Corpse Bride
Corpse Bride, isn't your typical horror movie. Instead it's a fun and adventurous animation following the life of Victor and his corpse bride. Victor who is voiced by Johnny Depp(a Tim Burton favorite) is to be married to Victoria Everglot who comes from a poor aristocratic family whereas Victor's family are rich fish merchants. Set in a 19th century village where arrange marriages are common, Victor and Victoria feel uneasy with the idea of marrying someone who they do not know. There is also the motif of money and wealth. It just so happens that Victoria's family is marrying off their only daughter in order to gain Victor's family wealth. Tim Burton brings in his social commentary in ways that establish setting of the entire story. The film progresses when Victor and Victoria fall in love but are unable to marry due to Victor being very shy when saying his marriage vows. Victor, frustrated with himself runs into the forest where he perfectly recites the vows and puts his wedding ring on the dead branch of a nearly tree, which just so happens to be the finger of the corpse bride Emily who is dead and is voiced by Helena Bonham Carter, another Tim Burton favorite. Corpse Bride tells a tale of how Victor finds his way back to his true love Victoria, even though Emily believes their marriage to be true.
Tim Burton is famously known for creating strange and unique films using the his same favorite actors, and this is something that comes up in the Corpse Bride as well. Some physical features of Victor almost appear to look like Depp. Similarly Emily the corpse bride somewhat carries Helena Bonham-Carter's facial features. This says a lot about how Tim Burton decides to bring his favorite actors to life even if the film is an animation. Emily shows to be a character of sympathy who lost her chance a love and a happy marriage when her husband to be killed her the night before their wedding. Victor automatically is afraid of Emily and wishes to return to Victoria.
A interesting Tim Burton feature is how he depicts life and death. in Frankenweenie he brings back the death, and goes to send a message about how death should not be feared. This is also signature Tim Burton idea that can be sean in The Nightmare Before Christmas where ghosts, monsters and the dead all celebrate Halloween and Christmas. A similar message is mirrored in Corpse Bride where Tim Burton makes a lot of intriguing choices when differentiating between life and death. In the film life, appears to be very dreary and dull. The village is quiet and its almost always raining. Tim Burton uses a lot of blue and unsaturated tones. Whereas in death, everyone is happy and cheerful. There's a celebration almost everyday and the tones are very bright and colorful.
Tim Burton does a great job of tying in social commentary that usually touches on wealth and death with his eerie but family friendly animation films. Tim Burton uses color and dramatic establishing shots to get his thoughts through to the audience. Making careful decisions of when to use black and white shits versus color is something that I have come to admire about Tim Burton films. At the end of every film the audience is able to somewhat come to terms with death, realizing that there may be nothing to fear. Everyone will meet death one day and thats nature running its course.