CORPSE BRIDE

Directed by Mike Johnson & Tim Burton
Cinematography by Pete Kozachik
Music by Danny Elfman
Cast: Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Emily Watson & Christopher Lee

2005/77min/Color/5.1 Dolby Digital
1.85:1 anamorphic/English/US/NTSC Region 1

Review from Warner Bros. DVD

Victor (voice of Johnny Depp) is placed into a marriage of connivance by his parents and those of his bride to be, Victoria (voice of Emily Watson). He is a nervous, quite, shy guy, and does not want to partake in this event. But that changes when he meets her in person and sees how charming and beautiful she is. Unfortunately, he gets to nervous, fucks up the wedding rehearsal, and runs away. He accidentally awakens the lovely, but admit ably decaying Corpse Bride (voiced by Helena Bonham Carter). Meanwhile, back in the world of the living the evil and scheming Lord Barkus has his eyes on Victoria; all while our hero is in one of the most fucked love triangles an animated character could ever find himself in!

The film is fun and heartfelt, with great voice performances. The characters come alive, and who amongst does not get a smile from hearing Christopher fuckin’ Lee’s voice as the priest? CORPSE BRIDE also has, much like Burton’s own THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS, a clear love for all things ghoulish, dead, goth, and horror related. But the film is never scary enough not be unwatchable for kids or the kid inside all of us. The movie is always a funny, entertainingly cute piece of excellent work.

Warner Bros. has presented the film in it’s anamorphic widescreen glory. The colors are simply gorgeous, with the land of the living filled with stark grays and black and the land of the dead filled with rich, vibrant colors. The sound is spirited and lively, truly capturing the wonder of Elfman’s score.

The extra features on the disc are seven featurettes on all aspects of the making of the film. They are short, but informative and certainly never boring. Amoung the best are the ones dealing with the look and feel of the film, the animation, and the voice recordings. All of the key players are interviewed in them, including: Tim Burton, Johnny Depp, Danny Elfman, Helena Bonham Carter (who based on her wild hair is not that different from the bride, herself!), Christopher Lee, etc. There is also “The Corpse Bride Production Galleries” which, with the score in the background, shows just how much work went into the creation of the characters and such. The trailer is included as well. And while, there is no running commentary, there is a music only track that features Elfman’s wonderful score. Broken up into 24 chapters, the disc comes in a keep case, with no inlay card whatsoever.

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Review by Giovanni "Headbanger96" Deldio. All Right Reserved. 2006. ©