Corpse Bride (Tim Burton, 2005)

Tim Burton's stylistic sense works well in the realm of stop-motion animation. I've always felt Danny Elfman has worked well with Burton from the musical angle. This film in particular recalls glimpses of Elfman's own film efforts in The Forbidden Zone (1980). There's not much for CGI here - rather everything is arduously produced in stop-motion. From this standpoint the film is nearly flawless. Truly tricking the eye into witnessing seemless movement from the figuirines which act upon the screen. Part of what helps is the music. Part of what helps is the great array of talent tapped for voice work - Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Emily Watson, Tracey Ullman, Joanna Lumley, Albert Finney, Christopher Lee and so on. The film paints the world of the living as rather dull and dead; the world of the dead, on the other hand, is rather lively. The storyline is very Brothers Grimm-esque. It's not to "horror"-ble for kids and not to cartoony for adults. The animation is somewhere between Brothers Quay and Pixar - although no computers are used to craft the characters. And the experience is one worth repeating. Check it out.