The
Day of the Dead and the
Lasting Influence of the
Aztecs
Calaveras
cavort playfully
among the living
in Tim Burton's
Corpse Bride
Skulls
and skeletons come
out to play on the
Day of the Dead, Dia
de los Muertos, the
day of remembering
the departed in modern
Hispanic culture.
The origins of the
day come from a culture
with an obsession
for death, the Aztecs
of pre-colonial Mexico.
The
skull is a prominent
motif in Aztec art,
and human skulls were
traditionally kept
and preserved as mementos
and souveniers.
Skulls
(called calacas) and
skeletons (called
calaveras), are everpresent
on the Day of the
Dead in masks, piñatas,
sugar candies and
figures made of wood
or plaster.
Danny
Elfman, now famous
for his musical contributions
to films by Tim Burton,
used calacas and calaveras
extensively in the
graphic art for his
rock band Oingo Boingo,
particularly in the
video of the song
"Dead Man's Party.
The
music of Danny Elfman,
the story telling
of Tim Burton and
the visual motifs
of the Mexican Day
of the Dead came together
in the underworld
scenes of Corpse Bride,
in which skeletons
come to life in bright,
garish colors in stark
contrast to the grey,
stolid world of the
living.
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