Corpse Bride is a romantic comedy musical by Tim Burton and Danny Elfman, and a Spiritual Sequel to Henry Selick'sThe Nightmare Before Christmas (which Burton was the producer of). The film mixes German Expressionist elements, stop-motion animation, gothic melodrama and macabre sense of humour, and is based on an old Yiddish folk tale.Victor, the son of some wealthy fishmongers, is being forced into an Arranged Marriage with Victoria, a beautiful young woman from a penniless aristocratic family. The couple seem to like each other, and everything is going swimmingly... except for the tiny problem of Victor being unable to learn his lines. He goes into the forest to practice his marriage vows. But, unintentionally, Victor gives the speech (and engagement ring) to the vivacious and fun-loving Emily, who thinks they are now married.Oh, did we mention Emily is dead?Victor is dragged to the underworld, which ironically, heavily contrasts with the drab surroundings of the living by being colourful and vibrant. At first he is desperate to get back home to Victoria, but is soon torn between the life he knew and his life in the unlife. Victor also finds himself drawn towards Emily, whose tragic death may be more entwined with the lives of Victoria and himself than Victor first thought.The film has many little shout-outs and references to previous works by Tim Burton. Danny Elfman's character, Bonejangles, is a call-back to his time with Oingo Boingo.
Arc Words: "According to plan." First spoken by both sets of parents when they are trying to make the wedding go perfectly. Later mentioned by Victor to highlight that things are spiraling out of control. The last time is on Crowning Moment of Awesome page.
Aristocrats Are Evil: Subverted with Victoria, who's actually quite sweet. Played straight with her despicable parents, however. And don't even get us started on Lord Barkis.
Betty and Veronica: Okay people, I have the script! Victoria, you will play the part of the sweet and gentle Betty. The part of the lively and happy-go-lucky (but secretlytroubled) Veronica goes to Emily!
Beware the Nice Ones: The dead are a surprisingly friendly, fun-loving bunch, certainly more pleasant than most of the living...but you certainly don't want to get on their bad side.
Big Little Man: Finis Everglot is first shown talking face to face with his wife. Then the camera pans out and it turns out he is standing on a stool and really half her height.
The Bluebeard: Barkis tricked Emily into taking her family's jewels and gold and eloping with him, then stole the treasure and killed her. He also heavily indicates an intention to kill Victoria after their marriage. But at least The Killer Becomes the Killed.
Book Ends: The film opens and closes on butterflies.
Boy Meets Ghoul: Victor meets a dead girl, and ends up accidentally married to her.
Doing It for the Art: The various figures used in the film were animated using a very intricate clockwork system built inside of them, replacing the stop-motion industry standards of using multiple expressive heads.
Duet Bonding: Victor and the Bride, after he accidentally upsets her.
Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Victor Van Dort is the king of this, thanks to the color palette of the Land of the Living (and even then, he's paler than most of the other breathers)..
Expy: Victor looks like the grown-up version of Vincent, the child protagonist of one of Burton's earliest stop-motion works.
Fairy Tale: Based of a Jewish-Russian folktale originally, about a woman murdered on the way to her wedding. Some tropers classify this as Nightmare Fuel. Emily's backstory also bears tragic resemblances to the English folktale Mr. Fox (not to be confused with a later stop-motion animated film).
Feuding Families: While Victoria's family arranged the marriage, they did it only because the family is penniless and needed a quick way of getting cash. Likewise, Victor's family agreed in order to get some status by being linked to an old family. They don't get on very well... But their kids do, since they're Not so Different.
Gold Digger: Lord Barkis Bittern. Hey, a male one! Good for him.
The Grotesque: In some ways. Emily is nothing but skin and bones. She also has an eye that pops out and a worm living in her skull. Eww. But she remains ever gentle and kind.
Ironically, Victoria was based a bit on Helena Bonham-Carter (Emily's voice actress) physically, as the character designer wanted to make sure she looked interesting and pretty enough enough opposite the exotic Emily, so he gave her Bonham Carter's face shape (particularly her chin and forehead). Burton originally wanted Bonham Carter to voice Victoria anyway, which might make this fact a relic of the straightforward use of the trope. Bonham Carter asked to play Emily instead, as she'd played Victoria-type characters in live action before when she was the character's age.
According to the "making of" book, Emily too was redesigned to look a bit more like Helena (specifically, they gave her more of Helena's forehead).
Watch Danny Elfman sing "Remains of the Day" live and you'll understand where everything about Bonejangles comes from.
Karmic Death: Barkis, after some Evil Gloating at the dead, who are unable to harm the living. On his way out, he casually takes a sip from a cup placed on the altar. Unfortunately for him, the cup contained the poison which Victor was supposed to drink during the marriage ceremony. He is instantly killed. See the Fate Worse than Death section of this article for what happens next. May also qualify as Death by Irony.
Love Triangle: Victor must choose between Emily, his dead wife, and Victoria, his live. Which is harder than it probably sounds.
Minor Insult Meltdown: Victor does this to Emily after she finds out about Victoria. "Why can't you understand that this is a mistake? I would never marry you!" Geez, Victor, couldn't you phrase that any more painfully?
Pass the Popcorn: General Bones-apart just knows that the tale of Emily's murder "is gonna be good."
Parental Bonus: When Victor is in the woods, practicing his vows, he says a line to the effect of "With this hand, I will cup your...", with his hands placed near his chest area. Once he realizes what he's doing, he pulls his hands away and says, "Oh goodness, no."
Real Is Brown: The staid Victorian world of the living. Notably not applied to the afterlife, which resembles San Francisco in the hippie era.
Romantic False Lead: And we have a twofer. Emily is the likable variation, with Barkis being the nasty version.
Rummage Fail: She doesn't exactly rummage, but it's close enough when Mrs. Plum tries to grab a knife from the male cook's head for Victor to fight with but accidentally takes hold of a fork and tosses that to Victor.
Also when Victor attempts to arm himself, but the sword doesn't come free of the guy it's stuck through.
Shadow Discretion Shot: Emily's murder to make it more family friendly, but also to hide the identity of her killer.
Victoria: It's true, Mother! Victor is married to a dead woman! I saw her - a corpse! - standing right there with Victor! Lady Everglot:Victor was in your room!?
Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace: Victoria doesn't object to Victor's wedding to Emily; Emily herself stops it when she realizes that if she goes through with it, she will steal Victoria's dreams just as her own dreams were stolen.
Talking to Himself: Completely averted. Despite a good number of minor characters having the same voice actor, none of them speak to each other. For example, Mayhew and William Van Dort are both voiced by Paul Whitehouse and have some interaction together but never say a word to each other.
The Reveal: Lord Barkis Bittern the killer. Buh buh BUUUUUHHHH!!!
Title Drop: Repeatedly in the underworld. Victoria also tells the minister that Victor "has a corpse bride!"
You Shall Not Pass: Spoofed with extra points for having it said by Christopher Lee's character.
"Keep it down, we're in a church!"
Zombie Apocalypse: Gloriously subverted. Almost deconstructed, even, as the living gradually recognize their lost loved ones among the shambling ranks of the dead.
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