Delightfully Dark

Rating: 8/10 (27 June 2009)

Having seen The Nightmare Before Christmas many times, and loving it, I had to see The Corpse Bride when it came out on DVD. At first I was a little disappointed as it lacks the memorable songs of the earlier film. When I watched it again I found that it had grown on me. It may lack the songs but it has a delightfully dark story, the animation is brilliant and the voice actors all do a great job.
Victor, the son of a successful fishmonger is due to marry a woman he has never met; Victoria who is the daughter of a pair of bankrupt aristocrats who think that Victor's family are beneath them but sanction the union as they need the money. When they meet the day before the wedding Victor and Victoria get on very well, unfortunately Victor is so nervous he can't remember his wedding vows at the rehearsal. He goes for a walk in the woods to practise his vows alone and eventually gets them right, as he doesn't have his bride-to-be with him he slips the ring onto the "finger" of a hand shaped branch which is sticking out of the ground. Of course it isn't really a branch but the arm of Emily a woman who had been murdered on her wedding night.
He flees but after running into a tree he wakes to find himself in the underworld where he is distressed to find that he is married to Emily, the eponymous corpse bride. Meanwhile in the world of the living Victoria's parents are less than impressed at Victor's disappearance so when eminently more suitable Lord Barkis says that he finds Victoria delightful and he'd never treat her the way Victor has they quickly decide that he should marry her instead. Of course there is more but I wouldn't want to spoil it.
This film is a lot of fun and I'm sure most people will really enjoy it, it is suitable for all but the most timid of children. As stated before the animation is fantastic, I especially liked how the world of the living was very grey but the underworld was full of bright colours.