"With its brief running time, tight little story and sweet-sad Gothic fairytale feel, it’s more like the live-action Edward Scissorhands than Burton’s previous venture, The Nightmare Before Christmas." Kim Newman EMPIRE ONLINE "Corpse Bride is painstakingly crafted, bearing Tim Burton’s stamp all over it. With co-director Mike Johnson, he marries stop-motion and computer animation to great effect, and Burton regulars Depp and Bonham-Carter do a fine job voicing the leads." Jaimie Leonarder SBS THE MOVIE SHOW "It's Tim Burton just as you expect him, and for most of his fans, that's more than enough." Josh Bell LAS VEGAS WEEKLY "A bittersweet fairy tale set at death's door that salutes the liberating power of true love." Frederic and Mary Ann SPIRITUALITY AND HEALTH "A sweet and visually lovely tale of love lost." Roger Ebert CHICAGO SUN-TIMES

"Spooky and macabre, Corpse Bride is a delightful animated musical from the demented brain of Tim Burton that will enthrall children and adults alike." Pauline Adamek FILMINK "If Nightmare Before Christmas was a jazzy pop number, Corpse Bride is a waltz: an elegant, deadly funny bit of macabre matrimony." Robert K Elder CHICAGO TRIBUNE "It is a potent reminder of how dazzling stop-motion animation can be." Ethan Alter FILM JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL "Corpse Bride is a terrific film, a return to what Tim Burton does best - make movies perfectly balanced between the perverse and the genuinely sweet, all wrapped up in a genuine fairytale and dressed in Halloween costumes." TRIPLE J MOVIE REVIEWS "The main characters' wide-eyed visages and delicate, elongated bodies add to the film's distinctive grace. Some of Corpse Bride's imagery might be too close to the bone for small children, but at core, the story is very sweet. Deliciously dark." Vicky Roach DAILY TELEGRAPH

The Inside Story From the wonderful mind of Tim Burton comes another utterly enchanting and delightful film, "Tim Burton's Corpse Bride" based on a very old Russian folk story. What makes this latest effort so outstanding is while the world becomes consumed with CGI and forsakes the old ways, Burton chose to use stop-motion animation, the same method used in the recently successful "Wallace & Grommit" movie. Combining talents with co-director Mike Johnson [who specializes in animation] Burton's latest product continues in the vein of those that preceeded it; highly imaginative, highly creative and very entertaining. Add to that that this was a project that required a lot of patience and commitment, because it took ten years to bring Corpse Bride to the screen. It's not the first time Burton has been involved in a stop-motion production. Remember "Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas", directed by Henry Selick? So why the fascination with stop-motion? "What I love about stop-motion animation is that it’s so tactile", says the man who breathed life into the classic story of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". "There’s something wonderful about being able to physically touch and move the characters, and to see their world actually exist. It’s similar to making a live action film; if you’re doing it all on blue screen, it doesn’t give you the feeling of actually being there, which the stop-motion process does." Burton reveals that after he'd finished production on The Nightmare Before Christmas he was looking for another project. As luck would have it, a story would come to him. "Joe Ranft, a friend of mine, gave me a little short story, a couple of paragraphs from an old folk tale, and it seemed right for this particular type of animation. It’s like casting; you want to marry the medium with the material. And this seemed like a good match." The old folk tale from Russia was "about unintentional nuptials between an unfortunate man and a deceased bride. The romantically macabre story captured the attention and imagination of acclaimed writer/director Tim Burton", who in 1989 was the National Association of Theatre Owners 'Director of the Year' Award winner. His love for the method of stop-motion has won him much admiration. "Tim’s ideas helped bring stop-motion animation back into the public eye", says co-director Mike Johnson. "The Nightmare Before Christmas spawned a new generation of stop-motion fans; it has a certain texture, a presence, that just can’t be achieved with computers. It’s because of his interest and his passion that these big projects can get rolling." Producer Allison Abbate is full of praise for Johnson and revealed the enormity of the project which really is a dedictaed work of love. "I worked with Mike on The Nightmare Before Christmas," says Abbate. "He has a great sense of and love for stop-motion. It’s an extraordinarily complicated, detail-oriented art form, and there’s so much physical work that has to be done to literally move the project forward frame by frame. Mike inspired the group and really led them through the Herculean task of getting these shots out. You need to pace yourself, you need to inspire the crew, you need to keep your mind on twenty-six stages and hundreds of puppets, and Mike did it all." But there's more to the story. Burton was working on two projects at once, "Corpse Bride" and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". Also working on the two projects was acclaimed actor Johnny Depp, who each day at the end of filming would go into the recording studio and record the voice of Victor. "Corpse Bride" marks the fourth time Burton and Depp have worked together, The previous occassions? "Edward Scissorhands", "Ed Wood" and "Sleepy Hollow". "Each time I’ve worked with Johnny he’s something different," says Burton. "He’s interested in being a character and not necessarily interested in his persona, and I find it very exciting to work with actors like that." The feeling is obviously mutual. "Tim’s vision is always amazing, beyond anything you expect," says Depp. "If Tim wanted to shoot 18 million feet of film of me staring into a light bulb and I couldn’t blink for three months, I’d do it." Playing opposite Depp are two wonderful actresses who voice the onscreen characters Victoria Everglot and of course, the Corpse Bride. Two-time Academy Award Best Actress nominee Emily Watson is the voice of sweet and innocent Victoria while Burton's partner Helena Bonham Carter, who also appeared in "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", is the voice of the hapless Corpse Bride". "Victoria starts off as a sort of rather uptight, well-bred young lady who appears to be fairly timid," says Watson. "She has very snobby parents who are marrying her off to money. And it doesn’t seem possible, but when she meets Victor she actually encounters a man who is shyer and more timid than she is. It’s kind of a complete social car crash, but in the middle of all that they’re very sweet together. Everything appears to be going swimmingly until he is snatched by the Corpse Bride who appears from the underworld." Of the Corpse Bride Bonham Carter says, "She’s ultimately somebody who is arrested; she’s stopped, she’s frozen in time. She’s just eternally young, which is sort of a nice paradox with being so aged in her body. But there’s a genuine innocence to her and a purity, and an openness. She really hopes he loves her, even though she knows there are some things she hasn’t got going for her, like being alive." Cinemagoers will soon discover that it's not hard to feel a real empithy for the three characters involved in this dark tale of a love triangle between the living and the dead. Burton has created an emotive tale that tugs at the heartstrings. Dark as it is, "Tim Burton's Corpse Bride" provides many magical moments and quite a few laughs. Adding to the atmosphere is the music and songs of acclaimed composer Danny Elfman, who has worked on every Burton film but one. Elfman, a GRAMMY Award winner ["Batman"] and two time Academy Award nominee, gets a gig in the film as the band leader Bonejangles. "Like The Nightmare Before Christmas, writing songs for Corpse Bride was a real treat," says Elfman. "Tim’s visuals make the perfect compliment for the kind of stuff I love doing most. These wonderfully fun, dark, offbeat tales are the perfect platform for me to write odd, slightly twisted obscure styles, such as my favorite musical era, 1930’s jazz. I only hope we get to do more in the future." Let's hope so because the two were together right at the beginning when Burton's career started and have completed twelve films together. And why have they been so successful in their partnership? "when I had the opportunity to make "Pee Wee’s Big Adventure", I asked Danny to be a part of it," Burton recalls. "It was great because neither of us had ever made a movie on that scale, so it felt like we were embarking on this at the same time, doing things we’d never done before, and I think that made a connection between us that has lasted." Crew Bytes "TIM BURTON'S CORPSE BRIDE" was .......
directed by Tim Burton ["The Island of Doctor Agor", "Frankenweenie", "Mars Attacks!" and "The World of Stainboy"] and Mike Johnson ["The Devil Went Down to Georgia"]; production design by Alex McDowell ["Fight Club", "The Cat In The Hat", "The Terminal" and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"]; edited by Jonathan Lucas ["Water and Power" and "Kartenspieler"] and Chris Lebenzon A.C.E ["Days of Thunder", "Top Gun", "Sleepy hollow" and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"]; cinematography by Peter Kosachik ["Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas" and "James and the Giant Peach"]; original music by Danny Elfman ["Men in Black II", "Chicago", "Spider-man", "Spider-man 2" and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"] produced by BAFTA award winner Allison Abbate ["Runaway Brain", "Space Jam", "The Iron Giant" and "Looney Tunes: Back in Action"] and Tim Burton ["Stalk of the Celery", "Cabin Boy", "Ed Wood" and "Batman Forever"]. Voice Cast Bytes "TIM BURTON'S CORPSE BRIDE" stars .......
Screen Actor’s Guild Award winner Johnny Depp ["Before Night Falls", "Once Upon A Time In Mexico", "Secret Window", "Finding Neverland" and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"]; Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Award winner Helena Bonham Carter ["Fight Club", "Till Human Voices Wake Us", "Planet Of The Apes" and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"]; New York Film Critics’ Circle Award, ,Felix Best Actress Award and the 1997 London Film Critics’ Circle British Newcomer of the Year Award winner Emily Watson ["Angela's Ashes", "Punch-Drunk Love", "Red Dragon", "The Life And Death Of Peter Sellers" and "The Proposition"]; Paul Whitehouse ["Kevin & Perry Go Large", "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" and "Finding Neverland"]; Tracey Ullman ["Robin Hood: Men in Tights", "Bullets Over Broadway", "Small Time Crooks" and "A Dirty Shame"]; Richard E Grant ["Killing Dad or How to Love Your Mother", "Hudson Hawk", "The Serpent's Kiss" and "Gosford Park"] and Christopher Lee ["Penny and the Pownall Case", "Corridor of Mirrors", "One Night with You", "The Truth About Women", "Sleepy Hollow", "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and "The Lord of the Rings I, II & III"] as Pastor Galswells. What It's All About Victor, son of wealthy fishmongers Nell and William Van Dort is about to be married, by arrangement, to Victoria, daughter of stone broke aristocrats Maudeline and Finis Everglot. It's a marriage of convenience and Victor, for the sake of his social climbing parents is happy to go along with the arrangements. When it comes to the wedding rehersal, everything goes wrong for the quiet unassuming young groom to be. He can't remember his wedding vows. After numerous attempts to get it right, Pastor Galswells calls the rehersal off. Embarressed, Victor runs out of town and into the woods. Here he tries to get his vows right. Finally he has them down pat. Kneeling before a gnarly, dead tree Victor recites the vows and places the ring on a spindly, lifeless root. Shock horror. It comes to life. Victor can forget his plans to marry Victoria because he's married a 'Corpse Bride' instead. And it appears there's now way out. The Verdict "While it is cleverly done, imaginative and another fascinating production from the talented mind of Tim Burton, I am sure some cinemagoers in the audience just might find the 74 minute run time feels like 180 minutes. It's a style of animation and storytelling that may not appeal to those who feast on the modern style of CGI. Never the less, "Tim Burton's Corpse Bride" does have a lot going for it including that short run time of just 74 minutes, a voice cast which is suitabley matched to the wickedly delicious characters, a whacky love story and a lot of old world charm. Add to that an excellent soundtrack by Grammy Award winner Danny Elfman and you're on a winner. Recommended." The Voice Cast

Johnny Depp Helena Bonham Carter Emily Watson Tracey Ullman Tracey Ullman Paul Whitehouse Paul Whitehouse Paul Whitehouse Joanna Lumley Albert Finney Richard E Grant Christopher Lee Michael Gough Jane Horrocks Jane Horrocks Enn Reitel Enn Reitel Deep Roy Danny Elfman Stephen Ballantyne Lisa Kay

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Victor Van Dort Corpse Bride Victoria Everglot Nell Van Dort Hildegarde William Van Dort Mayhew Paul The Head Waiter Maudeline Everglot Finnis Everglot Barkis Bittern Pastor Galswells Elder Gutknecht Black Widow Spider Mrs Plum Maggot Town Crier General Bonesapart Bonejangles Emil Solemn Village Boy

The Crew Directed by Tim Burton & Mike Johnson Screenplay by John August/Pamela Pettler/Caroline Thompson Produced by Allison Abbate & Tim Burton Original Music by Danny Elfman Cinematography by Pete Kozachik Film Editing by Jonathan Lucas Casting by Michelle Guish Production Design by Alex McDowell Art Direction by Nelson Lowry Set Decoration by Colin Batty Production Manager Harry Linden Run Time 74 minutes Rated PG [AUST] Copyright ©2005 - Warner Bros - All Rights Reserved Copyright Protected © 2005 - Impact Internet Services & The Movie Pages- All Rights Reserved