A Noiva Cadáver

I liked this a lot, and a large part of the reason is that it is pure a Burton film as we are likely to find.

And when I say Burton, I mean that oddly successful collaboration between him and Elfman colored by commercial realities.

The big picture is that there are very few filmmakers with the skills and courage to be unique, to make movies that only they could. This goes beyond style into the nature of the soul.

If you do not have an interesting soul, you cannot be an artist. If you do not have the courage and ability to reveal that soul in some way to us, you cannot either. So hurrahs for the few in the world of film that do.

In a way, this film is a notion expanded around Ub Iwerks' (yes, that's a real name) "Skeleton Dance" done for Disney and quoted in a couple more hip Betty Boop cartoons. In another way, it is a simple date movie: boy gets girl, boy loses girl by misunderstanding, boy gets girl back and the thing ends in a wedding.

And also in a way, it is a love poem to his girl friend. I'm fascinated by these things, where a talented director (usually a man) can shape the image of the woman he loves. Films DO influence how we think of love, but this is more genuine and powerful than any of them, this real love that shines through purely cinematic means. Just think about casting the woman you love as a corpse! She is as alluring here as she has even been.

But beyond that is something that is more lasting, the business between Depp and Burton. Johnny is a fine actor, but many fine actors don't get the opportunity to explore new and unknown corners of darkness. He has and is better off for it. And so are we, though whenever this happens we end up with a new character template that inevitably becomes a stereotype. Depp already mines that stereotype in his Pirate movies.

But what concerns us here is how Burton/Elfman deepens what he has with Depp. He introduces the character as a pianist, and does so with a piano piece. That piece is a skillful blend of Chopin and pop, but more on the Chopin side. For many, Chopin is the most nakedly emotional yet dark soul they will encounter. No humor, only intimacy and passion.

So two clever things were done with this. The first is that the Depp persona (though an animated avatar here) was made deeper by reference to our deepest pianist. The second is that a few musical scenes and effects are set up, all of which reference the scene in some way. There's a sweet musical duet with Helena where they do fall in love. There may be few things more lovely than making love via music played to each other -- with each other.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

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. Going outside to get his lines right, he accidentally winds up marrying the corpse of a murdered bride-to-be. The animation is spectacular, proving stop-motion can be good enough to compete with computer animation. Johnny Depp provides the voice of Victor, showing mild-mannered and nervous grace. Helena Bonham Carter is the voice of Emily, the Corpse Bride, giving the dead character lively emotion. One striking element of the movie is the color scheme. In the living world, there is no bright color, making a near-black and white appearance. The story is well-written, and the music is good. Overall, "Corpse Bride" must definitely be seen!

i just saw this movie at the Toronto film festival. Tim Burton, as with most of his movies, makes the setting and visuals the most important part. And what a beautiful movie it was, the animation was astounding. You could tell that each frame was tirelessly worked on in order to make each little piece have its own distinct look. The plot is unimportant, and cliché, but that doesn't matter. This movie shouldn't be watched for the storyline. The voice acting was very convincing, especially the lead, Johnny Depp, who does a great job as the shy, clumsy Victor. The only character i really didn't think was needed was the worm, who was just included just for some childish comedic relief, which took away from the dark mood of the picture. Though not as enjoyable as "Nightmare Before Christmas" it still was a very good animated movie. 8.5/10

I think that The Corpse Bride is a beautiful story. It's about true love and kindness. Johnny Depp is a perfect Victor Van Dort and all the characters are played wonderfully. The animation is superb from facial expressions to a reflection in a tear drop. The ending is one worth waiting for. It's an excellent film that all families should see. I'd suggest not taking children younger than 8 or 9. They might not understand the story line that young, but they'll love the dancing skeletons and the fun songs! That was a surprise: all the songs they sang. If there's one song you must hear it has to be the skeleton one, but also the piano sequence is beautiful as well. Hope you enjoy the film as much as I did!

Victor Van Dort (Johnny Depp) is supposed to marry Victoria Everglot. Both sets of parents are in favor of this arranged marriage, as the Van Dorts have money but are not part of high society and the Everglots have noble blood but are dirt poor. However, at the rehearsal, Victor screws everything up and he's sent off to try to memorize the wedding vows...which he keeps screwing up. While walking through the woods and practicing, he finally gets it right and ends up married to a corpse who has just come back to life after he put the ring on her skeletal finger! What is poor Victor to do? After all, life in the underworld with a skeletal wife isn't most folks' idea of a great marriage!

The animation is pretty spectacular...though the Laika stop-motion films are a bit prettier and are more fluid...though for 2005 this is awfully good. It's also interesting how they used colors in the story. The world of the living is all in gray tones...whereas the underworld is very vividly colored...quite the opposite of what you probably expected.

As for the story, it's very nice. My only complaints about any of this is that the story is perhaps too simple and the music isn't at all memorable (unlike Tim Burton's more famous stop-motion predecessor, "The Nightmare Before Christmas"). But the visuals are amazing and the story is fun.

By the way, I would NOT recommend it to small kids. The story about death is awfully creepy and this is more a film for older kids and adults.