In a 19th-century, European village, Victor Van Dort (Johhny Depp) and Emily Everglot (Emily Watson) are two young people that are to be married, an arrangement made possible through their parents, Nell Van Dort (Tracey Ullman), William Van Dort (Paul Whitehouse), Maudeline Everglot (Joanna Lumley) and Finnis Everglot (Albert Finney). The marriage is more of an arrangement between the parents, the Van Dort's looking to improve their social standing and the Everglot's who have the titles, but are strapped for cash. Victor and Emily aren't thrilled about the arrangement and they meet for the first time before the rehearsal ceremony and a very nervous Victor stumbles through the difficult vows until a highly irritated Pastor Galswells (Christopher Lee) demands young Victor leave and practice his vows. Victor retreats to the forest and begins practicing the vows and much to his horror, he recites the vows perfectly and manages to place the wedding ring an a deceased young woman (Helena Bonham Carter) who was to be a bride, herself. Needless to say, the corpse bride is only too happy to have herself a groom and Victor is horrified to realize he's managed to marry himself off to the wrong woman. Victor is soon introduced to all the characters in the land of the dead who think his taking the corpse bride is a wonderful thing. Knowing he must get back to the land of the living, Victor and the corpse bride approach, Elder Gutknecht (Michael Gough), asking his help in going back to the land of the living, so Victor might introduce his bride to the family....a less than honest request, as Victor wants to let Emily know what's taken place. When the corpse bride realizes what Victor has done, she whisks him back to the land of the dead and Emily is left to endure another prearranged marriage to Barkis Bittern (Richard E Grant), who appears to have a less than happily ever-after marriage, planned for poor Emily and who many also have a link to the land of the dead, himself. Although Victor and Victoria weren't initially thrilled about their arranged marriage, both had a change of heart, following their first meeting and when Vitoria hears Victor is with another woman and Victor hears Victoria is to be married to another, it would seem fate has left either with few options, but to go forward with what life has dealth them.....or are their options beyond that which they are aware of?

Corpse Bride is presented in anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) and is a wonderful looking picture. Colors as well as black and whites all appear solid and there is no print damage at all. The disc does have some short, but nice bonus features as well, including:

-Inside the Two Worlds (Featurette)

-Danny Elfman Interprets the Two Worlds (Featurette)

-The Animators: The Breath of Life (Featurette)

-Tim Burton: Dark vs Light (Featurette)

-Voices From the Underworld (Featurette)

-Making Puppets Tick (Featurette)

-The Voices Behind the Voice (Featurette)

-The Corpse Bride--Pre-production Galleries

-Theatrical Trailer

-Music-Only Track

Some interesting points of trivia regarding this film are:

-When Victor plays the piano, he leans back and the nameplate says, 'Harryhausen', a reference to stop-motion animator, Ray Harryhausen.

-The maggot's voice, mannerisms and facial appearance are an impersonation of actor, Peter Lorre.

-Had a 55-week shoot, during which 109,440 individually animated frames had to be set up and filmed.

I found, Corpse Bride to be highly enjoyable. I attempted to keep my expectations somewhat grounded, but was highly anticipating seeing the film and I walked away from the viewing, highly entertained. I'm a fan of Burton's other animated feature, The Nightmare Before Christmas and this effort is as enjoyable as that film, in my opinion. I have heard many fans comparing the two features and in my opinion, it's not really fair to compare, as they are two very different films. Burton always appears to have a firm grasp on what he wants to convey in his films and I love how he tips his hat to classic and Gothic horror films in his work. Including veterans, Christopher Lee and Michael Gough as voice actors in this film went a long way for me and both men, as the entire cast come across as giving this feature their all. The film runs a short, 77 minutes, but the story is packed with plenty of action, well-timed comedy and some fantastic animation. Of the bonus features, I found the, Voices From the Underworld and The Voices Behind the Voice to be the most enjoyable...it's a lot of fun to watch the actors and actresses doing their voice work and seeing the characters come to life in the process. Sure, it may be impossible to top Burton's, The Nightmare Before Christmas, but I'd say without hesitation that, Corpse Bride can stand on it's own merit and definitely deserves a rent or in my case, a place in my collection.

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