It’s hard to give Corpse Bride a place. At times it can defy definition. It’s a comedy, a satirical look at the afterlife, romance, drama, and a fun ride all the way through. The short running time (barely breaking the hour mark without the credits) encourage multiple spins on your DVD player, and it’s doubtful that many people won’t be willing to do that. ![]()
The movie is a Hollywood first. Instead of putting this on film, it was shot using a digital still camera by Canon. The result is a perfect DVD transfer. Looking closely at the puppets, you can make out every piece of cloth and stitching. Compression is amazingly avoided given the film's “real” world segments are drenched in blue tones. This brings each set to life, and the effort put into crafting each frame is definitely noticeable. ![]()
Musical numbers blare from the home theater set-up, using every speaker to bombard the viewer with a fantastic audio mix. Separation is composed wonderfully as characters exit the screen with the accompanying sound following them through the sound field. There’s little opportunity for the bass to kick in, though that’s not a fault of the 5.1 mix. ![]()
The features are split into numerous sections, yet should be considered one extended documentary. Seven mini-featurettes run around 40 minutes total. There are some superb looks at the animators and the process they went through in creating this. Composer Danny Elfman discusses his score, the voice actors have a chance to speak out of character, Tim Burton discusses the separate color styles used, and there’s a split screen look at the voice actors performing along with the finished scene. It’s all here except for a commentary. ![]()
As there should be, Corpse Bride has a small reference to one of the greatest stop motion animators of all time. During the piano sequence, look for Victor to lean and check out the nameplate. There you’ll see the tip of the hat to the always deserving of praise Ray Harryhausen.







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