Corpse Bride (2005)
- Tim Burton, Mike Johnson originally wanted a completely different ending for the film, but test audiences preferred the one we see today.
- Eagle-eyed viewers have noticed a hidden easter egg referencing Tim Burton, Mike Johnson's previous film in the background of the opening scene.
- Before Johnny Depp was cast, several major A-list stars turned down the lead role because they felt the script was too risky.
Corpse Bride is a 2005 British-American stop-motion animated musical dark fantasy film directed by Tim Burton and Mike Johnson. Set in a Victorian-era European village, the film follows Victor Van Dort, voiced by Johnny Depp, a timid young man arranged to marry Victoria Everglot, voiced by Emily Watson, who accidentally finds himself married to Emily, voiced by Helena Bonham Carter β a murdered young woman whose corpse rises from the grave when Victor places his wedding ring on what he believes is a tree root but is actually her skeletal finger. Victor must navigate between the drab, gray world of the living and the vibrant, colorful Land of the Dead to resolve his predicament and discover the truth behind Emily's murder.
Tim Burton's signature gothic romantic sensibility found its purest expression in Corpse Bride, with the film's central visual conceit β the living world is gray and lifeless while the Land of the Dead is colorful and joyous β serving as both a visual joke and a philosophical statement. The stop-motion animation was extraordinarily refined, with replacement-face technology allowing more subtle emotional expression than Burton's earlier The Nightmare Before Christmas. Danny Elfman composed the score and contributed songs, including a jazzy piano number performed by skeleton musicians.
Corpse Bride earned $117 million worldwide on a $40 million budget and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Feature.
