Corpse Bride
| Corpse Bride | |
|---|---|
 Promotional poster |
|
| Directed by | Tim Burton Mike Johnson |
| Produced by | Tim Burton |
| Written by | John August Caroline Thompson Tim Burton |
| Starring | Johnny Depp Helena Bonham Carter Emily Watson Tracey Ullman |
| Music by | Danny Elfman |
| Cinematography | Pete Kozachik |
| Editing by | Chris Lebenzon |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
| Release date(s) | September 23, |
| Running time | 78 min. |
| Country |   |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $40 million |
| Gross revenue | $53,337,608 |
| Official website | |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Tim Burton's Corpse Bride is a
The movie exhibits Burton's trademark style and recurring themes (the complex interaction between light and darkness, and of being caught between two irreconcilable worlds). The movie can be particularly compared to The Nightmare Before Christmas , Burton's previous stop-motion feature project (directed by Henry Selick and based on a Tim Burton poem, which Corpse Bride director Mike Johnson worked on as an animator) and Beetlejuice, especially in the scenes depicting the underworld and its deceased denizens. The studio intentionally emphasized the links, as some commercials for Corpse Bride were accompanied by songs from The Nightmare Before Christmas (specifically, "What's This"); also, in an issue of Disney Adventures, Emily (the title character) was compared to The Nightmare Before Christmas's Sally, despite the stark contrasts in personality between the outspoken, free-spirited Emily and the quiet, timid Sally.
Plot
The story is set in a cold, gloomy Victorian era town, a parody of
Victor wanders through the forest practicing his vows, consistently blundering them. Finally he gains confidence and successfully recites them, and upon spying a tree root that resembles a human hand, places his bride's wedding ring on it. No sooner has he done so, the hand (for it really is a human hand) grabs him by the arm and Emily, the Corpse Bride, (Helena Bonham Carter) emerges from beneath the earth dressed in a moldy, flowing wedding dress and declares Victor her husband. Victor then blacks out.
Surprised, Victor awakes in a pub with the dead. At first, he is terrified when he is told the news of his unexpected marriage. He is told how the corpse bride was mysteriously killed on her wedding day and has been waiting for her groom to come and claim her ever since through a jazz tune sung by a skeleton with one eye and his group of other likewise musical bones. Soon, however, he shakes himself and runs into the streets.
Emily finds Victor and gives him a wedding present of the live skeleton of his dead puppy, Scraps. He then convinces Emily and the elderly Elder Gutknecht (Michael Gough) to return them both temporarily to the Land of the Living via a Ukrainian Haunting Spell (the only way to return is if either says "hopscotch") under the pretense of introducing her to his parents.
Once back, however, Victor goes to see Victoria instead to confess his marriage to Emily, and they are about to kiss when a betrayed Emily discovers them and spirits him away while Victoria watches helplessly. While Victoria tries unsuccessfully to convince the pastor and her parents that Victor needs help, Maudeline and Finis lock her in her room and plan to match up their daughter with the presumed rich drifter "Lord Barkis Bittern" (Richard E. Grant) instead. Unknown to the others, Barkis intends to kill Victoria and make off with her fortune, which he mistakenly believes is still viable.
Emily tells the maggot and spider why she thinks Victor probably does belong with Victoria because they are both alive while Emily is not. Victor apologizes for lying to her and Emily's love for him is renewed as he starts falling in love with her as well. Victor's coachman, Mayhew (newly-deceased), delivers the news of Victoria's engagement, leaving Victor distraught. Thinking that Victoria is marrying Barkis willingly, Victor decides to make the best of his situation below and agrees to drink poison as part of an above-ground ceremony that will make his marriage to Emily official (since the marriage vows bind the couple until "death do them part" and Emily is already dead, the marriage won't exist until Victor is dead too).
As Victoria and Barkis are married, the residents of the Land of the Dead busy themselves preparing for a wedding of their own, storming the town and marriage "celebration" on their way to the church. In the ensuing chaos, the newly-wed Lord Barkis learns (to his horror) that Victoria is penniless. Meanwhile, there is panic with the village at the invasion of the dead, until both sides suddenly recognize their loved ones and realize to their mutual joy the temporary reunion.
Victoria heads for the church as well, and discovers Victor in the midst of the ceremony that will kill him. Emily sees Victoria watching them but unable to bring herself to speak; realizing that she is cheating Victoria out of a happy life, stops Victor from drinking the poisoned wine. She gives Victor back to Victoria, saying that in her despair and sadness she was just about to commit a terrible mistake, but the reunion is interrupted by Lord Barkis, who reminds the crowd that Victoria is still his wife, and moves to kidnap her at sword point. Emily is shocked and horrified as she recognizes Barkis as the man who both jilted and murdered her long ago.
Victor tells Barkis to get his hands off his living former bride, and Barkis is about to kill him, but Scraps bites Barkis' leg. A sword fight ensues between the two men, with Victor wielding a dinner fork tossed to him by the dead cook. Barkis corners Victor and is just about to jam his sword into Victor's stomach, when Emily rushes between them and blocks the blow, saving Victor's life.
A seething Emily orders Barkis to leave, which he smugly agrees to. The rest of the dead, outraged at what he did to Emily, try to stop him, but they are unable to interfere, since he is of the living, and therefore not under their power. But before leaving, he proposes a mock-toast to Emily, "always the bridesmaid, never the bride." Barkis drinks the wine intended for Victor, not knowing its contents, which kills him shortly afterward. The dead then proceed to induct the "new arrival".
Emily explains to Victor and Victoria that they belong together. When Victor protests, saying that he "made [Emily] a promise," Emily explains that he had already kept it by setting her free, and that now she shall do the same for him. As she begins to leave the church she still feels pain, but stops to throw her bouquet to Victoria (though an old woman catches it first, Emily's maggot on her shoulder and to his delight), then continues to leave her true love behind and set herself truly free. As she reaches the threshold of the church, Emily's body transforms into hundreds of night butterflies, which soar towards the moon. Victor and Victoria look on together at the sight.
Cast of characters
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- Victor Van Dort
Voice Actor: Johnny Depp
Victor is a bashful, shy, good-hearted young man who hails from a family of nouveaux riches, or "new money". His social-climbing parents have made a fortune, but hail from humble fish-mongering origins. They are eager to join the ranks of the aristocracy through the arranged marriage of their son with Victoria Everglot, the daughter of a titled, but penniless, family.
Throughout the movie, his heart is torn between the attentions of the sweet, shy, still-living Victoria and the free-spirited, beautiful, but dead, Emily. According to him, Victoria was like looking through a mirror, while Emily was the opposite that filled the areas that he lacked. As the movie progresses, Victor's character reveals a more coy side, suggesting more confidence than initially believed.
With pale skin, dark hair and sharp features, Victor appears to be a caricature of his voice actor, Johnny Depp. Similarly, it could be considered paying homage to Depp's other on-screen appearances (directed by Tim Burton), notably those of severely reclusive natures. These potential candidates of dedication are the pale hero of Edward Scissorhands and Ichabod Crane of Sleepy Hollow.
- Emily, the Corpse Bride
Voice Actor: Helena Bonham Carter
Emily is the titular character of the film. As the Corpse Bride, Emily is portrayed as kind and trusting, with a free spirit and a lust for un-life. Her outgoing persona acts as a foil for the more reserved, tentative Victoria. Despite being dead, Emily is capable of the same amount of love and emotion as any living person; she can fall in love, and her non-beating heart can just as easily be broken. She has been waiting for her real true love ever since her murder at the hands of her fiancé, which she did find when Victor came to meeting her. Like Victor, Emily can play the piano. She has a spider that follows her around and a maggot that lives in her head (occasionally knocking out her eyeball to speak to her).
Emily's overall appearance is a caricature of Helena Bonham Carter, her voice actress, with full lips and large dark eyes. Despite being a partially skeletonized, decomposing corpse, Emily is nonetheless hauntingly beautiful. She casts a striking figure in her flowing, rotted wedding dress and tattered veil. These were the clothes she was killed in as she waited for her groom.
- Victoria Everglot
Voice Actor: Emily Watson
Victoria is the daughter of Maudeline and Finis Everglot, a repulsive couple in a "sad, sad state of affairs." She has long dreamt of marrying a man that she loves, but is afraid that it seems silly to others. She wanted to learn how to play the piano, but her mother said that music is "too passionate for a young lady." However, Victoria breaks the mold of quiet as she displays a more outgoing nature contrary to the film's first introductions. Victoria's arranged marriage to Victor was supposed to be her parents' "ticket to [their] rightful place", which means that Victor's family's money would save them from the poor-house. Luckily, Victor and Victoria certainly didn't hate another each other right from the start (unlike her parents, who view marriage as more of a contract or "partnership"), getting along pretty well.
When Victor disappeared with Emily, Victoria was forced by her parents to marry Lord Barkis Bittern, parallel to Victor and Emily's own wedding ceremony even when she has no feelings toward him. Shortly after the ceremony, Barkis confronted Victor and Emily, then accidentally drank poisoned wine and died. This made Victoria a widow, leaving her free from him. The film ends before she presumably marries Victor, as they witness Emily's peaceful release.
- Nell Van Dort
Voice Actor: Tracey Ullman
Victor's mother. She is often seen with expensive clothing, some kind of animal around her neck, and a folding fan. She dislikes her carriage driver Mayhew for his persistent coughing fits, and doesn't appear very remorseful about Mayhew's death later in the film (In fact, there is nothing to suggest she even knew that he died). Along with her husband, she dreams of standing alongside the upper echelons of society, believing that she deserves more than a fish merchant's life. When Victor disappears from the Land of the Living, Nell becomes desperate to find him before dawn arrives, although it should be noted that this seemed to be out of a desire to continue with the marriage that would have "elevated [her] to the heights of society", rather than showing any genuine concern for her son's safety. She also thinks quite lowly of Victor, asking her husband, "What corpse would marry our Victor?" in response to William van Dort's query about a possible marriage between their son and a corpse.
- William Van Dort
Voice Actor: Paul Whitehouse
Victor's father. He appears to be a rather lowly and ignorant individual, despite his successful occupation as a fish merchant. He, along with his wife, dreams of life alongside the elite members of society.
- Lord Finis Everglot
Voice Actor: Albert Finney
Victoria's father. A land-rich, cash-poor aristocrat whose fear of being forced penniless into the streets leads him to arrange a marriage for Victoria as to save their family from the poorhouse. He is known to possess a musket, which he calls for twice in the film.
- Lady Maudeline Everglot
Voice Actor: Joanna Lumley
Victoria's mother. She feels that love has nothing to do with marriage, as marriage is simply a partnership. She and Finis deny loving or even liking one another.
- Mayhew
Voice Actor: Paul Whitehouse
An employee of the Van Dort's fish business, and the family carriage driver. He has a persistent cough (aggravated by his constant pipe-smoking), which proves fatal during the second half of the film.
- Hildegarde
Voice Actor: Tracey Ullman
A servant in the Everglot house, and an aide of Victoria.
- Emil
Voice Actor: Stephen Ballantyne
A servant in the Everglot house. When a swarm of deceased persons invade the Everglot home, he abandons his masters and flees.
- Lord Barkis Bittern
Voice Actor: Richard E. Grant
Lord Barkis is the main antagonist in the film. When Lord Barkis strolls into town and introduces himself, no one recognizes him, but he seems to know the best people and he acts like a true gentleman, so everyone assumes he's somebody important and respectable. The Everglots are so impressed by him, that after Victor's disappearance, they arrange for Victoria to marry him. In addition to having a respectable son-in-law, the Everglots think they can lean on him for money.
But in reality, Barkis is nothing but an excellent con-man. He's dirt poor, a coward, and it's revealed that he is the one who murdered Emily for her money. Decades ago, when Emily still lived as the daughter of a very rich family, Barkis charmed her into falling in love with him, and when her father didn't approve of their relationship, convinced her to elope with her mother’s dowry. Soon, he murdered her in the woods beneath an old oak tree and buried her body there, leaving her waiting for her true love to come set her free.
Fate would have it that he meets again with Emily at her wedding to Victor. In a moment of his presumed victory, he unknowingly drinks the poison, or “Wine of Ages" intended to kill Victor. Having died, the inhabitants of the underworld seek Emily’s revenge with great vigor.
- Pastor Galswells
Voice Actor: Christopher Lee
The ill-tempered village pastor, he is highly impatient to the point of bludgeoning Victor over the head with his staff for dilly-dallying even a little. During the climax of the film, Galswells tries to drive away the living dead from his church, but is easily bypassed when the corpses shower him with good manners.
- Gertrude
Voice Actor: N/A
An elderly woman who lives in the village. Her husband, Alfred, has been dead for 15 years.
- Solemn Village Boy
Voice Actor: Lisa Kay
A boy who lives in the village, usually seen with a toy boat. He meets his deceased grandfather during the invasion of the dead.
- Onion-Headed Green grocer
Voice Actor: N/A
The village's green grocer. His head resembles that of an onion.
- Elder Gutknecht
Voice Actor: Michael Gough
Supposedly the head of the Land of the Dead. He resides in a tower filled with books and dust. He also seems to have a habit of periodically consuming medicine. The top of his skull is cracked, and can thus be slightly opened. His name is derived from the German expression "guter Knecht", meaning 'good menial'. Considering the quasi-European backdrop of the movie and how strongly Burton's works are influenced by early German expressionist films, incorporating such names is an appropriate means of enhancing atmosphere.
- Mrs. Plum
Voice Actor: Jane Horrocks
The cook of the Ball and Socket pub. She immediately introduces herself when a recently-deceased person has arrived. She is apparently looking for a mate, as evidenced when Victor arrives in the Land of the Dead ("Does he have a dead brother?").
- The Maggot
Voice Actor: Enn Reitel
A small green worm who lives inside Emily's head, and is her loyal friend and confidante. His features and voice are caricatures of the actor Peter Lorre. He often shoves her eye out of its socket when he speaks with her.
- Black Widow
Voice Actor: Jane Horrocks
A self-proclaimed widow. She appears to have a good relationship with the Corpse Bride (alongside the Maggot). She is responsible for fixing Victor's clothing, along with a group of other spiders.
- General Bonesaparte
Voice Actor: Deep Roy
A diminutive skeleton general impaled by a sabre through his chest. He is usually accompanied by a taller skeleton, apparently the victim of a cannonball. He is an obvious caricature of Napoleon Bonaparte.
- Tall General
Voice Actor: N/A
A skeletal general with a large cannonball hole in his abdomen. He is usually seen with General Bonesaparte.
- Bonejangles, the Skeleton Band Leader
Voice Actor: Danny Elfman
If not for the unique shape and features of his skull, Bonejangles might look just like all the other skeletons. He has a large jaw that often dislocates itself. His one eye can be interchanged within both sockets and is removable. He also wears an old-fashioned bowler hat that is black and snazzy. His character is quite vaguely portrayed, his one lime-light focus being the main singer of "Remains of the Day" at the "Ball and Socket" pub of the Land of the Dead. He is assumed to be the star performer or the owner of the pub, with his Bone Boys in tow.
It appears that he has a Broadway show tunes personality; he’s not afraid to flaunt his talent. As he is rather musical, Bonejangles could have been some sort of Broadway/Vaudeville performer. Perhaps the only item left of his living days is his bowler hat. His name is never mentioned in the movie, but in the script and merchandise, he is referred to as "Bonejangles" (an obvious parody of the dancer Bill "Bojangles" Robinson) or "The Skeleton Band Leader".
On a video podcast concerning the production of the film, Danny Elfman compared Bonejangles to Sammy Davis Jr.
- Alfred
Voice Actor: N/A
A skeleton who is frequently seen smoking a pipe. His wife Gertrude is still alive, and reunites with her for Victor's wedding.
- Skeleton Boy & Girl
Voice Actor: N/A
A young boy in a sailor outfit, and a young girl with a pink dress and pigtails. They are usually seen with a toy boat.
- Scraps
Voice Actor: N/A
A dog formerly owned by Victor. Scraps is deceased, but Emily gives him to Victor as a wedding present.
Voice cast
| Character | English voice actor | German voice actor | Spanish voice actor | Japanese voice actor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Victor Van Dort | Johnny Depp | David Nathan | Roger Pera | Hidenobu Kiuchi |
| Corpse Bride | Helena Bonham Carter | Melanie Pukass | Mar Roca | Kaori Yamagata |
| Victoria Everglot | Emily Watson | Heidrun Batholomäus | Graciela Molina | Sayaka Kobayashi |
| Nell Van Dort | Tracey Ullman | Dagmar Biener | Concha García Valero | N/A |
| Hildegarde | Tracey Ullman | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| William Van Dort | Paul Whitehouse | Bodo Wolf | Javier Viñas | N/A |
| Mayhew | Paul Whitehouse | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Paul the Head Waiter | Paul Whitehouse | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Maudeline Everglot | Joanna Lumley | Kerstin Sanders-Dornseif | Aurora García | Tomoko Miyadera |
| Finis Everglot | Albert Finney | Jürgen Kluckert | Jordi Vila | Takaya Hashi |
| Barkis Bittern | Richard E. Grant | Lutz Mackensy | Óscar Barberán | Jin Yamanoi |
| Pastor Galswells | Christopher Lee | Otto Mellies | Josep María Ullod | Iemasa Kayumi |
| Elder Gutknecht | Michael Gough | Wolfgang Völz | Santiago Cortés | N/A |
| Black Widow | Jane Horrocks | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Mrs. Plum | Jane Horrocks | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Maggot | Enn Reitel | Michael Pan | José Javier Serrano | N/A |
| Town Crier | Enn Reitel | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| General Bonesapart | Deep Roy | Stefan Krause | Juan Fernández | N/A |
| Bonejangles | Danny Elfman | Thomas Fritsch | Jordi Boixaderas | N/A |
| Emil | Stephen Ballantyne | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Solemn Village Boy | Lisa Kay | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Filming techniques
Corpse Bride is the first movie to be shot with still cameras. Previous stop-motion movies (such as Aardman Animations' Chicken Run) were shot on modified Mitchell film cameras, the same old cameras used to shoot King Kong. As confirmed by American Cinematographer (October 2005), the camera chosen for the production of Corpse Bride was Canon EOS-1D Mark II, a digital single-lens reflex camera, which also makes it the first stop-motion feature to be shot in digital. Additional work was required to develop systems to permit precise camera positioning, the mounting of Nikon optical lenses, and previewing a scene in camera. Corpse Bride was the first stop-motion animated film to use Apple's Final Cut Pro as well. To give the film the traditional look of movie film stock, each image was processed with a color profile based on a type of film used in feature length movies.
The film was the first stop-motion animated movie to use the new "gear and paddle" technique for the maquette's heads. This new system involved the maquettes being built with a complex gear system inside of the main character's heads. The various gears were attached to external paddles. A soft skin-like material, mainly made of silicone and foam, was placed over these paddles to create the head and then painted. By adjusting the gears, done by inserting an allen wrench into small holes located on the maquette's head and in the ears, the paddles would move, therefore adjusting the facial expression of the character. This allowed for a much more smooth system of emotion change and lip-sync than the old style of replacing heads. The soft "skin" also gave the characters a much more natural look.
The puppets were made in Altrincham, near Manchester, England, by the leading puppet manufacturers Mackinnon and Saunders. They were also responsible for a major contribution to another Tim Burton film (Mars Attacks!), as well as numerous British animated series like Bob the Builder (Hit Entertainment), Andy Pandy (Cosgrove Hall) and Pingu (Hit Entertainment).
Origins
The origin of the folktale can be traced back to Rabbi Isaac Luria of Safed, a 16th century mystic. In the original folktale, "The Finger," the "corpse bride" in question is not a deceased woman, but a demon. In the 19th century Russian-Jewish adaptation, a woman is killed on her wedding day and is buried in her wedding gown. Later, a man on his way to his own wedding sees her ring finger poking out of the ground and thinks that it's a stick. As a joke, he puts his bride's wedding ring on the finger and dances around it, singing and reciting his marriage sacrament. The woman's corpse emerges from the ground (with the man's ring on her finger) and declares herself married to the man.
The folktale adaptation was born of the anti-Jewish Russian pogroms of the 19th century, in which young women were said to have been ripped from their carriages and killed on the way to their weddings. The folktale usually ends with the rabbis deciding to annul the corpse's marriage and the live bride swearing that she will live her marriage in the corpse's memory, part of the Jewish tradition of honoring the dead through the lives and good works of the living.
A similar motif has also been used by Prosper Mérimée in his story La Vénus d'Ille [1]. Instead of the corpse bride, the ancient statue of Venus figures in the story.
The allegorical theme of the two brides, one living and one dead, occurs from ancient times in Christian (especially monastic) spirituality. The first evidence comes from the fourth century. It focuses on the differing meanings of the English word "love", which come out better in Latin. Christian love, or "caritas" (hence the English "charity"), is the willful seeking for the good of the other person in all ways. "Amor", which is the main meaning of the word in modern English, concerns the emotional and passionate attraction to the other person. In the allegory, "caritas" is the living, shy, quiet bride (i.e. "Victoria"), whereas "amor" is the dead, extrovert, flagrant bride (i.e. "Emily"). The lesson is that "amor" by itself is selfish and essentially dead, and can only be redeemed by making way for (and being incorporated into) "caritas", which is the true love for the other.
A recurring image through the movie is that of a blue butterfly, ranging from a drawing Victor makes at the beginning, using a live model, to the Corpse Bride herself dissolving into mass of butterflies. This resonates with a European folktale that a brutally murdered woman would be reborn as a butterfly.
Trivia
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Trivia sections are discouraged under
Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones. |
- Most of the characters in the film bear a strong resemblance to the original cast of the British period drama Upstairs, Downstairs. In the Special Features section of the DVD, Tim Burton states that the films' setting pays tribute to the series, with the Land of the Living being the "upstairs", and the Land of the Dead being the "downstairs".
- The film's initial release was two weeks prior to that of
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit , marking the first time that a stop-motion animated film and a claymation animated one were in simultaneous wide theatrical release. Interestingly, both films feature the voice of Helena Bonham Carter in a lead role and a character named Victor. - The piano that Victor plays is a Harryhausen. This is a reference to Ray Harryhausen, who is possibly the most famous of all stop-motion animation artists.
- In the Bonejangles musical number, "Remains of the Day", the piano player acts and looks like Ray Charles.
- The maggot's voice, mannerisms and facial appearance are an impersonation of Peter Lorre.
- Near the end of the movie, Victor's suit greatly resembles Jack Skellington's suit during The Nightmare Before Christmas, with the exception of the stripes and bat-shaped bow tie absent from Victor's outfit.
- The main character, Victor, is named after Victor Frankenstein, the protagonist of Mary Shelley's most famous work, Frankenstein, a name Burton also used in his short film Frankenweenie.[citation needed]
- A skeletal version of Da Vinci's Vitruvian Man can be seen in Elder Gutknecht's book.
- A sub-plot in LucasArts' "The Curse of Monkey Island" resembles the story
of Corpse Bride. On Blood Island,
Guybrush Threepwood meets Minerva Stronheim ("Minnie Strone") Goodsoup, who fell in love with a pirate. Alas, he stole the diamond from her heirloom ring before their wedding and ran off. She died a week later of a broken heart. After a number of years haunting the family crypt in her wedding dress, Minnie was eventually reunited with her other suitor, Charles de Goulash. They presumably lived happily ever hereafter. - "Remains of the Day" may have been named after a book (The Remains of the Day) that was later made into a movie in which a butler misguidedly pledges his loyalty. This plot resembles that of the story of how Emily became the Corpse Bride.
- Bonejangles is a reference to dancer Bill "Bojangles" Robinson and the song "Mr. Bojangles", originally written by Jerry Jeff Walker and popularized by a variety of performers.
- After the reference to Gone with the Wind with the line "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn" between the skeleton and the old lady, the two swing into the classic pose seen on Gone with the Wind movie posters, and the music changes to play several bars of that movie's main theme.
- The chef with the long face greatly resembles Vincent, the main character from Tim Burton's first stop animation feature,
Vincent; indeed, Victor himself looks like Vincent in his own right.
- Also, Finis Everglot mistakenly calls Victor "Vincent" once.
- At the end of the film, the dog Scraps meets greatly resembles Vincent's dog Abercrombie, and in the photo at the beginning of the movie, Scraps is shown alive, and also looks like Abercrombie.
- Victor's dog, Scraps, is similar in shape to Zero from The Nightmare Before Christmas. Their heads are almost identical, except that Zero has a glowing Halloween Pumpkin nose.
- Albert Finney was the leading choice to play Grandpa Joe in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory but when Tim Burton was attached he nixed the idea because the only big name he wanted in the movie was Johnny Depp, though he cast Christopher Lee as Wonka's father. So Tim cast Albert in this movie to apologize.
- Tim Burton reportedly offered a role to Sam Neill, who turned it down.[citation needed]
- The film is dedicated to the memory of Joe Ranft.
- During the scene of the dead walking the Earth, the little boy who sees his dead grandfather has a strong resemblance to the boy who receives a shrunken head in The Nightmare Before Christmas while Jack is handing out rogue presents. He also resembles one of Edward Gorey's The Gashlycrumb Tinies as do the children in the Land of the Dead.
- The image of Emily on the DVD cover and a poster with the same image is mirrored. Her skeletal features in the film (her left arm, right leg, exposed ribs, ect.) are opposite to those in the image.
- For a moment, as Elder Gutknecht reaches out in his tower, the shadow of his arm passes across the candlelit wall, much like a famous scene in the film Nosferatu.
- In the film's teaser trailer, the background music is not of Danny Elfman's (the film's soundtrack composer), but is "In the Hall of the Mountain King", by Edvard Grieg.
- In the film's theatrical trailer, one can hear the background music of "What's This?," a song from The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Box office
The film debuted at number 2 with $19.1 million, behind Flightplan. The film closed with a total of $53.4 million domestically.
Soundtrack
| Corpse Bride | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
|||||
| Studio album by Danny Elfman | |||||
| Released | 2005 | ||||
| Producer | Danny Elfman | ||||
| Danny Elfman chronology | |||||
|
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- Main Titles
- According To Plan
- Victor's Piano Solo
- Into The Forest
Remains Of The Day - Casting A Spell
- Moon Dance
- Victor's Deception
- Tears To Shed
- Victoria's Escape
- The Piano Duet
- New Arrival
- Victoria's Wedding
- The Wedding Song
- The Party Arrives
- Victor's Wedding
- Barkis Bummer
- The Finale
- End Credits: Part 1
- End Credits: Part 2
- and 4 Bonus Tracks=The musics of preview movie
DVD release
The DVD was released in the US on January 31, 2006. The film has also been released in the Blu-Ray and HD-DVD formats. These releases include featurettes on the shooting and production of the film, as well as an isolated score.
See also
- List of animated feature films
- List of stop-motion films
- The Nightmare Before Christmas
- James and the Giant Peach (film)
- Edward Scissorhands
External links
- Official site
- Corpse Bride at the Internet Movie Database
- Corpse Bride at All Movie Guide
- Corpse Bride at Rotten Tomatoes
- Corpse Bride at Metacritic
- Corpse Bride trailer
- Music samples from the motion picture (4 complete songs)
- Corpse Bride Fansite
- Read the folk tale here!
- Film Review
- Johnny Depp interview for Corpse Bride
- Tim Burton's Corpse Bride: From Concept Art to Finished Puppets an interview with Graham G. Maiden's narrates the process involved with taking Tim]
| Tim Burton |
|---|
|
Director: The Island of Doctor
Agor • Stalk of the Celery
• Vincent • Frankenweenie • Pee-wee's Big Adventure • Beetlejuice • Batman • Edward Scissorhands • Batman Returns • Ed Wood • Mars Attacks! • Sleepy Hollow • Planet of the Apes • Big Fish • Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
• Corpse Bride • Sweeney Todd: The Demon
Barber of Fleet Street |
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