"Corpse Bride", often referred as "Tim Burton's Corpse Bride",
is a 2005 stop-motion-animated horror musical film directed by Tim
Burton and Mike Johnson. The plot is set in a fictional Victorian era
village in Europe. Johnny Depp led an all-star cast as the voice of
Victor, while Helena Bonham Carter voiced Emily, the title character. Corpse Bride is the third stop-motion feature film produced by Burton and the first directed by him (the previous two films, The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach,
were directed by Henry Selick). This is also the first stop-motion
feature from Burton that isn't distributed by Walt Disney Pictures.
The film was nominated in the 78th Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature, but was beaten by Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, which also starred Helena Bonham Carter. It was shot with a battery of Canon EOS-1D Mark II digital SLRs, rather than the 35mm film cameras used for Burton's previous stop-motion film The Nightmare Before Christmas.
The film was nominated in the 78th Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature, but was beaten by Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, which also starred Helena Bonham Carter. It was shot with a battery of Canon EOS-1D Mark II digital SLRs, rather than the 35mm film cameras used for Burton's previous stop-motion film The Nightmare Before Christmas.
In an unnamed Victorian Era European village, Victor Van Dort (Johnny
Depp), the son of nouveau riche fish merchants, and Victoria Everglot
(Emily Watson),
the neglected daughter of hateful aristocrats, are getting prepared for
their arranged marriage, which will raise the social class of Victor's
parents and restore the wealth of Victoria's penniless family. Both have
concerns about marrying someone they do not know, but they fall
instantly in love when they first meet. After the shy, clumsy Victor
ruins the wedding rehearsal and is scolded by Pastor Galswells
(Christopher Lee), he flees and practices his wedding vows in the nearby
forest, placing the wedding ring on a nearby upturned tree root.
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| Theatrical Release Poster. |
Wanting to reunite with Victoria, Victor tricks Emily into taking him
back to the Land of the Living by pretending he wants her to meet his
parents. She agrees to this and takes him to see Elder Gutknecht (Michael Gough),
the kindly ruler of the underworld, to send him and Emily temporarily
to the Land of the Living. Once back home, Victor asks Emily to wait in
the forest while he rushes off to see Victoria and confess his wish to
marry her as soon as possible, to which she gladly returns his feelings.
Emily soon arrives and sees the two of them together and, feeling
betrayed and hurt, drags Victor back to the Land of the Dead. Victoria
tells her parents that Victor has been forcibly wed to a dead woman, but
they believe she has lost her mind and lock her up in her bedroom. She
escapes her room by window and rushes to Galswells to find a way helping
Victor, but fails. With Victor gone, Victoria's parents decide to marry
her off to a presumably wealthy newcomer in town named Lord Barkis
Bittern (Richard E. Grant), who appeared at the wedding rehearsal, against her will.
Emily is heartbroken by Victor's deception. Victor, however,
apologizes for lying to her, and the two reconcile while playing the
piano together. Shortly after, Victor's family coachman appears in the
afterlife (having recently died) and informs Victor of Victoria's
impending marriage to Lord Barkis. At the same time, Emily learns from
Elder Gutknecht that because marriage vows are only binding until "death
do you part" and death already parts them, her supposed marriage to
Victor was never valid. In order for their marriage to become valid,
Victor must repeat his vows in the Land of the Living and willingly
drink poison - thus joining her in death. Overhearing this, and fretting
about having lost his chance with Victoria, Victor agrees to die for
Emily. All of the dead go "upstairs" to the Land of the Living to
perform the wedding ceremony for Victor and Emily. Upon their arrival,
the town erupts into a temporary panic until every living person
recognizes each others' loved ones from the dead and they have a joyous
reunion under the bizarre circumstances.
After a quarrel with Lord Barkis - and realizing he was only after
her supposed money - Victoria follows the procession of dead to the
church. As Victor prepares to drink the cup of poison to kill himself,
Emily notices Victoria and has second thoughts, realizing that she is
denying Victoria her chance at happiness the same way it was stolen from
her. Lord Barkis interrupts them, and Emily recognizes him as her
former fiance - who is revealed to be the one who murdered her for her
dowry. Lord Barkis tries to kidnap Victoria at sword point, but Victor
stops him and the two men duel. Emily intercedes to save Victor, and
Lord Barkis mockingly proposes a toast to Emily claiming she's "always
the bridesmaid, never the bride!", and accidentally drinking the cup of
poison. The dead (now able to intercede as he's dead) drag the "new
arrival" away for punishment.
Emily sets Victor free of his vow to marry her, giving the wedding
ring back to Victor and her wedding bouquet to Victoria before exiting
the church. As she steps into the moonlight, she transforms into
hundreds of butterflies, presumably finding peace, as Victor and
Victoria look on.
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