Corpse Bride (2005)

I'd love to give this one an "A", but can't, quite.  Not as consistently wonderful as "The Nightmare Before Christmas" but still a visual delight as well as a touching, rather twisted love story, Tim Burton's latest stop-motion musical treat is the story of a young man (Johnny Depp) who accidentally proposes marriage to...well, you can guess.  Well, if the visuals, the voice work, and the story are all aces, why not an "A"?
Simple.  The music is second class.  Danny Elfman just missed it here.  I don't find myself humming a single tune from the film, and that is death for a musical.  And I might want to  write about the death of the musical some time...it seems that no one remembers how to make them.  Sigh.
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At any rate, "Corpse Bride" is simply packed with eerie delights that look as if they might have been designed by Edward Gorey.  It also has a sweetness at the core that can't be resisted...ultimately, I enjoyed it just fine, but I would give just anything to have the creative musical team behind "Beauty and the Beast" or "Aladdan" back again.  Sigh.
Give it a "B."