Corpse Bride DVD Review

Just under a month ago, Tim Burton's Corpse Bride was released to DVD. It is available in both full and widescreen, and FutureShop had an exclusive edition (which is now sold out) which has a collector's cover as well as an illustrated book.

The film itself is simply amazing, a truly beautiful and heart-felt tale about love and acceptance. Corpse Bride focuses on Victor, who is due to be wed to Victoria whom he has never even met. In a moment of panic, Victor flees from town into the forest, and places the wedding ring on what he believes to be a twig. This "twig" is actually the finger of the dearly departed corpse bride, whom is only to happy to be his wife. The plot evolves further as Victor is taken to the land of the dead, and must try to return home to prevent Victoria from wedding a new suitor.

In traditional Burton style, the film has dark, gothic visuals but a heart of gold, with real depth to the characters and plot. Corpse Bride is another masterful tale from an amazing director who knows how to tell a good fairy tale, and it's done so with exceptionally animated puppets. The complexity and effort of bringing this film to life is amazing, as shown by the special features.

Each featurette is roughly 5 minutes or so in length, and a lot of time is spent discussing the differences between the land of the living and the land of the dead. Both Burton and Danny Elfman explain in detail how they invigourated the land of the dead, how it is so much more alive and how the land of living is simply bogged down with the nuances of life. All of the puppets are also shown, including the tricks of how garments were made to flow in the wind, facial expressions, etc. We also get to see all the voice cast in the booth during various recording sessions, as well as their thoughts on the film, their characters, and Tim Burton's directorial abilities.

Corpse Bride is a great film, a heart-warming tale that you shouldn't miss. If you don't want to go out and buy the DVD, at least give this one a rent if you happened to miss it in theatres.