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Tim Burton, Mike Johnson, 2005, USA, Colour, 77 mins, Certificate: PG
There are films that come out of nowhere to sweep you off your feet.
Even though you know their creator(s) and what they are capable of.
Still.
Big little miracles that ever grow in you in weird and wonderful ways.
Like this dark, romantic comedy of misunderstandings that happens when Victor, a shy groom, practices his vows. In the woods, oblivious to the fact that he is in the presence of a ghost. As soon as he gets them right, Emily, the dead, young woman rises from the grave believing that they are now married.
Caught between two brides and two worlds, what will Victor choose? And what extraordinary (self) discoveries will he make?
Not quite the pop culture staple that Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas confusingly directed by Henry Selick is, Tim Burton's Corpse Bride is unmistakably Burton's and is still a masterpiece. His 12th feature film and his first, stop motion animation as a (co)director, it celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, and features prominently in the Design Museum's brilliant exhibition The World of Tim Burton, which just got extended to May.
Oscar nominated for Best Animated film, it is a marvel of the art of stop motion, as it used innovative techniques to bring its story to (cinematic) life. Using neither of the industry standards of replaceable heads or replaceable mouths for its unusually tall (23-28 cm) puppets, but instead precision crafted clockwork heads, painstakingly adjusted by hidden keys, it achieved unprecedented, haunting subtlety.
Above all however, this is one of those films that come out of nowhere to sweep us off our feet.
A big little miracle.