The Bride of Burton

“Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue…” Tim Burton must have taken this bridal adage to heart when he created his animated feature Corpse Bride. He combined the vocal talents of actors he’s worked with before (old), a novel screenplay with elements of horror, romance, drama, comedy and musical (new), the animation style made famous by his own film Nightmare Before Christmas (borrowed, or at least recycled), and, well, people who turn blue when they die.

Other familiar elements that popped up in the movie: music by Burton’s staple composer Danny Elfman (one of the musical numbers sounded disturbingly like an Oompa-Loompa song from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), Christopher Lee in a hilarious cameo (this one had him looking like a crazed caricature of his Saruman self), and a chaotic, outlandish netherworld reminiscent of Burton’s Beetlejuice universe. Burton seemed to turn Frankenstein by piecing together bits of his previous films to come up with a new one. But fortunately, instead of a clunky, horrifying creation, he ended up with a sinister/sweet tale about love and death that has a ghoulish grace and macabre beauty about it. Among contemporary filmmakers, Burton is best at creating movies that are chilling and heart-warming at the same time.

Corpse Bride made for an engaging (pun not intended) hour and a half. I have always appreciated good animation, especially when it comes with smart dialogue and an interesting story. And it helps that I’ve always had a taste for the morbid…