In 2005, Tim Burton’s The Corpse Bride was released into theaters. While that does seem like a while ago, many people today still enjoy this stunning movie. Between the music, style, well thought out characters, and the themes that the movie addresses, moviegoers continue to enjoy the film despite its age.

The movie is about Victor (Johnny Depp) who is forced into an arranged marriage with Victoria (Emily Watson), to whom he has never met. While practicing his vows in the woods, he puts his ring on a branch reaching from the ground. The branch ended up being the hand of Emily (Helena Bonham Carter) who took Victor to the Land of the Dead, thinking that they are now married. While the plot does seem a little weird, but weird is how Tim Burton rolls.

While the songs may not be as memorable as the ones from The Nightmare Before Christmas, but they still capture the true feeling and mood of the story. Danny Elfman, the composer that works on most of Tim Burton’s films, created songs that created and changed the mood throughout the entire story. Between the fun, story-like style of “Remains of the Day” and the melancholy style of “Tears to Shed”, viewers learn more about the story and mood through songs that they remember for hours after hearing them.

Like many Tim Burton films, The Corpse Bride is a claymation. This means that it took hours to create each scene using stop motion. With the amount of details and movement that each scene has, one scene could take about 3 weeks. The movies took 52 weeks to film, opposed to the 12 to 13 weeks it takes to film normal other features. It’s a good thing that they took so long. Without the amount of time they took, The Corpse Bride wouldn’t have been able to achieve the mood and style that they were going for

The characters are another factor that makes this movie awesome. The characters are very well thought out and believable. They were entertaining and likable. Without likable characters, the viewers wouldn’t have cared about the events of the movie, so it was a good idea for Tim Burton to create his characters like they were real.

The movie does a good job at exploring themes. While people do have different ideas on what the main theme is. Brenna Kilpatrick, a senior, got it spot on when she stated that she believed the theme to be “love surpassing death.” Honestly, this theme seems to sum up the entire movie and the deeper message that it was trying to bring to light.

The Corpse Bride is one movie that many people who watch it end up enjoying. Grace Smith, a freshman, stated, “I loved it. It has an interesting plot with funny characters and the classic stop-motion charm.” Despite the constant good reviews, the movie continues to get swept under the rug by other big-name movies. With Halloween festivities upon us, it’s the perfect time to sit back and rewatch one of the most neglected Tim Burton films.