The Sandspur

Issue date: 10/7/05 Section: Arts & Entertainment

Media Credit: Corpse Bride / Copyright Warner Brothers Pictures

Another hauntingly beautiful and charming story so eloquently told by director Tim Burton ("The Nightmare Before Christmas", "Edward Scissorhands" and "Big Fish"), "Corpse Bride" is the perfect animated film. Starring the vocal talents of Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean) and Helena Bonham Carter (Big Fish), this movie tells a darkly comedic tale of a young couple, ironically named Victor and Victoria, who are being forced into an arranged marriage for both sets of parents have the underlying intentions of saving their financial situation.

Although Victor, a shy and innocent young man with exceptional musical talent, is taken with Victoria upon their first, very short and awkward encounter, the idea of such an abrupt marriage frightens him. During the wedding rehearsal where the story takes off, Victor is clumsy to the point of no salvation and is forbidden by the pastor to be married until prepared to take his vows.

The disheartened and embarrassed Victor takes a long walk in the moonlit woods to get his thoughts together. Determined to come through for Victoria, he suddenly with a burst of confidence recites his vows with the suave and dashing manner of a true gentleman. But when he accidentally places Victoria's ring on what he thought at first to be a tree branch, he finds himself mistakenly betrothed to a beautiful and tragic corpse bride whose haunting past has led her to the afterlife of an eternal quest for love. What follows are a series of quite humorous and simplistic, yet deeply touching events.

The artistic aspects of the filmmaking itself are astounding. The setting of the movie is perfect down to the very last flesh-eaten appendage and painful tear in a beautiful wedding gown. The animation is cast in a black and white color scheme but with eerie blue overtones. Not so strangely, the colors are brighter six feet under while the land of the living is bleak and grey.

As the elder of the afterlife describes it, "Why go up there when so many of them are dying to come down here?" The characters are created in true Tim Burton fashion, oddly shaped in their vastly contrasting sizes and personalities. The living appear more corpse-like than the very lively population residing beyond the grave. Each of the protagonists are lovable but the corpse bride, Emily, truly steals a piece of your heart.

A very notable piece of the film is found in the musical score. There is a very beautiful scene, "The Piano Duet", in which the music emanates from the shaded strings of the piano and right through its listener. There are mixes of "The Nightmare Before Christmas" type tunes and a new jazzy feel for one of the films most enjoyable songs, "Remains of the Day" because both films share the same songwriter and composer, Danny Elfman.

This is not to suggest that the film is a musical by any means. And although there are some songs performed outside of the score, there are not nearly enough of them to be remotely distracting to those who are not musically inclined. Though the film is mostly comedic, it has a heart, and leaves room for "a few more tears to shed.

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