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Film: Corpse Bride
Year: 2005
Directors: Tim Burton and Mike Johnson
Writers: John August, Caroline Thompson and Pamela Pettler
Starring: Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter and Emily Watson
Review:
This was a film that I thought I would see, but as Jaime and I settled in, it was one that I’ve definitely not watched all the way through. There were parts that I remembered. There were a good number of things though that I know I hadn’t. Now this isn’t listed as horror on the Internet Movie Database or the Letterboxd, I’m including due to the nature of things that we get here. We also watched this as the next Johnny Depp film for JwaC Presents Depp Dive: A Depper Look at Johnny’s Feature Filmography.
Synopsis: when a shy groom practices his wedding vows in the inadvertent presence of a deceased young woman, she rises from the grave assuming he has married her.
Now for this we are following two families. There is the Van Dorts who have a fishing company. It is Nell (voiced by Tracey Ullman) and William (voiced by Paul Whitehouse). Their son Victor (voiced by Depp) is set to marry Victoria Everglot (voiced by Emily Watson). Her parents are Maudeline (voiced by Joanna Lumley) and Finis (Albert Finney). What we will come to learn is that they’re broke. They need Victoria to marry Victor so they do not lose their home.
There are issues here though. Victor is nervous and his heart doesn’t seem to be in marrying Victoria. That is until the two meet. He creates issues during rehearsal to the point where Pastor Galswells (voiced by Christopher Lee) kicks him out until he’s prepared. Waiting in the wings is Barkis Bittern (voiced by Richard E. Grant). He thinks that Victoria is rich where her family thinks the same of him.
Victor leaves town, practicing what he would say during the marriage ceremony. This creates an even bigger issue. He says his lines perfectly and places the ring on what looks like a dead tree. This turns out to be a dead person’s hand. It belongs to Emily (voiced by Helena Bonham Carter), who is credited here as the titular Corpse Bride.
Victor wakes up in the afterlife. He is shocked to see dead people up talking and having a grand old time. They are in different levels of decay. Victor doesn’t want to be married to Emily, but she is holding him to his vows. There is Elder Gutknecht (voiced by Michael Gough) who points out an issue here. Victor wants to go back to Victoria. She still wants to marry him. Her family wants her to marry Lord Barkis instead. There is a bigger connection here and fulfilling the vows of marriage will turn this world upside down.
That is where I’ll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to start is that I’m glad that I finally saw this film all the way. A big reason is that I’m a huge fan of stop-motion animation. Something that I said to Jaime while watching this was that I’m shocked this one isn’t talked about more. It is smoother than A Nightmare Before Christmas, sharing many of the same elements. Now the songs aren’t as iconic. The exploring of Halloween and Christmas Town set that apart. This is impressive with what they can do with updated technology. As a horror fan, this also has a darker subject matter than I realized.
Now that I’ve set that up, let me delve more into the story here. We have an interesting exploration of marriage vows and familial obligations. Victor’s parents seem happy enough in their arrangement. Victoria’s not so much. This even gets said point blank to them and they acknowledge that they didn’t marry for love. They don’t even necessarily like each other. They don’t want better for their daughter. That was something that made me sad. They had an arranged marriage and expected the same for their daughter. If she doesn’t marry someone with money, they’ll lose their estate and end up in a poor house. The young couple do fall in love, or as much as you can after their limited meeting. Her parents are ready to ignore that, thinking that Lord Barkis is rich. Being that this is set in a ‘Victorian England’-Esque world, this all fits.
There’s another element here that I want to explore and that is wedding vows. Let’s just boil it down to keeping an oath. Victor does enter into his agreement with Emily under false pretenses. He didn’t realize that the tree was actually her hand. He is ready to keep his word to her though. It takes him time to come around to it. Part of that is the stress of having to break off with Victoria though. When he learns that she is to marry Lord Barkis instead, that’s where he’s ready to settle. The stress of these decisions is weighing on him. There is another element here though. Emily was supposed to be married and then her groom killed her. It sounds like she was from money. She just wants to be loved and married so when Victor does this, she is elated. There is interesting growth for her character. She also gets a resolution for her tale.
There isn’t more that I want to go into the story here so let me shift over to the acting performances. I’ll delve more into this, but the stop-motion animation is great to bring the characters to life. The voices help here as well. Depp is great as this shaky in confidence lead of Victor. Carter is also great as his counterpart Emily as this corpse bride. I feel bad for her and Carter adds this sadness to the character that is needed. She helps create this love triangle with Watson who works as Victoria. I like Ullman and Whitehouse as Victor’s parents. The better performance is how arrogant and rude Lumley and Finney are. They’re your typical ‘high society’. I love that they are on the verge of losing it. We also get good performances from Grant, Lee, Gough, Deep Roy and Danny Elfman, along with the rest of the cast.
Let’s then finish out with discussing the filmmaking. I’ll say one last time that I love the animation style. It is smooth and that’s impressive. They have such small details that add realism. The characters are influenced by German Expressionism which makes me smile. I’ll just go ahead and give credit to the cinematography, framing and effects. Other than that, the soundtrack is fine. This is a musical in which we get a few numbers. They aren’t as iconic as Nightmare, but that isn’t a slight here in the least. The corpse bride song is probably the highlight there.
In conclusion, this is one that I thought I had seen so I’m glad now that I can confirm it's been seen. We have a solid story about love, loss and the pursuit of happiness. The highlight here is the stop-motion animation. This is well-made from that standpoint. The voice acting also helps to bring the characters to life. We are getting a film that lasts 77 minutes and it just flies by. The depth of the story and the characters here are good. I’d recommend it if you’ve never seen this or if it's been a while. This one would also work as a gateway horror film for children.
My Rating: 7.5 out of 10