Corpse Bride

One of the best claymations I've seen in my life, if not the best.

This little animated film is like a dark gothic kids' movie just like Tim Burton's other film, "A Nightmare Before Christmas".

Victor and Victoria are supposed to be wed the next day through an arranged marriage. Both their parents want them to marry so that it would help them out financially. Victor's parents are fish merchants and have risen to the ranks of the nouve riche. They think that Victoria's parents are "old money" and can help them rub elbows with the snobs of society. Victoria's parents are on the verge of bankruptcy and need Victoria to marry so that they won't be thrown out into the streets.

Victor bumbles his wedding vows during the wedding rehearsal and is told to come back once he memorizes his lines. He walks into the forest alone. While he recites his lines, he puts the ring on something he thinks is a dead twig on the ground, but it's actually Emily's finger. Emily rises from the dead and says, "I do."

Victor says it's all a misunderstanding, but Emily believes that they are legally bound forever and takes Victor to the Land of the Dead.

I like the way that the color in the real world is dark and dreary while it's very colorful in the world of the dead. The color contrast is a good use of irony. Why would anyone want to go to the land of the living when they are dying to be in the world of the dead?

It starts off with a good musical number by the parents trying to marry their children off for financial motives. I liked the music and the songs in this film. During one of the skeletons' dance and song, it reminded me of the song, "It's A Dead Man's Party" by Oingo Boingo. After all, Danny Elfman did write the songs in this movie. Fortunately, he came up with better songs that matched the tone of this movie.

Victor looks like a clay model of Johnny Depp in Edward Scissorhands.

This is a cute kids' story in a creepy way. I didn't know the dead could be this fun and charming. There's a lot of witty little jokes and remarks.

Tim Burton makes necrophilia fun and interesting.

Victor later falls in love with Emily because of her great personality. Being dead is not going to set her back. Victor and Emily start playing beautiful music together on the piano. Victor becomes torn between 2 women. He also wants to go back to Victoria and the land of the living.

I'm not sure if this is suitable for young children, but I thought it was fantastic.

One of the skeletons informs Emily that there is a problem with her marriage. The old line, "Til death do us part" nullifies her marriage because she's already dead. The only way to solve this is if Victor dies. Then, they can be bound in marriage forever. Emily says she cannot give Victor poison, but Victor overhears this and chooses to go through with it so that he can get married to Emily.

This film's dead characters remind me of the great videogame by Lucasarts' Grim Fandango which is inspired by the Spanish celebration of Dia de los Muertos.

This film features a tightly written script and great animation. It's everything you can expect in an animation and more.

It's wholesome creepy fun.

Who knew that being dead is more fun than living? It's good that this movie was an animation. You couldn't see this story any other way. It wouldn't be good with real actors. I thought this was brilliant and beautiful. The dead can be very cute.

My rating: A, 93.