“Corpse Bride” is Tim Burton’s second foray into the old-fashioned medium of stop-motion animation (he served as a producer on 1993’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas”) and this macabre musical love story rates among the chimerical filmmaker’s very best work. Burton shares directorial credit on “Bride” with Mike Johnson (“James and the Giant Peach”), but one need only glance at the title to know who was the driving creative force behind the project. Using just a wee bit of digital technology to enhance the visual effects, Burton and his team have shattered any preconceived notions of what can and can’t be achieved through claymation, one of Hollywood’s oldest techniques. Manipulating puppets in extremely tiny increments was, by all accounts, a painstaking process, but the hard work has paid off in what may be Burton’s most picturesque picture.
The story, based on a Russian folk tale, is quite clever: The Van Dorts, social-climbing nouveau riche Victorian-era fish tycoons voiced by Tracey Ullman and Paul Whitehouse, have arranged a marriage between their shy son Victor (Johnny Depp) and Victoria Everglot (Emily Watson), the equally uneffusive daughter of a pair of bankrupt aristocrats (Joanna Lumley and Albert Finney) who want nothing more than to get their hands on the Van Dort’s cash. So smitten is Victor with Victoria when they meet on the eve of their nuptials, that the angular lad cannot seem to remember his wedding vows at rehearsal. After an imperious pastor (Christopher Lee) sends him away, Victor winds up in a gray and gloomy forest where — when he thinks he’s alone — he’s able to recite the vows smoothly. When he places the ring on what he believes to be a tree root, Victor gets a terrifying surprise: The “root” is actually the bony finger of a decaying, but still lovely corpse (Helena Bonham Carter), and she means to hold Victor true to his just-spoken words.
The colorful Land of the Dead to which the Bride whisks her new hubby is a much livelier place than the one “upstairs.” It’s there that the film showcases several snazzy song and dance numbers from composer Danny Elfman, along with several very funny scenes involving a peppy (dead) puppy. Ultimately the action returns to the Land of the Living, where Victor must choose between the living breathing girl who could be his soulmate, and the pretty corpse he’s grown to love … leading to an ending that is as beautiful and deeply moving as any you’ll ever see. (Rated PG for some scary images and action, and brief mild language. Running time: 77 minutes)
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 23, 2005. Read the original PDF.