Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride

Story

Set in the 1800s, Victor (voiced by Johnny Depp) has been pressured into an arranged marriage with Victoria (voiced by Emily Watson) to improve their social status. Victoria’s once-wealthy family is struggling financially, reluctantly agreeing to the union as a desperate attempt to restore their fortune.

After a series of mishaps, the awkward and shy Victor flees the wedding rehearsal and runs deep into the woods. While practicing his vows, he realises he has fallen for Victoria and is determined to get everything right. However, when he slips the ring onto what he thinks is a tree branch, it turns out to be the skeletal finger of Emily (voiced by Helena Bonham Carter); a corpse bride who believes he has just married her.

Caught between the living woman he was supposed to marry and the one he has accidentally married, Victor must navigate the macabre underworld and discover where his heart truly lies.

Themes

Life and death; marriage; family dynamics; loss; grief; classism; femicide

Violence

Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride has some violence. For example:

There’s lots of slapstick-style violence throughout the movie, and some of it’s quite dark in nature.
Victor trips and sets Victoria’s mother’s skirt on fire by accident.
It’s shown that Emily was murdered by a man who’d been betrothed to her to steal her family wealth.
Victor is verbally abused several times by his and Victoria’s parents.
Emily’s friends talk badly about Victoria in order to cheer Emily up, implying that Victoria is silly, clueless and not as good as Emily.
A character has a heavy coughing fit and falls off the top of a carriage, dead.
Several characters are stabbed or gravely injured in other ways, but they don’t die or react because they’re already corpses.
Victoria is held at knifepoint by a male character, while he claims that she’s his wife and he’s entitled to her.
There’s a violent sword fight where a character attempts to kill Victor.
A character accidentally drinks poison and dies, before several other characters descend on him while he screams in fear.
Victor attempts to take his own life to be with Emily by drinking poison, but she stops him.

Sexual references

Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride has some sexual references. For example:

Victor says, ‘With this hand, I will cup your… oh no!’ while making a hand gesture indicating breasts.
Emily flirts with Victor throughout the movie.
A male character grabs a female character, dipping her romantically and leaning in for a kiss.

Alcohol, drugs and other substances

Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride has some substance use. For example:

A character is shown smoking a pipe, which is presumably his cause of death.
Several characters are shown drinking wine and other alcoholic beverages.

Nudity and sexual activity

There’s no nudity and sexual activity in Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride.

Product placement

There’s no product placement in Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride.

Coarse language

Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride has some coarse language. For example, ‘damn’. Insults include ‘fool’, ‘ninny’, and ‘bat’.

Ideas to discuss with your children

Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride is everything you’d expect from Tim Burton; dark, gothic and funny. The stop-motion animation is very charming and visually appealing. However, due to scary scenes and violence the movie is not recommended for children under 9 years, and parental guidance is recommended from 9-11 years due to themes of death and femicide.

The main messages from Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride are that being true to yourself is what gives life meaning; and that love conquers all.

Values in Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride that you could reinforce with your children include love, selflessness and freedom to be yourself.

Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride could give you the chance to talk with your children about issues like gender-based violence and manipulating others to get what you want. You could also discuss the importance of facing your fears instead of running away, and of honest open communication in relationships.