Tim Burton's Corpse Bride [DVD] [2005]

Who else but Tim Burton could make Corpse Bride, a necrophiliac's delight that's fun for the whole family? Returning to the richly imaginative realm of stop-motion animation--after previous successes with The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach, Burton, with codirector Mike Johnson, invites us to visit the dour, ashen, and drearily Victorian mansions of the living, where young Victor Van Dort, voiced by Johnny Depp, is bequeathed to wed the lovely Victoria.

But the wedding rehearsal goes sour and, in the kind of Goth-eerie forest that only exists in Burton-land, Victor suddenly finds himself accidentally married to the Corpse Bride, voiced by Helena Bonham Carter, a blue-tinted, half-skeletal beauty with a loquacious maggot installed behind one prone-to-popping eyeball.

This being a Burton creation, the underworld of the dead is a lively and colorful place indeed, and Danny Elfman's songs and score make it even livelier, presenting Victor with quite a dilemma: Should he return above-ground to Victoria, or remain devoted to his corpse bride? At a brisk 76 minutes, Burton's graveyard whimsy never wears out its welcome, and the voice casting is superbly matched the film's gloriously amusing character design, guaranteed to yield a wealth of gruesome toys and action figures for many Halloweens to come. --Jeff Shannon

Two aristocratic families pair off their less-than-satisfied children, believing they will all be escalated into high society. Yet when clumsy Victor Van Dort (Depp) rehearses his vows in the woods, he accidentally marries the Corpse Bride(Bonham-Carter), throwing a great wrench in everyone's plans.

- 'Inside The Two Worlds': interviews, behind-the-scenes footage and production drawings - 'The Animators - The Breath Of Life': find out how an animator approaches his character's motivation and why individual animators possess unique skills - 'Tim Burton - Dark vs. Light': explore what inspired Burton to bring 'The Corpse Bride' to life - 'Making Puppets Tick': step inside and tour the puppet workshop - 'Voices From The Underworld': meet the actors behind the voices and see how they craft their unique characterizations based on their puppet counterparts - Pre-production galleries - 'The Voices Behind The Voice' featurette - Composer Danny Elfman interprets the two worlds - Music only audio track