As a man behind the pen and camera, Tim Burton has contributed to a number of artistic projects over his career. Known for his contribution to Halloween classics including Beetlejuice and Edward Scissorhands, Burton is likely to be found at the top of anyone's holiday movie list.
Identified by his charming and creepily illustrated stories, Burton has become most associated with his animated work. The Nightmare Before Christmas is far from Burton's only animated project, but it is certainly his most famous. Popularity aside, Burton has another animated film that is more well-rounded than The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Making its debut in 2005, Corpse Bride features the voices of Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Emily Watson, Richard E. Grant, Christopher Lee, and a number of others. Like The Nightmare Before Christmas' Jack and Sally, there is a pair of star-crossed lovers who are "simply meant to be." Corpse Bride follows Victor Van Dort (Depp) as he is arranged to marry Victoria Everglot (Watson), whose family hopes to marry her off to restore their lost wealth. As nervous as he already is about the prospect of marrying Victoria, Victor fumbles over his words at the wedding rehearsal, making circumstances far tenser. Unfortunately, Victor finds perfecting his vows to be the least of his worries.
Victor and Victoria follow in Jack and Sally's footsteps, and are able to overcome all their obstacles in order to be together by the end of Corpse Bride. These two films share common themes but deal with them in entirely different ways. In The Nightmare Before Christmas, Jack and Sally's relationship isn't the central plot of the film. Instead, The Nightmare Before Christmas is focused more on Jack coming to terms with his identity and where he fits into the world outside of being the Pumpkin King. Corpse Bride, as the title suggests, revolves around romance. Caught in the middle of two brides, Victor is forced to make an important choice that will impact the living and the dead.
After he struggles to perfect his vows under the scrutiny of his mother, his future in-laws in the Everglots, and the overbearing pastor, Victor is certain he will never get them right. Retiring to the woods, he finally finds the courage to persevere and ends up delivering his vows perfectly. Placing the wedding ring on what appears to be a harmless twig, Victor finds himself lured into the underworld, married to a corpse. It's soon learned (through a jazzy song) that the corpse bride, Emily (Bonham Carter), once fell in love with a man her parents didn't approve of. Agreeing to meet and wed in secret, Emily abided by their plan to meet in the woods. Instead of running off with her, the man stole the satchel of gold and family jewels Emily brought and left her for dead. As a hopeless romantic, Emily believed that even in death, her true love would come along and set her free.
Understandably alarmed, Victor does everything he can to outsmart Emily and her underworld allies (including the maggot that has found a home inside Emily). With none of his plans working out, Victor slowly becomes accustomed to the unorthodox people around him and begins to value the bond they have built with one another. Unlike the world above, the underworld is not clouded by greed and driven by social standing, it's a community free of judgment. After discovering that Victoria will marry another man, Victor struggles to find a reason to return to the land of the living. Instead, he decides that he will drink a cup of poison and recite his vows to remain with Emily forever.
Centering around Victor's journey to understand love, Corpse Bride does not have the same infamous variety of characters offered by The Nightmare Before Christmas. That is not to say Corpse Bride doesn't have a supporting cast, because it does. The difference is that Corpse Bride contains more fleshed-out characters. Simply put, The Nightmare Before Christmas is Jack's story. Even as the focal character, aside from knowing he's the Pumpkin King and the visible fact that he feels unfulfilled by the role, Jack isn't someone the audience gets to know incredibly well. Because of that, it's hard to feel connected to him, whether it be sympathy or support. Sally, on the other hand, is a creation that has been mistreated by Dr. Finkelstein. It's Sally that evokes an audience response, not Jack. Corpse Bridge uses both Emily and Victor to pull something out of the viewer. Emily's tragic past and troubled present in addition to Victor's tricky predicament, there's room for the audience to develop attachments to these characters that The Nightmare Before Christmas doesn't warrant.
Both The Nightmare Before Christmas and Corpse Bride are solid movies to watch outside of the Halloween season. They share a lot of the same themes including love, identity, and acceptance, all while existing in Burton's eerily animated world. While Corpse Bride and The Nightmare Before Christmas are far from Burton's only animated projects, they are two of his most beloved. With The Nightmare Before Christmas appearing as the more popular option, it's important to acknowledge that Corpse Bride is worthy competition.
Corpse Bride is now streaming on Hulu.