elicopperman Despite Tim Burton being mistaken for making The Nightmare Before Christmas, it was actually his friend Henry Selick who directed the whole movie during its entire production. In reality, Burton has only directed two stop-motion animated films as of late, and one of which is Corpse Bride, based on a 19th century Russian folklore. Given it's critical praise and decent box office revenue, I think Burton managed to pull together a quite unique and gothic movie that holds up for the most part. For starters, the actual story is pretty simple and even kind of predictable, as it centers around the nervous Victor Van Dort who is soon to be married to Victoria Everglot through an arranged family marriage. While practicing his lines for the wedding, he accidentally puts the ring on a branch that drags him to the land of the dead. The branch is really the hand of a corpse named Emily, who was murdered after eloping with her love. Now Victor must set things right before Victoria marries the villainous Barkis Bittern (Richard E. Grant). While the story line is pretty routine and easy to follow, the heart of the movie is what makes it shine, as the emotions drive the movie by showing and even answering what it means to marry the dead. There are even some neat concepts about entering the land of the living that showcase the film's occasional creativity. While not high in substance, the story's dark atmosphere and harmonious tone make it a breath of fresh air for anyone into mysterious romance.Character-wise, most of them are rather one-dimensional but by no means horrible. Although Victor doesn't have much personality outside of his gawkiness, the things he goes through by ending up with a risen corpse of a bride does make him somewhat endearing and it makes one feel sorry for him as he just wants to make things right with his fake and real fiance. As for Emily, she has a rather tragic yet beautiful story-arc that anyone can find touching and heart-breaking, and whenever she sings about her remorseful state, she really gives the movie some much needed heart. Even Victor's fiance, Victoria, is worth giving some sympathy for considering the financial crisis her family is in. The rest of the cast range from bland like Victor's family, to weak and petty like the antagonistic Barkis Bittern, to even rather annoying like the comical reliefs. Next, the animation is just beautiful, as it goes for a very gothic and Burtonesque visual style that perfectly emulates the macabre setting of 19th century Victorian London. Although not quite as expressive as the characters in Nightmare, or even the Aardman and Laika films, the characters stay true to their simple albeit exaggerated graphic designs and faces. One notable highlight of visual splendor has to be the Land of the Living, as it features the most imaginative looking creatures and most amount of sickly colors to bring the world to life, complete with numerous somber and enticing effects.As for the songs, Remains of the Day is quite entertaining and upbeat while serving as a backstory to how Emily became the way she is. Otherwise, despite serving the story, none of the songs really stand out to much. They are well thought out and perfectly timed, but they don't have that certain pizazz that makes them memorable enough like Nightmare. Although Danny Elfman's music score is appropriately haunting and poetic, fully embracing the bleak and lovely setting of the film.Overall, despite being rather straight forward in its story and not being perfect in terms of character or even songs, Corpse Bride works well enough as an touching and haunting macabre tale that will make any fan of gothic stories, Tim Burton, or even animation go nuts over. I recommend this movie enough to say that it's worth a watch, even if it's not quite up there with other stop-motion films in terms of story or character, but at least the visuals are gorgeous. Not sure if Tim Burton is still planning on making more stop-motion animated films, but here's to a bright future if he's still interested in doing so.

waustell I went into this movie with very low expectations, and I was still let down. "Corpse Bride" is a frustrating experience because it takes a lot of skilled and talented people, then wastes their talents on a lazy, uninspired production.The script feels like a first draft, where someone threw in a bunch of half-baked ideas and meant to turn them into something good later, but he just never got around to it. For example: We first meet our hero, Victor, in a room with scientific gear, studying a butterfly. His interest in science never shows up again, even though it would be so much fun to see a scientist react to all the magic in the film. Later the spirit of Victor's dead dog comes back; Victor is delighted at first, then he just ignores his dog for the rest of the film.Victor's parents are earnest, decently-interesting characters who have a huge role for the whole first half of the film... then, suddenly, they're written out of the movie in the most random and stupid manner possible, never to be mentioned again.We visit the Land of the Dead, where some spirits party all the time, but other spirits work crappy jobs sweeping the streets for no clear reason. Are these spirits just stuck in this afterlife forever? If so, why are there only like 15 people in the Land of the Dead? The very end of the film suggests that they move on to eternal rest (or reincarnation? it's vague) after they find peace, but nothing else in the film ever even hints at this idea, so it comes out of nowhere in the last few seconds.This is a problem when Emily, The Corpse Bride herself, is a major character, but we never learn what she can or can't do. She can apparently talk to animals and do some other magic. It sure would be fun to see more of her magical abilities, but this movie just can't bother to use that much imagination.But I must give special attention to the biggest "screw you" to the audience: Victoria's subplot. To sum it up: She sees that Victor is in trouble; she wants to go help him, but her parents tell her to calm down and lock her in her room. So she makes a tense and daring escape! We root for her character and want to see her succeed! But instead, the first person she asks for help just brings her back home, and she's locked in again. The entire scene was a complete waste of time.This would be disappointing enough. But THEN, her parents tell her they will marry her to a sleazy new suitor. Victoria has been totally dynamic up to this point, and now she has more reason than ever to go find Victor and set things right... but she just gives up instead. The screenwriter got so lazy that he just made her clam up & obey her parents, even though this goes against everything we've learned about her character. For a short time, Victoria is the most likable, proactive character, and then she suddenly turns into a complete wimp.Unless you have very, very low standards, stuff like the above subplot will leave you feeling cheated, betrayed, and even a little disgusted with the laziness and shoddiness of the story.My heart bled for all the hard-working animators who put countless hours of work and effort into this film, only to create an embarrassing, ridiculous waste of time because the writing-directing team was so shamefully lazy. The same goes for the voice actors: most of the puppets are so sorely limited, it would be way more fun just to watch the actors saying their lines in a recording booth. (Christopher Lee especially suffers, as he ranges from bombastic to subtle, while his puppet character is stiff & listless.) It's a horrible waste of talent.

ivanmedvedev Corpse Bride is a 2005 British-American stop-motion-animated musical fantasy film directed by Mike Johnson and Tim Burton with a screenplay by John August, Caroline Thompson and Pamela Pettler based on characters created by Burton and Carlos Grangel.In an unspecified Victorian-era village somewhere in Europe, Victor Van Dort, the son of rich fish merchants, and Victoria Everglot, the daughter of poor aristocrats, are preparing for their marriage. Everything went well, they fell in love with each other, but Victor was worried and couldn't learn the words of the marriage vow. Then he went into the forest, calmed down, and he was able to learn the words. He even put a ring on a branch that turned out to the finger of a dead bride. Then she took him to the realm of the dead.It's very beautiful cartoon with excellent music by Danny Elfman.I recommend this to everyone.

Christy Joseph "Corpse Bride" (2005) is a movie that will have your eyes constantly popping out of your head with amazement, similar to how the Corpse Bride's (Helena Bonham Carter) eyes constantly pop out of her own head during the movie. Director Tim Burton never fails to leave his audiences in awe with the fantastical nature of his films. With the incredible Expressionistic animation and hyperbolic appearances of the characters, the audience can't help but be engaged in the movie's exciting flow of the events. This film features Johnny Depp as Victor Van Dort and Emily Watson as Victory Everglot. Knowing Johnny Depp has any connection to a movie is already a good sign. It is the perfect movie to watch if you enjoy horror, comedy, and/or romance- Yes, this movie has it all! The film presents a depiction of the world that will not only have you reevaluating your daily life, but will also have you "die" laughing at its humor. This movie is perfect for getting you into the Halloween spirit, but is honestly enjoyable anytime of the year. I would recommend, so go out and watch!