Plot Summary

Corpse Bride carries on in the dark, romantic tradition of Tim Burton’s classic films Edward Scissorhands and The Nightmare Before Christmas. Set in a 19th century European
village, this stop-motion, animated feature follows the story of Victor (Johnny Depp), a young man who is whisked away to the underworld and wed to a mysterious Corpse Bride (Helena Bonham-Carter),
while his real bride, Victoria (Emily Watson), waits bereft in the land of the living. Though life in the Land of the Dead proves to be a lot more colorful than his strict Victorian upbringing,
Victor learns that there is nothing in this world, or the next, that can keep him away from his one true love. It’s a tale of optimism, romance and a very lively afterlife, told in classic Tim Burton style.
(from MovieWeb.com)

Film Review

Tim Burton has made a name for himself delivering some of the more bizarre and often dark films to family audiences. Adding to his recent string of quality films, like Big Fish and
Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Burton revisits the art of stop-motion animation with Corpse Bride. Teaming up once again with Johnny Depp (who was also in Burton’s
Charlie And The Chocolate Factory and Edward Scissor Hands), Burton delivers a delightful story with amazing, how’d-they-do-that visuals to make for a charming story. But the thing that may hurt Corpse Bride quite substantially is just how unbelievably dark it really is.

I have to admit that I still haven’t seen Burton’s previous animated film, The Nightmare Before Christmas, so I can’t quite compare this to his earlier effort, however, I’m familiar
with this style of animation and it’s always intriguing to behold. Corpse Bride isn’t any different, but in its morbidity is where it suffers some. The film doesn’t have a bright scene
in the mix, and while that’s basically Burton’s MO, it really drags this film down in mood. However, it can be said in defense quite easily that this is hardly the film for a bright sequence,
but it just seems heavy-handed for a family film.

That aside, it’s important to note just how clever this film’s technique and story really is. Depp is perfect as the bewildered lead, while Burton’s staple actress Helena Bonham Carter does an
incredible job breathing life into the title character.

Because of the morbid nature of the film, the content feels like a tour through a haunted house with a hearty helping of skeletons, severed heads, and dead spirits. This includes a talking severed
head that shows insects crawling from its neck, and a dead man who literally splits in half several times, revealing all of his organs inside. The Corpse Bride herself loses her skeletal limbs several
times, along with her eye often popping out to reveal a maggot (which is wonderfully portrayed to look and sound just like classic horror film actor Peter Laurie). The humor of the film and charm of
many of the characters helps ease some of the more intensely grim scenes, but this is more than likely a film you’ll want to keep the little ones from – especially those who are sensitive to imagery of skeletons and corpses. Also, the film wasn’t really as funny as it might believe it to be. With animated films in this style, like Chicken Run, or the CG Pixar films of the genre, the bar has been raised so considerably that films that seem to dazzle more than entertain just don’t seem as memorable. But could the film’s gloomy atmosphere rob itself of further potential for humor? It’s possible.

The spiritual nature of the film is mostly that of a fairy tale than that of either Christian or occultic. Christopher Lee plays the somewhat creepy town minister who often, surprisingly, provides
comic relief. There’s also a skeleton who the Corpse Bride goes to see to help her return from the dead by way of a magical potion, but this isn’t the kind of film that dwells on the mystical aspect of the story so much. The redeeming qualities of the film, and its story, is its theme of love. Its resolution is positive in a good versus evil sort of way.

Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride isn’t particularly the fluffy cotton candy that similar stop-motion animated films like Chicken Run are, but it’s an enjoyable story, albeit too dark. Leave the little ones home for this one and feel free to enjoy this well-crafted animated film for what it is.

– John DiBiase, (reviewed: 9/27/05)

 

4K UHD Review

It’s honestly probably been 20 years since I last watched Corpse Bride, so seeing it again definitely felt like seeing it for the first time; I remembered very little about it. However, seeing it again – and for the first time in glorious 4K – really gave me a new appreciation for it. I definitely see why I came down hard on it in 2005 for its fixation on the macabre — it’s really a dark film. However, I feel like I appreciated the intent of the story a bit more this time. I had completely forgotten that the story revolved around Victor, a young man who was about to wed a woman named Victoria as part of an arranged marriage, accidentally marrying a corpse when he unknowingly slipped the ring on the finger of a deceased bride. Victor had wandered into the woods to practice his vows – which he’d been failing miserably at up until this point – and was swept up in the moment when he mistakenly pledged his undying love to the hand of a skeleton sticking out of the ground. His life soon unravels completely as he’s whisked away into the underworld where his new corpse bride claims him for her own. Meanwhile, in the land of the living, Victoria is being forced to wed some sleazeball instead.

The dark elements of the story still kind of hold the film back for me a bit. From gross imagery — like the guy who splits himself in half (vertically), revealing all his organs — to several scenes involving a spider (including a musical number), and the focus on the dead underworld, it’s just not a “light” film. Actually, I was surprised to find some visual and thematical similarities to last year’s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, which was also from Tim Burton. Scenes like the ones in the church and even the afterlife (including the welcoming of newcomers) felt similar to each other. Regardless, Corpse Bride is a really impressive stop motion animation feature, and this new 4K presentation is truly stunning. The crisp detail and vivid color breathe new life into this film from two decades ago — you’d never guess it was that old.

New Special Features for the 4K UHD Release:

Digging Up the Past: The Minds Behind Corpse Bride (8:26) – The film’s producer, screenwriter and director (Mike Johnson) all sit down together and reflect on having just rewatched the movie in 4K for the first time, and share stories from having worked on the production together.

‘Til Death Do Us Art: A Corpse Bride Reflection (6:18) – This is another “looking back” featurette where members of the production team reflect on making the film, talk about the story and how it originated, and then we see some cool behind-the-scenes footage of the animation process. (Oddly enough, Tim Burton is absent from these new featurettes.)

– John DiBiase (reviewed: 9/21/25)

 

Parental Guide: Content Summary

 Sex/Nudity: None.

 Vulgarity/Language: 1 “d*mn”

 Alcohol/Drugs: The dead drink in a bar. We see characters drinking during the film.

 Blood/Gore: The Corpse Bride herself has part of her cheek missing which reveals bone beneath. One each of her arms and legs is completely skeletal while the others are covered with flesh. She has a hole in her dress on her side, which exposes part of her ribs. Her skeletal limbs come off a couple times, for which she just reattaches, and her eye pops out occasionally; We see various skeletons and walking dead that show varying degrees of gross qualities. One skeleton has a sword sticking from it, another splits in half a couple times, revealing its organs inside, another is merely a severed head and we see insects crawling from its neck; A dead man’s head falls off onto the ground; We see a dead cook with creepy looking eyes, with one dangling by its nerve.

 Violence: Mostly comical violence, but all of the characters in the Land of the Dead are skeletons or walking corpses. Some are partially decomposed; We see a skeleton with a sword through its chest; a character dies by coughing, falling off a wagon and being run over by a carriage. We then see that person dead in the Land of the Dead; A character tries killing another with a knife and later dies by accidentally drinking a goblet of poison.

 

Disclaimer: All reviews are based solely on the opinions of the reviewer. Most reviews are rated on how the reviewer enjoyed the film overall, not exclusively on content. However, if the content really affects the reviewer’s opinion and experience of the film, it will definitely affect the reviewer’s overall rating.

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