Death at the Movies, part 2

Last year I posted an article on seeing several films about death, and their various interpretations on the event. Most recently I have seen another film with another interpretation on death.

As far as films on death go Tim Burton, like many others, shoots for entertainment and not truth. Burton's most recent stop-animation film (his first being The Nightmare Before Christmas) The Corpse Bride is a fun and creative work. I loved this film. Burton has done a masterful job in creating a world that draws you in, whose colors match the storyline, and whose characters are the most captivating. Stop-animation is a dying art. With the increase in cgi animation these types of works are not finding a welcome place in the world of entertainment, but Burton excels at it.

It is not, however, the animation that is most captivating about the film, it is, rather, the bizarre and intriguing story of the Corpse Bride. Certainly no one will doubt that Burton has a very active and sometimes freaky imagination, but this story is so creative and masterfully done that audiences can't help but love it. This is where many of the fantastic new animation producing companies fall short. Disney's most recent movie The Wild is proof that what they need is not better animation, but a better story. This film is like they simply took Finding Nemo and put it in the context of a zoo, which is much like Madagascar. Burton's film is a genuinely unique story, another rare find in the world of entertainment.

As an interpretation of death I find it completely wrong, but as a fun film I find it top quality.