Tim Burton’s The Corpse Bride
Tim Burton, Mike Johnson, 2005, USA, Colour, 77 mins, Certificate: PG
There are films that come out of nowhere to sweep you off your feet.
Even though you know their creator(s) and what they are capable of.
Still.
Big little miracles that ever grow in you in weird and wonderful ways.
Like this dark, romantic comedy of misunderstandings that happens when Victor, a shy groom, practices his vows. In the woods, oblivious to the fact that he is in the presence of a ghost. As soon as he gets them right, Emily, the dead, young woman rises from the grave believing that they are now married.
Caught between two brides and two worlds, what will Victor choose? And what extraordinary (self)discoveries will he make?
Not the pop culture staple The Nightmare Before Christmas (directed by Henry Selick, as he was simultaneously busy with Batman Returns) is, Tim Burton’s The Corpse Bride is still unmistakably his and still a masterpiece. His 12th feature film and his first, stop motion animation as a (co)director, it celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, and features prominently in the Design Museum’s brilliant exhibition The World of Tim Burton (photo below), which just got extended to May.
Oscar nominated for Best Animated film, it is a marvel of the art of stop motion, as it used innovative techniques to bring its story to (cinematic) life. Using neither of the industry standards of replaceable heads or replaceable mouths for its unusually tall (23-28 cm) puppets, but instead precision crafted clockwork heads, painstakingly adjusted by hidden keys, it achieved unprecedented, haunting subtlety.
Above all however, this is one of those films that come out of nowhere to sweep us off our feet.
A big little miracle.
Reviews:
“It’s rare you’ll find a life-affirming film about the walking dead, and even less so one that’s aimed at children, but Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride is just that. Using stop-motion animation to gorgeously ghoulish effect, the creative team who brought you The Nightmare Before Christmas have crafted a fairytale that’s both refreshingly original and enchantingly old-fashioned… Above all, there’s a spirit of innocence that echoes in a beautifully bittersweet ending. If you have a pulse, you’ll love it. ” , BBC
“If Charlie And The Chocolate Factory was Burton’s big picture for 2005, this is his miniature. With its brief running time, tight little story and sweet/sad Gothic fairy-tale feel, it’s more like the live-action Edward Scissorhands than Burton’s previous animated venture, The Nightmare Before Christmas... A precious thing, if likely to please refined aesthetes and odd children rather than win over Pixar-sized crowds. ” Kim Newman, Empire
“While the plotline is an amalgam of “Cinderella,” “Sleeping Beauty” and “Little Red Riding Hood,” the images are unlike anything you’ve ever seen… Burton’s dark, idiosyncratic influence is all over “Corpse,” which is as creepy as any of his live-action features. He and co-director Mike Johnson had the inspired idea to reverse the way you would think things would look. Victor’s everyday world is painted in somber grays and faded blues… Meanwhile, the underworld is positively psychedelic, Hades as the Haight of the 1960s.” , San Fransisco Chronicle
“In Tim Burton’s crazy-genius head, hell would actually be a haven where all the cool people hung out. And living the corseted, proper life in Victorian England would be the real hell, a nightmare that didn’t end at Christmas… Making hell a heckuva good time is the twist that turns Burton’s latest movie as sentimental as it is macabre, and a gore- fest dripping with true love. “Corpse Bride” will win your heart, if it doesn’t rip it out of your chest first. ” Michael Booth, The Denver Post