A Spooky Tim Burton Animated Classic Is A Hit On Max 19 Years Later

2024 has been very kind to Tim Burton. After years of commercial or critical flops, Burton's comeback started in 2022 with "Wednesday" season 1 and peaked with the recently-released "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" — a movie that was not just a success, but also became one of Burton's biggest hits ever. Now, a beloved Tim Burton animated movie is climbing the streaming charts.

Halloween is upon us, and that means the Top 10 charts for streaming services across the United States are filled with spooky titles for all kinds of audiences (as well as a handful of miscellaneous titles that managed to climb the ranks). On Max, for example, Burton's 2005 stop-motion animated film "Corpse Bride" is currently sitting comfortably at the number four spot, sandwiched between M. Night Shyamalan's new film "Trap," the latest adaptation of "Salem's Lot," and two chapters in Ti West's "X" trilogy (via FlixPatrol).

"Corpse Bride" follows Victor (Johnny Depp), a Victorian era young man betrothed to the daughter of a wealthy family, Victoria (Emily Watson), in a classic transactional marriage between new-money and old-money dynasties. Thankfully, however, the young couple not only have chemistry, but they also have an actual affection for one another. The problem is that Victor is extremely shy and nervous in anticipation of his wedding. When he practices his vows at a nearby glade, he inadvertently slips a wedding ring in what he believes is a tree branch, but is actually the hand of a corpse. Making matters worse, the corpse belongs to a deceased bride in a wedding gown (Helena Bonham Carter), who comes back to life and assumes Victor has just married her.

Co-directed by Mike Johnson, "Corpse Bride" is one of Burton's best films. It's also a movie that wouldn't have happened had Burton not left Disney on less than stellar terms and was, notably, Burton's first actual animated directorial effort after he'd previously produced, but not directed, the Henry Selick-helmed "The Nightmare Before Christmas" and "James and the Giant Peach."

In many ways, "Corpse Bride" is a quintessential Burton movie. It's specifically brought to life via stop-motion animation, a medium that Burton got his start in with his 1982 short "Vincent." "Corpse Bride" also features what /Film's own Witney Seibold has identified as Burton's hallmarks, including "shy outsiders, a fascination with death and the macabre, wild production design, stop-motion animation, a Danny Elfman score, Johnny Depp and/or Helena Bonham Carter, a fairy tale-like premise, and a final release from drama straight out of a goth kid's journal."

"Corpse Bride" is also a gorgeously animated stop-motion film, with "Coraline" and "Kubo and the Two Strings" studio Laika (in its very first official project) helping to provide the animation. Stop-motion is a medium perfectly suited for horror, as the use of puppets and their unnatural movements naturally creates an eerie atmosphere. For "Corpse Bride," much like "The Nightmare Before Christmas," the animation, particularly the acting, helps convey the quirkiness and shyness of the story's characters.

After debuting at the Venice Film Festival in 2005, "Corpse Bride" went on to become a hit, and was even nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Oscars. Together with "Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" that same year, it became the first stop-motion movie to be nominated for the category.