I know that I’m in something of a rut, but I’ve watched another Tim Burton film: Corpse Bride. And what a wonderful film it is! It is so rare that I see a movie that is enjoyable from beginning to end. But it is, after all, my kind of film: lots of silliness and a very sweet, even sentimental story. Combining Corpse Bride with Frankenweenie and Nightmare Before Christmas makes for a great triple feature. They are all quite different, even as the form a cohesive visual whole.
But as much as I liked Corpse Bride, I thought a slightly more complex story would have worked even better. Actually, I think this is so obvious, that I suspect that the writers must have played with the idea. The back story is that the Emily (the corpse bride) was waiting to be married when she was murdered. It is revealed that Lord Barkis was both her fiance and her murderer. The plot follows on with Barkis getting his comeuppance and Emily being set free, transforming herself into dozens of butterflies. Okay, but I think we could do better for her.
It would provide a more fulfilling ending if Emily’s fiance was not Barkis. Her fiance could, through any number of plot devices, find himself at the final wedding. Barkis could kill him, thus allowing Emily to have a happy ending. Then the rest could be the same: Barkis triumphantly drinks the poison and then is attacked by the corpse mob.
The one thing that I wonder is what problem there is with this idea. Like I said: I’m sure they tried it. It must have been abandoned due to some problem that I’m not clear on. The one thing I can see is that there is already a little problem with Victoria accepting Victor after he has been pretty clearly unfaithful. (In his defense, he thought Victoria willingly married Lord Barkis.) It might have been too much complication to justify Emily’s unfaithfulness to her fiance. Plus, it would take some time to establish the fiance’s good reason for being late.
Still, I think these are solvable problems. Sometimes it is just a question of time. Once a production gets the go ahead, it has to move fast lest the money be pulled. Still, if you haven’t see Corpse Bride (or you just haven’t seen it recently) go and see it. It is wonderful.
