Stop motion animation and CG animation (and even hand drawn animation) have the same inherent problem, namely that each individual moment in the film is crafted to absolute perfection. There's no chance for improvisation or the random little moments that give life to a live action film. This is, of course, inherent in the medium but it still bugs the shit out of me. It makes animated films seem somehow lifeless even when they're crammed to the absolute breaking point with so many characters and gags that you can't even take them all in on one viewing.
Tim Burton's Corpse Bride (how did he ever convince the studio to go with that title?) is no exception. In fact, there might be more going on in this little eighty-minute film than in most films twice as long. But that vacuum-sealed, lifeless sort of joy combined with the fact that the ending to this fable is a foregone conclusion only adds up to an enjoyable but forgettable film-going experience. To be sure there are many things in the film that delight (the maggot that lives in the corpse bride's eye and speaks with the voice of Peter Lorre is maybe the best) but they don't linger in any real way. Everything is just marvelously put together and cleverly stage designed. And while that's all well and good, it does not make for a lasting impression.
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