Death was never so alive

Corpse Bride is a wonderful movie. Like many other Tim Burton fans I can’t help but compare it to Nightmare Before Christmas. This is because they are both stop-motion fairy-tales involving ghouls and ghosts. How can you not compare them? My judgment: not as good but still delightful.

It’s not as good because as great as Victor and Emily are, many of the characters aren’t as interesting as their predecessors. First of all we don’t spend as much time with the ghouls that, let’s face it, are more fun than the living. The most visible supporting characters of the unusual variety are the elder (whom I enjoy a great deal), the spider and the maggot who are good enough characters but not as strong in personality as who we met in Haloweentown.

I don’t like the music as much either. It’s not as distinctive as NBC’s. I would find myself singing Jack’s Lament or This Is Halloween, but Corpse Bride’s songs haven’t stuck in my head like that. I’m not saying that these new songs aren’t good (well, actually I didn’t like the Spider and Maggot’s duet very much), this is still one of very few musicals I have liked enough to buy. The music carries Danny Elfman’s signature and is entertaining with a lovely score. Danny himself delivers an enjoyable vocal performance in The Remains of the Day. This one is reminiscent of Oogie Boogie’s song and is my favorite of the film, but the others just aren’t as memorable.

The contemporary animation is smoother; the puppets are wonderfully done, and the sets are eye-catching. I love the way that the world of the living is drab and stiff while the world of the dead is full of energy and color. I suppose you can attach whatever importance you want to the differences in styles, I just liked it because the typical presentation is opposite. Visually Tim Burton’s unique style shows through strongly which is especially good for the long-time fans.

Sure the story is far-fetched, but that’s true of all fairy-tales isn’t it? What are the odds of some guy practicing his wedding vows accidentally putting the ring on the finger of a dead woman who has been buried in a wedding dress? But if it didn’t happen we wouldn’t have a story. Right? The focus is more about Victor learning about life… from the dead. His and Victoria’s parents are more concerned about money and social status than anything else. The kids feel compelled to go along with the planned marriage, and thankfully so since when they meet there is magic. But they are under the oppression of a society that puts too much importance on what’s on the outside without caring what’s on the inside – whitewashed tombs to adapt a religious phrase. The kids would rather be alive inside and happy with each other which looks possible until Victor is claimed by the long-dead Emily. Now Victor must search for a way to get from the land of the dead back to his beloved Victoria.

I love the story but have a couple of qualms with the end. The final drink isn’t played out well enough and could have been staged a little better. I can’t go into any more detail without spoiling it. Also there is no real tie-up to the parents. They just kind of vanish from the story. It would have been great to include some of their reactions to the final scene.

All in all, it’s a good movie with impressive animation. If you hated Nightmare Before Christmas I wouldn’t bother with Corpse Bride, but I think fans of one will be fans of the other.

Content:
I think there is exactly one questionable word in the whole thing. It’s there for a reference joke. I don’t think there’s the least bit of inappropriate sexuality. There is some implied and cartoonish violence and some comically gruesome images. You have dead guys with swords through them, half-skeletonized corpses, and other such ghouls running around. But the ghouls aren’t in the least bit mean, in fact, they’re quite amiable. They’re a bit more gruesome but no more scary than Monsters Inc.

DVD:
There are at least 4 releases of the DVD. There are the standard widescreen and full-screen releases and a Wal Mart exclusive of each which have at least one and maybe two additions that don’t seem to be available anywhere else. It’s the exclusive version I’ll be discussing although I’m sure everything about the DVD itself is exactly the same as any other version.

The case is plastic. The Wal Mart version comes in a box with a motion image where Victor is standing with Emily like the standard cover, but she changes into Victoria. The non-exclusive releases I saw in the store didn’t have the outer box so I’m not sure if you can get it elsewhere or not. There is no insert, but the exclusive comes with a book. It’s a full-color book that tells the story of Corpse Bride. It doesn’t quite tell the whole story, it jumps scenes sometimes, but it covers most of it and greatly details each song. Along with the text are beautiful images from the movie and storyboards. There’s also an introduction that tells the origins of the story. I spent a little more on this release than I would have on the standard, but the book was definitely worth the extra; it’s beautiful. It does come with both screen formats of the movie.

The disc content looks to be the same for all releases.
If I buy a movie I want to see the whole thing not half of it. With pan & scan so much is out of view. To me the only format is the anamorphic 1.85 ratio presented on this disc. Most of the movie is quite dark, but it looks good with enough light and contrast to not have any problem with visibility.
Audio is 5.1 and sounds great.

The menus feature some nice animation and music. I particularly like the skeletons leading into the chapter selections.

There are several behind the scenes features. One is kind of a general overview. It contains a bit of the obvious, but does have a brief look into the making of the puppets. It really needs to be longer and get into more details.

I guess that’s where the other 5 come in. These focus on specific aspects of the production. I found them all very good: entertaining and informative. The section on music deals with the score and songs. It’s perhaps my favorite of these features. Others look at the puppet manipulation, directing, the primary voice actors, and building the puppets.

A voice comparison feature plays the movie in one frame with video of the actors in another. There are several scenes included, and it’s great fun.

I thought the galleries were going to be still images when actually it’s a collection of various types of animation. Initial face tests, body movement tests, animatics, concepts, all sorts of things for numerous characters. There’s also a background score to go with it. The whole thing is quite long.

The trailer is a little different than most. It’s basically a poem set to What’s This from Nightmare Before Christmas.

And the best for last, an isolated score. I greatly enjoyed listening to this. It’s a very relaxing score and includes instrumental versions of the songs.

Final Thoughts:
I love the movie, the book that comes with the Wal Mart edition, the animation galleries, and the isolated score. I’m giving this one 5*.