Burton's Brilliance

Rating: 8/10 (9 November 2016)

Who would've thought that an animated children's movie could depict the legend of the Faustian bargain without being horrifying for kids? Well, Tim Burton managed to do so in his film "Corpse Bride" (2005). Now, I'm not into scary films at all, even the slightest bit, but Burton impressed me with his inclusion of suspense and some scary elements through his inclusion of the land of the dead, while being able to tell a fantastic story of two young people and their rocky road to being wed because of their involvement with some characters from the land of the dead.
Set in a Victorian era village, Victor (Johnny Depp) and Victoria (Emily Watson) are forced into marriage by their money-hungry parents. Burton's portrayal of the greedy parents of Victor and Victoria stand out in their physical features. They're given huge heads, probably to symbolize their self-importance and selfishness, which makes them look pretty funny in relations to their skinny, long limbs. Selfishness is a huge theme throughout this film and its displayed in an ugly, sad way, by being characteristics of people in the living world that is gray, lonely, and disconnected. Maybe Burton was also trying to teach kids how greed isn't a good quality to have? Kudos to him if he was trying to teach children through his film!
Burton's film was unexpected in so many ways, which we can see through the ironic differences in colors of the living and dead worlds, as well as the vibes and togetherness shown among st the characters. His decision to do so really brings out the themes he is trying to show to his audience, children and adults, of the greed we see in society, which many of us are guilty of, and how ultimately money and materialistic wants aren't worth much when you don't have people that you love, where we see some elements of the Faustian bargain coming into play. I guess that's kind of corny to say but it's true and Burton does an excellent job of showing this! Even if you aren't into children's animations and/or scary films that Burton is also known for, I highly recommend this film because he is honestly an artist when it comes to incorporating mature elements into kid's movies.