (Tracey Ullman and Paul Whitehouse) are nouveau riche, something that the once-wealthy Everglot's find revolting, but it is out of necessity that they enter into the union. Victor and Victoria have not met, but once they do it looks like it will be a good romantic match as well.

During wedding rehearsals, Victor is unable to get the vows correct and depressed, walks out into the woods trying to get them right. Once he recites the vows correctly out in the woods, he unwittingly gives rise to a murdered bride (Helena Bonham Carter), who believes that the words were for her and she takes him down into the underworld. The complications give Victor some hard decisions to make, and another, "more suitable" marriage partner comes into the picture in the land of the living in Lord Barkis (Richard E. Grant). Barkis is a shady character, and thus becomes the movie's antagonist.

First off, the look of this film is fantastic. The digital cameras lend itself nicely to the action. The voice work is great--Depp again is able to change his voice enough to sound completely different. Watson beautifully voices the proper lady of Victoria, and Carter is perfect as the corpse bride. My favorite, though, comes with Michael Gough (Alfred in the last Batman franchise) who plays an old skeleton (complete with sagging "eyebrows," glasses, and a long thin beard), Elder Gutknecht, who has all the knowledge of the world of the dead. Christopher Lee lends his booming voice to the uppity Pastor Galswells.

There is a slight something missing in this--perhaps it's mood...the hard thing for this movie to pull off is being scary, but light-hearted for kids. There are images that might frighten children, but they are always fairly comical. I was sort of hoping that instead of Victor waking up in the underworld, he might get sort of a "roller-coaster ride" into it--that could have been some fun. This is a minor quibble, but it does detract slightly from the overall enjoyment. But movies rarely have this sense of fun, and most should like it.