In Tim Burton's world, the darkness, the bizarre, and yes, even the undead, are not to be dreaded but they are to be explored. They are to be understood and welcomed as elements of life that offer us a version of reality that we are normally oblivious to.

This presentation of life's gloomier side is craftily created by Burton in his latest animated picture Corpse Bride, a stylistic and emotional gem of a picture. Corpse Bride is the tale of a reticent young man (Victor, played by Johnny Depp), who is arranged to wed a young aristocrat (Victoria, played by Emily Watson), and of Victor's sorrowful plight after he mistakenly marries an undead woman (Emily, played by Helena Bonham Carter) who insists that he honor their unnatural union.

Corpse Bride engages several appealing themes; one of the most evident is the folly of Victorian repression, (notice the first names of Depp and Watson's characters). Another issue Burton tackles with especially sharp insight is the tradition of marriage. For instance, Victoria is told by her morose parents (played by Joanna Lumley and Albert Finney), that love has nothing to do with marriage, and both Victor and Victoria are constantly told by their parents that their marriage must go "according to plan," which seems to portray marriage as little more that a business arrangement.

Still, an even more dour view of marriage can be seen in the circumstance in which Victor accidentally marries the deceased Emily. This scene is preceded by one of the films most effective and humorous scenes that has the unfortunate Victor rehearsing his vows to his betrothed before both their parents. Victor's botching of his vows provides some truly genuine laughs and it also helps him to become more endeared to the audience. Next we find him rehearsing his lines while walking through a typically murky Tim Burton forest, and after successfully reciting his vows, he places his ring on what appears to be the branch of a tree but turns out to be the finger of Emily. With Victor at first facing marriage to a complete stranger and barely being able to utter the word marriage, and then being faced with marriage to a deceased woman, Corpse Bride raises questions about the finality and inhumanity of marriage, the fear that one's life ends once the conjugal knot is tied.

The plot is greatly complicated when Victor finally gets over his revulsion of Emily in a touching piano duet scene, where the two of them find that they not only share a taste for music but also some sort of emotional connection. Nevertheless, this all occurs after Victor realizes that he truly does care for Victoria and now actually wants to marry her. The resolution of this dramatic tension is one of the films weakest points. We are expected to believe that after only one piano duet Victor has forgotten his love for Victoria and is now willing to wed Emily and thereby suffer death himself!

Since Corpse Bride clocks in at only 74 minutes, it doesn't provide time enough for an effective resolution of some of its plot entanglements, which may be in part due to the studio's desire to keep the movie short so as to cater to a younger audience. True or not however, it is difficult to develop a film that can properly manage subject matter more suitable for adult audiences while also keeping it saleable for children, a feat Corpse Bride does a credible, but inadequate job in achieving.

It must be said that many will be expecting a repeat of A Nightmare before Christmas, and I would suggest approaching Bride as its own unique piece of art, and enjoy it for the clever, thoughtful and imaginative work that it is. As for Johnny Depp, he once again delivers a performance perfectly suited to the role he is playing. Go see Corpse Bride, but don't forget your imagination, because in Tim Burton's world, even the dead do live.