Corpse Bride

Tim Burton's Corpse Bride is getting a release in 4K on UHD Blu-ray. 20 years after its cinematic release the film's gorgeous stop motion animation can now be seen again at a level of detail that does it justice. As can be expected from a Tim Burton film, there is a blend of the macabre with whimsical humour. Much of that whimsical humour is contained in the fine details of the sets, the text on the spine of a book or the brand name of a piano. In 4K there are now enough pixels to make the lettering legible and the details clearly visible.

The action in the film takes place between the mundane world and the underworld. The mundane is just that; drab, grey, muted. On the other side it is loud, kinetic and colourful. The scenes set in the underworld gain a lot of benefit from HDR, especially where skeletons are singing and dancing against a black background.

As it's a musical, the sound is particularly important. It comes through clearly with the right degree of presence.

The disc comes with a number of special features. Most of them feel a little bit lacklustre. There are a few TV promotional featurettes that were made for Corpse Bride's cinematic release in 2005. They are a bit samey in content, as are the two newly made featurettes. There are two that are worth watching: Danny Elfman Interprets The Two Worlds, which is about Elfman's songs and score; and The Corpse Bride pre-production galleries, which show the development of some of the puppets.

Reviewed on: 20 Sep 2025