Corpse Bride – (2005) Tim Burton’s stop-motion animated, comic-gothic musical (songs and score by Danny Elfman) takes place in Victorian times when the ugly Everglots, impoverished aristocrats, arrange for the marriage of their beautiful daughter Victoria (voiced by Emily Watson) to Victor Van Dort (voiced by Johnny Depp), the awkward, maladroit son of a nouveau riche merchant and his fat, snobbish wife. At the wedding rehearsal Victor fails to say his vows properly and goes into the woods to practice. It’s the nightmare before the wedding when a corpse bride (voiced by Helena Bonham Carter) bursts from the ground to accept his correctly articulated vow. Nothing is going according to plan when Lord Barkus offers to take Victor’s place as Victoria’s groom.

Meanwhile downstairs in the land of the dead – where the atmosphere is as festive and colorful as a Halloween party, jazzy, free of restrictions, unlike the dark, gloomy, repressed upstairs among the living – Victor learns of the Corpse Bride’s tragic tale as sung by Bonejangles. After hop-scotching between the two worlds, his sympathy for her turns to affection. The puppets are created to perform incredibly convincing moves and to express emotions, making the invisible appear in their faces and eyes. (Short special features on the DVD about the making of the movie and the puppets are worth viewing as well.) At the end recall the beginning when Victor sets free a butterfly from its glass prison. Two earlier stop-motion animated features Tim Burton directed are The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach, both of which I highly recommend; he also directed Johnny Depp in the marvelous Edward Scissorshands.

Click here for links to places to buy or rent this movie in video and/or DVD format, or to buy the soundtrack, posters, books, even used videos, games, electronics and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

Copyright © 2007 Patrick Ivers. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

Patrick Ivers can be reached via e-mail at .