Corpse Bride
Tags: dark, comedy, gothic, cult, horror, psychedelic, romantic

Plot synopsis:
In an unspecified Victorian-era village somewhere in Europe, Victor Van Dort (Johnny Depp), the son of nouveau riche fish merchants, and Victoria Everglot (Emily Watson), the neglected daughter of snobbish aristocrats, are preparing for their arranged marriage, which will simultaneously raise the social class of Victor's parents and restore the wealth of Victoria's penniless family. Both have concerns about marrying someone they do not know, but upon meeting for the first time, they fall for each other. After the shy Victor ruins the wedding rehearsal by forgetting his vows and is scolded by Pastor Galswells (Christopher Lee), he flees and practices his wedding vows in the nearby forest, placing the wedding ring on a nearby upturned tree root.
The root turns out to be the finger of a murdered woman in a tattered bridal gown named Emily (Helena Bonham Carter), who rises from the grave claiming that she is now Victor's wife. After fainting, Victor wakes up and finds out he was spirited away to the surprisingly festive Land of the Dead. The bewildered Victor learns the story of how Emily, his new bride, was murdered years ago by an unknown criminal on the night of her secret elopement. Emily, as a wedding gift, reunites Victor with his long-dead dog, Scraps. Meanwhile, Victoria's parents hear that Victor has been seen in another woman's arms, and become suspicious.
Wanting to reunite with Victoria, Victor tricks Emily into taking him back to the Land of the Living by pretending he wants her to meet his parents. She agrees to this and takes him to see Elder Gutknecht (Michael Gough), the kindly ruler of the underworld, to return Victor and Emily temporarily to the Land of the Living. Once back home, Victor asks Emily to wait in the forest while he rushes off to see Victoria and confess his wish to marry her as soon as possible, to which she gladly returns his feelings. Just as they are about to share a kiss, Emily arrives and sees the two of them together and, feeling betrayed and hurt, angrily drags Victor back to the Land of the Dead. Victoria tells her parents that Victor has been forcibly wed to a dead woman, but they believe she has lost her mind and lock her up in her bedroom. She escapes her room by window and rushes to Galswells to find a way to help Victor, but fails. With Victor gone, Victoria's parents decide to marry her off against her will to a presumed-wealthy newcomer in town named Lord Barkis Bittern (Richard E. Grant), who appeared at the wedding rehearsal.
Emily is heartbroken by Victor's deception. Victor, however, apologizes for lying to her, and the two reconcile while playing the piano together. Shortly after, Victor's recently deceased family coachman, Mayhew appears in the afterlife and informs Victor of Victoria's impending marriage to Barkis. In order for Victor and Emily's marriage to become valid, Victor must repeat his vows in the Land of the Living and willingly drink the Wine of Ages, a poison - thus joining her in death. Overhearing this, and fretting about having lost Victoria to another man, Victor agrees to die for Emily. All of the dead go "upstairs" to the Land of the Living to perform the wedding ceremony for Victor and Emily. Upon their arrival, the town erupts into a temporary panic until everyone recognizes their loved ones from the dead and they have a joyous reunion under the bizarre circumstances.
After a quarrel with Barkis (and realizing he was only after her supposed money), Victoria follows the procession of dead to the church. Emily notices Victoria and realizes that she is denying Victoria her chance at happiness the same way it was stolen from her. As Victor prepares to drink the cup of poison to kill himself, Emily stops him and reunites him with Victoria. Barkis interrupts them, and Emily recognizes him as her former fiance - who is revealed to be the one who murdered her for her dowry. Barkis tries to kidnap Victoria at sword point, but Victor stops him and the two men duel. The dead townspeople are unable to interfere with the affairs of the living. Emily intercedes to save Victor and Barkis mockingly proposes a toast to Emily, claiming she was "always the bridesmaid, never the bride." He unknowingly drinks the cup of poison. The dead, now able to intercede, happily drag the "new arrival" back to the Land of the Dead for retribution for his crimes. Victoria, now a widow, is once again able to marry Victor.
Emily sets Victor free of his vow to marry her, giving the wedding ring back to Victor and her wedding bouquet to Victoria before exiting the church. As she steps into the moonlight, she transforms into hundreds of butterflies, presumably finding peace, as Victor and Victoria look on wrapped in each other's embrace.

Review: A Work of Dark Art. After enchanting audiences with "The Nightmare Before Christmas," Tim Burton brings another stop-motion animated spectacle, "Corpse Bride." In this story, Victor Van Dort, an inept young groom-to-be, can't make his way through his wedding rehearsal.
Helena Bonham Carter is the voice of Emily, the Corpse Bride, giving the dead character lively emotion.
The exceptional stop-motion animation (which has seen an upgrade since 1993's classic Nightmare Before Christmas) joins with top-notch voice talent (Depp and Helena Bonham Carter stand out here) and typically good score/musical work from genius Danny Elfman to create a wonderful movie-going experience.
Yes, this is a movie for anyone - in fact, I think teens and young adults will enjoy it more than younger kids with its dark at times bold humor and fast-paced banter (particulary in the clever songs).
Tim Burton's Corpse Bride was one of the best animated movies I've ever seen.
I gotta tell you.Animation films these days are just getting better and better.Tim Burton's directing and vision succeeds once again.For almost the whole movie,I could tell everyone in the theater was enjoying it.Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter were fabulous voices,the music and songs were just right for the mood,and the story was actually quite different from The Nightmare before Christmas.Altogether it made an enjoyable,clever and funny movie,that I think you will want to see over and over again.Take your friends.Family or relatives to see this classic movie.Trust me you will NOT be disappointed.Or at least I wasn't disappointed.
I probably would have liked this movie more if I had not already seen - many times - "The Nightmare Before Christmas" which was a brilliant and original piece of work.
Good cast (with many Burton stalwarts, incidentally), with the philosophy that less is more make for a good time.Like it or not, it is well-worth noting that this film delivers many firsts to film-making, including new-style digital camera-work on refined stop-motion.
There are songs in here but they are only so-so, and certainly not the attraction to the film.The story starts off slowly, but once the characters went down under into the land of the dead, not only did we finally start seeing some colors other than blue, but the whole film came alive and pretty much stayed that way until the end.As with good animated movies, there is so much you can see that you can't take it all in.
Though its lead character is in fact dead, "Corpse Bride" is inspired dark comedy and an unexpected touching love story.
An almost unrecognizable Johnny Depp voices Victor Van Dort the young man who inadvertently "marries" the Corpse Bride (voiced by the wonderful Helena Bonham Carter).
Hot off the heals from their box-office success Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, their latest collaboration sees Depp lending his voice to Burton's macabre vision in a stop motion animated movie, along the veins of Nightmare Before Christmas (NBC).The story's a little bizarre, a little morbid, but hey, it's Burton on familiar grounds.
The Von Dorts and the Everglots have agreed to an arrange marriage between their children Victor (Depp) and Victoria (Emily Watson), but Victor, fumbling the marriage rehearsals, runs away to seek solace, and accidentally unleashes the Corpse Bride Emily (Helena Bonham Carter, giving the character an impeccable Brit accent).
So begins a crazy love triangle of sorts, involving characters from both the realm of the living and the dead.Surprisingly, Burton managed to squeeze a couple of subplots into this relatively short film, and touched on themes like arranged marriages, what's in it for both families (The Von Dorts are the newly rich, wanting to add prestige to their family name, while the Everglots are bona-fide aristocrats who've gone bust, and need the dough to continue their lifestyle and save face).
If you're acquainted with Burton's works, it's typical of him and his style, so you'll see it coming the way it was, as per his dark visions.The art and characters are very NBC-like too, with their small heads and extremely long limbs.
Yes, the soundtrack adds even more beauty to an already wonderful picture.I am full of nothing but praise for Tim Burton's Corpse Bride.
Fortunately, Tim Burton is a wonderful storyteller, and "Corpse Bride" is an example of his imagination.Victor (Johnny Depp) is about to meet his bride Victoria (Emily Watson) for the first time.
But he's not sure if he wants to live among the dead, and he's torn between Emily and Victoria.The stop-motion animation is the same style as "The Nightmare Before Christmas." The animation has come a long way since 1993, but I liked "Nightmare's" story more.
Overall, this is a beautiful love story with likable characters, catchy music, and, of course, visually brilliant animation.PG for scary stuff.
I saw this movie and was so disappointed that he did not end up with the corpse bride or Emily (I felt so sorry for her character - she was cheated out of her life and had nothing in return).
The movie would have more emotional meaning in the end if Victor fell in love with Emily through a progression of character development, after all she shared his passion for piano and may be other things.
After the huge, and endearing, success of Nightmare Before Christmas - director Tim Burton has returned to Gothic animation, this time as director, with the superbly macabre 'Corpse Bride'!
Corpse Bride is rich with skeletons, spiders, maggots and a lush dark atmosphere - making this the most horrific 'kids' animated film I've ever seen.
Burton has gathered up an array of talent for the making of this film, including Johnny Depp, Emily Watson and Helena Bonham Carter in the leads; and horror icons Christopher Lee and Michael Gough delivering great supporting performances.
Danny Elfman has created another great score, and while I don't usually say that I'm a fan of musical numbers in films like this; most of the songs here are actually quite entertaining.
In a way, The Corpse Bride is more mature of an effort story-wise than some of Burton's live-action, R-rated films because it has more imagination.The signature Gothic style is done very well, and the animation is stellar to look at.
The songs in this movie were not as good a those in "Nightmare before Christmas" but the suited the movie fine and they were never annoying.The voice work is fine, Christopher Lee is great, and the characters are really characteristic and alive, ironically enough.
The fantastic Tim Burton presents a delightful animation, with romance, comedy, fantasy and musical using characters the slightly recalls "The Nightmare before Christmas", which is better, but in a totally different story.
The voices of Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter are amazing, and music score Danny Elfman is great and I highly recommend this stunning animation.
Tim Burton's Corpse Bride is by no means a bad movie- indeed, it is much better than most schlock these days- but it is part of a growing category of films with a very specific problem.
Visually, this is true- Corpse Bride looks and feels very similar to the older film, although computer animation makes this one look even better.However, whereas The Nightmare Before Christmas maintained a jovial, family friendly theme and plot (complete with misunderstood heroes and dastardly villains), Corpse Bride gives us a quiet little story about three young adults who find themselves in an impossible moral situation.
While not giving anything away, I'll say that in this sense, the third act of the film presents a very mature dilemma that children (and many adults) are not going to appreciate.Of course, the frustrating thing about this movie is that so much time is spent on song and dance numbers that the moral and romantic elements never really get fleshed out.
Sure they're both Tim Burton and they're both done in a puppet style but they're essentially different mainly because Nightmare was a musical and Corpse Bride is simply a romantic graveyard comedy.
Burton strikes gold again with his newest stop-motion animated film "The Corpse Bride." The animation, along the lines of "The Nightmare Before Christmas", is simply gorgeous, capturing the Gothic fairy tale perfectly.
The piano pieces are definitely my favorite part of the entire movie, and help to portray the dark feeling of the film along with the large Broadway like singing portions which made "Nightmare Before Christmas" famous.
Although I might not say Corpse Bride is a great film on the level of Nightmare Before Christmas (there are some things involved with the characters of Corpse Bride that aren't as realized as in Nightmare, and the songs aren't as instantly classic, arguable I'm sure), I would not tell you not see this film if you are the least bit a fan of Tim Burton's work or of his previous stop-motion film.
This time the story brings a torn to-be married gent named Victor (Johnny Depp voices, thankfully not too recognizable) who is in that uncomfortable point as in other movies where he can't take having to marry someone he barely knows, Victoria (Emily Watson), and her money-hungry parents.
Things get complicated then within this sort of quasi love triangle, where the terrific horror clichés (and others) of old lay the framework for a really sweet, neo-classical love story.For the sheer visual marvels that Burton, co-director Mike Johnson, and their genius team (creating more than 100 MILLION frames for each second of animated film), it gets a high recommendation from me.
It would be one thing if this was all romantic melodrama, but by making it also a sly comedy of (un-dead) manners, it doesn't sell anybody short seeing the film.Kids (maybe not the wee little ones, like 5 and up) will love the wildness of the film, of the kind of awe that Burton tries to bring out in most of his films; adults will find the gags and some punchlines very funny, and there is one animated song/sequence- I forget it's name but it involves the multiple skeletons, the second song in the film- that ranks up there with 'Pink Elephants' in Dumbo for creating such an array of wonders that it practically doesn't matter what the characters are singing about.
At the least, Tim Burton's Corpse Bride is a complete triumph of style (not quite) over substance, and at best it delivers more for the eye than any other animated film has this year..
"Corpse Bride" is one of the best animated musicals since "Beauty and the Beast." Danny Elfman is co-creative force with director Tim Burton, as the delightful songs, music and piano playing courtships match the distinctive ensemble of characters.
'The Corpse Bride' isn't nearly as good as Burton's classic 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' but it was a very entertaining, inventive and charming animated feature.
Comparisons to The Nightmare Before Christmas are of course inevitable but to me that's like trying to spot imperfections in two flawless diamonds.The visual in Corpse Bride, especially given the complexity of the puppets, is brilliant beyond anything I've ever seenevery expression (CG quality facial animation performed by cranking tiny gears within the puppets heads) and flowing costume a marvel to behold.
Eventually, though, a decision has to be made: Will Victor remain in the wondrously upbeat land of the dead, with this charming and beautiful, yet strange and mysterious, corpse bride...or will he return home to the one shaded land of the living, to be with the sweet Victoria, whom he has come to love?The Bride is a beautiful movie that grabs the audience and pulls them in, and doesn't let go until the very end.
Tim Burton's Corpse Bride (2005) is a stop-motion-animated Romance as well as Comedy / Family / Fantasy / Musical which takes place in two parallel worlds, in the world of living and in the world of dead.
Victor and Victoria fell in love from the first sight but unknown for him, Victor finds himself married to Emily, a mysterious Corpse bride, and taken to the world of dead which in Burton's movie is much more colorful, friendlier, and jollier than the world of livingWith the running time only 76 minutes, "Corpse Bride" simply does not have time to become boring.
But aside from Victor Van Dort and the Corpse Bride, we know about as much about every single character in the story by the end of the film as we did at the beginning.
Like Tim Burton's 1993 stop-motion classic "The Nightmare Before Christmas," "Corpse Bride" takes something wonderful and makes it sinister - In this case, the accidental marriage to a corpse.From the opening scene onward there's trouble brewing and you know very well that nothing can go right when you hear the parents of both wedding parties singing "everything must go according to plan." This song is probably the most memorable out of the entire film (which doesn't say much), but it does serve to set the stage.
Actually liked the 'Corpse Bride' a bit more than Burton's 'The Nightmare Before Christmas'.
Yesterday at school, I watched Tim Burton's "Corpse Bride" for the third time I think.
"Corpse Bride" is one of Tim Burton finest films.
A stop-motion comic-horror-romance musical directed by Tim Burton, which has all the elements and icons of the Burton's quirky universe.The movie tells the story of Victor (Johnny Depp), who is in love with a shy sensitive Victoria (Emily Watson) and finds himself married to the lonely Emily the Corpse Bride (Elena Bonham Carter) due to the release of an old spell.
The "Corpse Bride" movie is another masterpiece from Tim Burton's dark, warped mind.The story told in the movie is very good and captivating.
And they all bring a unique touch to the movie.As with the previous animated movie "Nightmare Before Christmas", the style in "Corpse Bride" is very unique, and there is that Burton sense of elegance to it.
I a Dead Way. Tim Burton's Corpse Bride was one of the best animated movies I've ever seen.
I loved the dialog some of my favorite lines were "Why Go Up There When People Are Dying To Get Down Here" and "Can A Heart Still Break Once It's Stopped Beating." But the most important thing is that this movie makes you feel less frightened about death.
I loved the dialog some of my favorite lines were "Why Go Up There When People Are Dying To Get Down Here" and "Can A Heart Still Break Once It's Stopped Beating." But the most important thing is that this movie makes you feel less frightened about death.
Death in this movie is a lot funner than living and the dead are always having a good time and partying that you feel like dying is not so bad.
Death in this movie is a lot funner than living and the dead are always having a good time and partying that you feel like dying is not so bad.
Thank you Mr. Burten for the Corpse Bride, Nightmare Before Christmas and years worth of your great films..
Thank you Mr. Burten for the Corpse Bride, Nightmare Before Christmas and years worth of your great films..
The voice actors are great; as many times before, Burton features Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter in his movies.
It's what we could put forward with the corpse bride who only wants to be happy through wedding.This film could be "Beetlejuice"'s son because of the manner Tim Burton represents us death.
Tim Burtons Corpse Bride is an amazing film.
The team of Tim Burton and Jonny Depp (Edward Scissorhands) return for this sophisticated, humorous brilliantly directed fantasy animation in which a remarkably look a like animation of Depp is juxtaposed with Emily Watson's posh character to create a charming marriage focused story in which there are proposes, engagements and remarkable weddings to look out for.The reason I loved this film was the slowness and gentleness of the plot.
The skeletons, zombies, corpses etc are fantastic, gruesome and funny (watch out for the singing skeleton whom I simply loved!) the living world also appears more dark and gloomy than the death world which is an interesting technique used by Burton and one which is an essential make to this film.In comparison to the nightmare before Christmas the animation is fantastic.
A Nightmare before Christmas is funny; has great music - also by Danny Elfman I believe; the story is delightfully subversive and the animation brilliant.Let's begin with the good news.
Tim Burton's Corpse Bride is another attempt at "adult" animation that falls short.
Tim Burton's lovely "Corpse Bride".
The mix of Johnny Depp, Danny Elfman and Tim Burton has had 2 successful movies this year and that includes this beautiful film.
This film is not scary and though that's coming from a big fan of Tim Burton I know people who got scared of Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" that liked this movie and thought it was sweet so that's saying a lot.
Of course casting his buddy Johnny Depp to play the shy Victor Van Dort who on the day of his wedding vanishes and accidentally marries the beautiful yet dead Corpse Bride (Carter).
Tim Burton's second stop-motion animation movie (following "The Nightmare Before Christmas").
Either that, or Tim Burton has forgotten how to make a movie without Gothic visuals, dark humor, and haunting music from Danny Elfman.
So, they get married, and Victor tries to find a way out of it.This film was a lot like Burton's previous work "Nightmare before Christmas." Here are some similarities: The main character is male and regrets something.
Tim Burton's 'The Corpse Bride' is about Victor Van Dort, a sweet man with a gentle nature, his parents arrange for him to be married to Victoria Everglot, a genuine soul like himself.
We truly feel for Emily, the Corpse Bride, whose heart was broken once before and is threatened to be broken again, by Victor, who wants to leave the World of the Dead and return to his love, Victoria.