Which Corpse Bride Character Are You?

Learn More About Corpse Bride

Corpse Bride is a stop-motion animated fantasy directed by Mike Johnson and Tim Burton. It premiered at the Venice Film Festival on September 7, 2005, reached United States theaters on September 23, 2005, and opened in the United Kingdom on October 13, 2005. Set in a gloomy, Victorian-style village in 1800s England, it follows a nervous young man whose wedding rehearsal goes wrong and leads him to a surprisingly lively afterlife.

Victor Van Dort, voiced by Johnny Depp, is engaged to Victoria Everglot, voiced by Emily Watson, in an arranged marriage that benefits both families. The two meet and fall for each other almost immediately, yet Victor is so anxious that he ruins the rehearsal and runs into the woods. While practicing his vows alone, he slips his ring onto what he thinks is a tree root. It is actually the finger of Emily, voiced by Helena Bonham Carter, a murdered bride who has waited years for her groom.

Emily whisks Victor to the Land of the Dead, a place far more colorful and cheerful than the drab world of the living. There he meets a crowd of skeletons and other departed residents, including Bonejangles, a one-eyed lounge singer voiced by Danny Elfman, and Elder Gutknecht, the ancient skeleton who benevolently rules the underworld, voiced by Michael Gough. A spider seamstress, voiced by Jane Horrocks, also lives there. Elfman also composed the film score and songs, giving the movie its jazzy, theatrical musical personality.

The living world has its own memorable cast. Victor is pushed along by his socially ambitious mother Nell, voiced by Tracey Ullman, and his absent-minded fish merchant father William, voiced by Paul Whitehouse. Victoria is trapped between her stern parents, Lord Finis Everglot, voiced by Albert Finney, and Lady Maudeline Everglot, voiced by Joanna Lumley. Then there is Lord Barkis Bittern, voiced by Richard E. Grant, a charming con artist who is revealed to be Emily’s former fiancé and the person who murdered her.

What makes the story work is that nobody is a simple villain except Barkis. Victor is awkward but sincere, Victoria is gentle but stuck, and Emily is wronged yet generous. In the climax, Emily realizes she should not keep Victor from Victoria. She returns his ring, releases him from his vow, and dissolves into butterflies. It is a bittersweet ending that treats the dead with more warmth than the living, which is a big part of why fans return to it every Halloween season.

The film was also a technical milestone. It was made in stop-motion at 3 Mills Studios in London, and it was shot using Canon EOS-1D Mark II digital SLR cameras rather than traditional 35mm film. It cost about $40 million to make and earned roughly $118.1 million worldwide. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature at the 78th Academy Awards, and it won the National Board of Review award for Best Animated Feature in 2005.

If you enjoyed finding your match, you might also like our other spooky favorites. Try Which The Nightmare Before Christmas Character Are You?, Which Coraline Character Are You?, Which Beetlejuice Character Are You?, Which Wednesday Character Are You?, or Which Halloweentown Character Are You? Whichever character you got, remember that in this movie the dead are often the liveliest ones in the room.