Directed by:
Tim Burton & Mike Johnson
Starring:
Johnny Depp ………. Victor Van Dort
Helena Bonham Carter ………. Corpse Bride
Emily Watson ………. Victoria Everglot
Tracey Ullman ………. Nell Van Dort/Hildegarde
Paul Whitehouse ………. William Van Dort/Mayhew/Paul The Head Waiter
Joanna Lumley ………. Maudeline Everglot
Albert Finney ………. Finnis Everglot
Richard E. Grant ………. Barkis Bittern
Christopher Lee ………. Pastor Galswells
The Movie
Tim Burton is one of those directors that have certain eccentricities where he some times divides his viewers where people either love his work or can’t make head from tail of it. If you didn’t like his previous work then chances are you won’t like this one. If your one of those who love his choice of direction then the Corpse Bride will very likely please you with what it has to offer.
Based on a 19th century Russian folk tale, Corpse Bride starts in a dark and bleak Victorian town on the eve of Victor and Victoria’s arranged marriage. Their parents are bland and snobbish, they live prim and proper lives with no time for idol chit chat or a single chance for fun or happiness, instead live boring drab lives. Both sides are hoping that the wedding will help them climb further up the social ladder. Victor’s parents are fish merchants in hopes to rub elbows with the right people and be invited to the high society parties while Victoria’s parents hope for the wedding to take them out of bankruptcy.
With his nerves on end Victor can’t seem to get his vows straight at the rehearsal which has everyone question his surety about the marriage. I mean how dare he be uncertain about marrying a girl he just met, right? Doubtful about everything Victor runs out of the rehearsal and finds himself wandering through the woods trying to sort things out slowly realizing that Victoria may just be the woman he was meant for after all. When he finally gets his vows in order he places his wedding ring on a branch that resembles that of a hand which oddly enough IS a hand.
Victor finds himself now face-to-face with a female corpse that comes to life whom now believes herself to be his bride, whisking him away to the land of the dead. The bride named Emily we learn was murdered on the eve of her wedding night and waited until her true love would come and take her hand, a hand Victor mistook for a branch. Now he needs to find a way back to the woman he wants to be with while at the same time he begins to see the Corpse Bride for the mistreated soul she is, who only ever wanted to be married to someone that loved her and live happily ever after.
Burton has a certain criteria when it comes to casting his films, he generally only works with out going charismatic people who aren’t afraid to speak up when they’re filming. He likes for his stars to collaborate with him, that way to get alternate perspectives on how things can be executed. And this go around he’s surrounded himself with one fine ensemble cast. Corpse Bride marks the fifth time Burton and Depp collaborated on a picture and when the two work together theres a sense of magic in the air and Corpse Bride is no different. The two who are the best at what they do collide to create a visual work of imagination, leaving viewers hooked in to the experience.
While the story and performances are the best things in the movie everything else just feels like both Burton and Elfman who have worked on countless films together are repeating themselves. They both have unique visions for their respected works but when songs cue or when you lay eyes on the scenery of the film there are moments that have a “been there done that” feeling. Visually the movie appears to have that signature Burton-esque style. Music this time around seems to rest heavily on hooks in the songs. Rather than in The Nightmare Before Christmas where you can hum along to the tune while at the same time marvel at the brilliance and artistry of the lyrics. That just doesn’t seem to be the case here.
For the past ten years or so ever since Toy Story studios have been cutting back on stop motion in favor of state-of-the-art CGI films. Tim Burton however still sees the beauty in the craft and how pure and blissful it can be. Stop motion sure has come a long way since 1932, over seventy years and while many would assume is a dying breed has actually been rejuvenated by advancements in technology making the process much simpler. Between Corpse Bride and the feature length Wallace and Gromit films this year I think it’s safe to say that stop animation isn’t going away any time soon.
Make no mistake about it, Corpse Bride is by far one of the best animated films this year (as is evident with its Oscar nomination) but just seems to fall short of greatness due to a short run time and songs that just aren’t all that moving or catchy. Fleshed out to almost 80 minutes the film feels like its trying to wrap things up as soon as possible but in doing so has characters saying goodbye before they’re ever really welcomed.
Score: 7.5/10
The Video
(Presented in 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen)
The rich and vibrant world that Tim Burton created is presented with absolute precision here making the Corpse Bride an already early runner for best picture of 2006. There isn’t one noticeable flaw with the entire video presentation, shot using digital video there’s no grain or artifacts and no edge enhancement. Black levels stay perfect during the scenes involving the land of the living while the land of the dead is illuminated to perfection.
The Audio
(English, Spanish & French Dolby Digital 5.1)
The 5.1 track on the DVD beautifully presents the film for home viewing giving a wonderful ambience and depth to the picture. Too bad Warner chose not to include a DTS track for the movie, then again I doubt they could possibly have improved much over what they already with the with standard 5.1 on the disc.
The Extras
Inside the Two Worlds (3:54) – People involved with the design of the movie talk about creating the separate worlds. They bring up the contrasts between the two worlds from the color pallets used to the overall mood from the two places and the characters that live in them.
Danny Elfman Interprets the Two Worlds (4:45) – Danny and Tim talk about how they’ve been working together for 20 years and how both entered the business around the same time together. Danny discusses the themes and songs used in the movie, most of which are hit or miss. He talks about all the instruments used to set the tone of the film and how he puts together all the music together.
The Animators: The Breath of Life (6:28) – It took nearly ten years to get the movie made and this piece focuses on all the people who helped bring everything together. They shortly talk about contrasts between stop motion and CGI blue screens. They then show the 35mm cameras used to shoot the film frame by frame digitally. Some of the cast are included in the piece and can’t stop glowing over the work the animators did and how patient they are with their job and how fascinating it is.
Tim Burton: Dark vs. Light (3:25) – Cast members talk about how inventive, imaginative and stylistic Tim Burton is. Tim shares how he came to discovering the Corpse Bride short story and how he just knew it was perfect for this style of movie making. This piece basically shows everyone talking about his vision and how everything that is put in to the movie goes by him to get his seal of approval.
Voices from the Underworld (5:48) – Tim shares how lucky he was to get the cast he put together. All the actors are listed off and then shown recording audio tracks for their characters. They talk about how Corpse Bride was at first feared to be too scary of a character but actually turns out to be the most tragic and sympathetic character in the movie. Other actors share how they interpret their character. They touch on how the actors rarely if ever actually interact with one another and how they need to play off of themselves most of the time.
Making Puppets Tick (6:22) – One of the discs most interesting features, this shows the technicality and creativeness used to make each puppet. Tim brings up Carlos Granger and how he would interpret Tim’s own sketches and turn them in to actual models for Tim to look at and hold. The mechanics used inside each doll is mind boggling to watch at just how much is put in to articulating the puppets. They bring up the complications due to the style used by Tim regarding arms and legs being thin as twigs and the different rigs they had to created in order to make things work.
The Voices Behind the Voice (7:26) – This is a side by side comparison showing actors in the booths recording their voices while next to them is shown the final scene. There are around seven scenes shown and is something nice to watch once or twice.
The Corpse-Bride pre-production galleries (13:18) – Shows test animation for just about every single character in the movie from the leads to animals and insects. Also included are some story boards comparisons.
A Theatrical trailer and Music-only track finish what’s included for special features.
Score: 6.5/10
