'Til death do us part' 'Til death do us part'

To say that Tim Burton's "Corpse Bride" is nothing more than a follow up to his cult classic "The Nightmare Before Christmas" would be unfair. While both films were created using stop-motion technology (claymation for most people), feature macabre characters, themes and songs and are laced with tons of Burton's signature touches, "Corpse Bride" is ultimately a unique love story that stands on its own quite well.\n"Corpse Bride" tells the story of Victor Van Dort (voiced by Burton muse Johnny Depp), a young son of a fish monger who is set to marry a woman, Victoria Everglot (Emily Watson), who he has never met. The film opens with the two families meeting for the rehearsal ceremony. The Van Dorts are happy their son is finally marrying, while the Everglot's interest lies solely in the groom's money which, if their plans go correctly, will carry them out of debt and back into a bourgeoisie lifestyle. \nDuring the rehearsal Victor is a nervous wreck, fumbling with his vows, finding it hard to look into the eyes of his new bride and almost burning down the ceremony with a candle. Pastor Galswells, voiced wonderfully by the always creepy Christopher Lee, who will conduct the wedding, gives Victor 24 hours to get his act together.\nIn an attempt to nail his vows and convince himself that marriage is not all that bad, Victor hikes out to the woods where he can gather his thoughts. There, while practicing the wedding ring placement, Victor accidentally resurrects the Corpse Bride who, upon rising from the grave, says "I do," thus leaving Victor with two brides to deal with. \nAfter a failed attempt to flee the scene, Victor is taken down below mortal earth to the resting place of all the dead from the area. While there he meets a number of wonderful characters, all either corpses or skeletons, and he learns the story of the Corpse Bride.\nThe scenes in the "underworld" are pure Burton and are some of the best in the movie with wonderful songs, incredible attention to detail and sets that bring to mind earlier films like "Beetlejuice" and "Edward Scissorhands." Burton's wife, Helena Bonham Carter, who seems to be Burton's new muse, voices the Corpse Bride (whose real name is Emily) and brings a lot of emotion and humanity to the character. \n"The Corpse Bride" is one of those films that truly shows the grand expanse of Tim Burton's creativity and uniqueness. The characters and story were based off his own visions, the visuals were obviously made with care and extreme detail, there is a wonderful hint of a love story mixed in and the film as a whole comes across more as a 76-minute work of art than a typical Hollywood vehicle.