More Corpse Bride

I saw Corpse Bride with MPiC when it opened nationally a little over a week ago. We both enjoyed it quite a bit, particularly for the creation of the underworld. MPiC has never seen Nightmare Before Christmas (or Edward Scissorhands, Beetlejuice, Ed Wood) and is relatively unaware of Burton's whimsical visuals. Me, I've seen all those films, plus some, and I'll see pretty much watch anything Burton's involved in, even with a 50/50 chance of hating/loving it. In this case, I loved the film.

First, though, the criticisms. The film isn't as wildly imaginative or as richly provocative as Nightmare. Nor is it as dark, despite the fact one of its major characters is a dead bride. It's actually a sweet and somewhat sentimental story about romantic love, with the rather predictable outcome of

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the Corpse Bride (voiced by Helena Bonham Carter, a Burton favorite) willingly relinquishing any claim to Victor (Johnny Depp, another fave) so that he may marry Victoria (Emily Watson), a more suitable bride if for no other fact than she still needs oxygen. Truth be told, though, the Corpse Bride is the far more compelling love interest and so her self-sacrifice is somewhat bittersweet. Again, this is a typical Burtonian touch.

But it is not the plot that makes Corpse Bride memorable. Part of this has to do with its length. At 76 minutes, the film is and feels a bit short. It should be noted, though, that the film thankfully doesn't feel a need to privilege narrative, let alone narrative consistency. There's a welcome absence of heavy-handed exposition scenes meant to provide psychological depth to characters; this kind of lazy shortcut to real character development marred Burton's Charlie & the Chocolate Factory (and many other summer flicks, including Batman Begins and Crash).

No, what makes the film stand out are the visuals. Co-directors Burton and Mike Johnson (who actually oversaw most of the day-to-day work) manage to create a visually compelling world that was both consistent with Burton's ouevre and paid homage to other works of animation. The film's world takes as its inspirational departure a Vincent Price-ian Victorianism for both setting and costume. And, of course, the film draws on the stop-motion animation of Harryhausen; it acknowledges that debt in a sly visual reference involving a grand piano. And that's only one of many references. Other bloggers have noted similarities to the Rankin/Bass stop-motion animation holiday cartoon Santa Claus is Comin' to Town (1970) in its character designs and its quick Disney references, such as a quirky version of the dress-making scene in Disney's Cinderella (1950).

And as to be expected, there has been a lot of praise for the musical number, "Remains of the Day," written and performed by Burton longtime collaborator Danny Elfman. Most bloggers not its allusion to an early Disney short, The Skeleton Dance (1929). To my knowledge, though, no one has really pointed out the film's equal indebtedness to the Fleischer Brothers films like their Betty Boop films Minnie the Moocher (1932) and Snow White (1933), both of which offer jazzy scores, guest vocalists, and surrealish underworld scenes. Elfman's portrayal as Bonejangles, backed up by the Skeletones, seems as much a knowing wink to Fleischer fans as to Disney ones.

These allusions make the film particularly enjoyable for an animation buff, but by no means detract from the originality of the film's vision. If you are a buff, would like to underwstand one, or would simply like to see something beyond the standard Disney/Pixar fare, check out Corpse Bride.