Corpse Bride, by Tim Burton

For the first session of a new cine-club series, on Saturday 6 of February at Alexes's place, I have drawn the ‘animation’ genre from the hat. I had already showed my all-time animation favourite, Monsters Inc. in a previous cine-club back in Meudon in 2006 . So this time I decided to go for my favourite director Tim Burton, and take the opportunity to illustrate my favourite animation technique: stop-motion puppetry.

As a matter of facts, I already wrote a paper on Corpse Bride in 2006.
I only have a few things to add today.

Burton started his career as an animator for Disney but left quickly as his gothic personality didn't fit well in the Mickey Mouse empire. Except for his brilliant short film Vincent in stop-motion, Burton then filmed mostly with live actors. He's to me one of the greatest film artists of our time. Apart from Corpse Bride and The Nightmare before Xmas, my favourite Burton films remain Edward Scissorhands and Ed Wood.

Time Out recently published a list of the ‘top 50’ greatest animation films of all time, with good reviews in it and comments from Terry Gilliam. I was shocked by their ranking (22nd) and comment on The Nightmare before Christmas and Coraline. They basically say that Coraline comes as no surprise as The Nightmare was already the works of Henry Selick and not Tim Burton. I think it’s pointless and ridiculous to deny Burton parenthood in The Nightmare as they try to do. Corpse Bride, written and directed by the master himself – and not even mentioned by Time Out’s list! - is proof that The Nightmare, though shot by Selick indeed, was a Burton production, out of Burton’s imagination and visual genius; he delegated the shooting to Selick but he remains the main author in my opinion. On the other hand, James and the Giant Peach (1996) was already the proof, if one was needed, that Selick is a great artist in his own right too. I personally consider Burton and Selick to be co-authors in The Nightmare, and the third father, composer Danny Elfman was essential in it, as he is again in Corpse Bride.

Anyway, it’s a shame to rank Nightmare or Coraline #22, and to ignore Corpse Bride altogether. They are both authentic, major masterpieces, not only among the very best animated movies of all time but simply among the best pictures of all time. In my personal list, the three in the top 10.

Where I may be partial to the Burton/Selick production and chose of their films for the cine-club is because puppet animation has a tremendous emotional appeal to me. To me, the best CGI rendering will never give me the light reflections and textures of puppet stop motion. And if it did, I would still prefer the idea of watching hand-made plasticine-and-fabric puppets rather than virtual CGI puppets. That’s me and my ‘rosebud’ childhood toy, the ViewMaster, the little magic lantern.

Flipping again through the beautiful book Corpse Bride, an invitation to the wedding (Titan Books), I found that quote from Tim Burton that summarises my feeling in better words: ‘There’s a magic and a mystery to stop-motion, a tactile quality, a handmade quality that gives it an emotional resonance to me.’

Finally, don't miss the upcoming Alice in Wonderland by Tim Burton in 2010!