The colorless land of the living has just become paved with a bright red carpet and is illuminated by Oscar gold for director Tim Burton -by Tim Lammers, Web Staff Editor.
Naturally, that’s because the film genius’ stop-motion opus, “Corpse Bride,” is one of this year’s Academy Award nominees for Best Animated Feature. And while Burton plans on attending the ceremony March 5, he regrets to inform that the film’s stars, Victor Van Dort and the Corpse Bride, won’t have a seat at the ceremony.
“No puppets allowed — only pawns,” Burton told me, laughing, during a recent @ The Movies interview.
It’s only appropriate that Burton treat his puppet stars like royalty. After all, he is clearly humbled by the recognition of the Academy after toiling 10 years on the project. And holding steadfast with what some consider as a dying art form in the burgeoning age of computer-animated films is not an easy thing to do.
The wonderful thing about Burton’s work is that, in addition to Elfman, he’s created a solid company of players that we’ve come to depend on as viewers to always fulfill the filmmaker’s unique visions.
Chief among them is Depp, who teams with Burton for the fifth time with “Corpse Bride.” He previously teamed with the director on “Edward Scissorhands,” “Ed Wood,” “Sleepy Hollow” and just a couple months prior to “Corpse Bride,” “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.”
“I really do enjoy working with him and in this case for me I was really lucky because there was some cross-over. Johnny would be doing Willy Wonka during the day and walk over (to the studio at night) and do ‘Corpse Bride,'” Burton said.
Depp’s value clearly comes from his desire to be an actor rather than a celebrity. His turn as Victor wasn’t about having them recognize that it was Johnny Depp’s voice; it was more about disappearing into the character.
“He was always does disappear, that’s the thing about him. I felt so lucky with this cast,” Burton said, humbly. “Really, when I read the names of the cast in ‘Corpse Bride,’ I’d go, ‘I just can’t believe it,’ because they’re all such great people and voices. Everybody, Johnny included, just came in and just hit it. It was really great.”
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