Stop-motion animation will always have something over Pixar and Co. Painstakingly difficult to do, I’ve always found it had a greater presence and realism than the admittedly brilliant output of Silicon Valley’s efforts. One of my fondest memories as a child was watching Ray Harryhausen movies on rainy Sunday afternoons. Who can forget the exhilarating climax of “Jason and the Argonauts,” as the intolerably bland (and, in Jason’s case, badly dubbed) good guys fight off Harryhousen’s legion of deadly skeletons. Or “Clash of the Titans,” where a scantily clad and perfectly quaffed Perseus minced around Medusa’s lair, keen to avoid fatal eye contact with her deadly glare. Great stuff—makes Nemo look like, well, a kids’ movie.

Of course Burton has done this before. “A Nightmare Before Christmas” added the director’s all too familiar gothic gloom to the Dr. Seuss/ Grimm Brothers school of children’s storytelling. For those who like this, “Corpse Bride,” which Burton co-directs, may be a bit of a let down.  Victor Van Dort’s (Johnny Depp) nouveau-riche parents have arranged his marriage to Victoria Everglot (Emily Watson), daughter of an insidious mother and father (brilliantly voiced by Joanna Lumley and Albert Finney) whom the Van Dort’s mistakenly believe are still wealthy. After bumbling the wedding rehearsal, Victor wanders into the woods, and while practicing his vows accidentally proposes to a corpse named Emily (Helena Bonham Carter). Bummer. Emily, of course has been laying dead waiting for her true love, which Victor now inadvertently has become. A farce proceeds involving zombies, talking worms and skeletons dressed as 18th-century naval commanders. Did I mention this was co-directed by Tim Burton?

The stop-motion animation is a perfect foil for Burton’s vision, starkly contrasting a smoky, Victorian metropolis with the bright, nonstop party that is the world of the dead. The character designs are quite stunning and are indeed more engaging and charming than many of Burton’s characters acted by the living.

Victor is of the bumbling sort, reminiscent of Depp’s Ichabod Crane in “Sleepy Hollow.” Emily, in her tattered wedding dress and with crumbling beauty, is reminiscent of the sexualized ethereal beings of Poe and Bram Stoker. Unlike these visions and indeed the macabre mirth of Burton’s “A Nightmare Before Christmas,” “Corpse Bride” falls a little short once the awe Burton’s brain/eye candy wears off. The characters are a little thin, Danny Elfman’s musical numbers surprisingly forgettable, and though “Corpse Bride” flirts with the darker side of its influences, it doesn’t really do anything with them.
However, at only just over 70 minutes long, it does provide enough gothic visual delights and black comic chuckles to satisfy avid Burton fans and acquire a few new ones along the way. Indeed, a quite beautiful scene in which Victor woos Victoria with a haunting melody on the piano maybe worth admission itself. (Also, note that the make on the piano is Harryhausen!)

director: Tim Burton and Mike Johnson
writer: John August and Pamela Pettler
starring the voices of: Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Emily Watson, Tracey Ullman, Paul Whitehouse, Albert Finney, Christopher Lee, Danny Elfman and more.
Rated by the MPAA: PG for “some scary images and action, and brief mild language.”