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Title: Coraline
Year: 2009
Country: USA
Language: English, Russian
Genre: Animation, Thriller
Director: Henry Selick
Writers: Henry Selick, Neil Gaiman
Cast:
Dakota Fanning
Teri Hatcher
Jennifer Saunders
Dawn French
Keith David
John Hodgman
Robert Bailey Jr.
Ian McShane
Rating: 8/10

This Gothic animation feature comes from Henry Selick, the man who brought us THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS (1993), which is frequently mistaken as Tim Burton’s work (actually Burton is only the co-producer and co-writer, as a matter of fact, Burton directed his debut animation feature not until CORPSE BRIDE in 2005).

The dark palette of our indomitable Coraline’s fairytale distinguishes itself from other light-colored Hollywood cartoons interwoven with motley kids-friendly visualizations and vapidly didactic tone. Since the opening scene, my expectation of being thrilled had been hovering high, and I baldly assert that its audience’s threshold age could be much older, which should had been a deadly challenge for a mainstream animation, nevertheless the film conquered its demographic range and gained a sprightly success in the box office and a nomination of BEST ANIMATED FEATURE in Oscar 2010.

Speaking of the film itself, the 2-D character-designing deserves some standing ovation, the wackiness resides seamlessly inside each of them. Meanwhile the narrative reflects a deep empathy upon everyone’s own grown-up issues, such as there is no unearned harvest in the world, never believe something which is too good to be true.

The voice cast is superb, I even could not recognize it’s Dakota Fanning if I had overlooked the opening credits and Teri Hatcher carries a nuisance between her two opposite roles as real mother Vs. evil mother.

One little complain here, I am still not able to figure out the whole cause and effects of the evil mother’s “button-eye” plan, which lacks a plausible explanation for me to digest. Besides that, the film excels in every each way to be considered a successfully unorthodox innovator in its own category.

P.S. The film reminds me of SPIRITED AWAY, another master piece from Japanese master Hayao Miyazaki.

Coraline is now on our top 10 DVD family list (among My neighbor Totoro, Le roi et l’oiseau, Kiki, Kirikou and the sorceress, Madame Mo…). The quality of design, animation, vocal acting and soundtrack is remarkable. It does not try to please everybody’s taste with stereotypes and an overload of special effects/visual/acoustic elements. It leaves room for interpretation with the right dose of fantasy, poetry and scaryness.

It’s sad to say this but I was rather underwhelmed by “Coraline”. When the source material/underlying story is weak, there’s nothing that can save a film. The animation is wonderful, the vocal acting is solid and the direction is good, yet at the end of it, you’re left with a lacklustre tale that’s predictable, uninteresting and doesn’t really make much sense. It’s devoid of the imagination and enchantment of “The Nightmare Before Christmas”. Very disappointing.

I confess, I am not a reader of Neil Gaiman’s stories. CORALINE was no exception, but, as I love stop-motion, I was immediately struck by yet another rare and intriguing looking film by Henry Selick.

Before we progress with things, let it be known that Selick’s credit as the beloved director of NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS and JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH is long overdue.
(Except MONKEYBONE…in fact, let’s pretend it…didn’t happen)

CORALINE, it seems, is quite the beloved novella, with an apparently dark storyline and such, but, like I said before, I am not familiar.

But onto the meat!

Just what IS Coraline?

Not a ‘what’, but a ‘who’. Coraline is about the girl with the same name, a bratty and mean-spirited child who thinks her parents don’t have enough time for her and that the apartment she’s living in is the most boring place in the world.

You see, she’s just moved in and the place looks positively grim.

Coraline (Dakota Fanning) can’t seem to get the attention she wants from mom and dad.

The neighbors are eccentric and weird to say the least. The aging “actresses” (to put it…lightly), stuff all their dead dogs, can see into the future through their tea cups, and eat candy that’s over fifty years old.

Mr. Bobinski, a blue-skinned, mustachioed Russian gymanst, who lives upstairs, is apparently training a mouse circus. He also likes beets.

Her mom has a neck brace after an ‘accident’, and spends her time writing gardening catalogues despite the fact that she hates mud. Her father does the same and seems to be suffering from…well, his job.

All in all, the world is depressing. Even the painting in the living room is sad, with a blue boy losing his ice cream, the scoop lying on the ground.

Except for Wybie, a strange and lonely boy who seems to know a lot about ‘gross’ things, riding on a large bike and wearing a skull welder mask with adjustable ’scopes for close inspections of “wisoconsin water witches”. Also, Wybie is apparently short for “whyborn”. Also, his parents are no where to be found. Hmmm….

In any case, he gives Coraline a mysterious doll that looks like her, a “little me…” Where did it come from?

Coraline seems to be resigned to living a horrible and boring existence with no friends, neglectful parents and rainy days…until she finds a small door in the living room.

The key (which has a mysterious button head) opens the door to…a brick wall. Coraline is sadder than ever, initially excited by the prospect of perhaps something new.

But then, one night, the door opens and a strange force creates small kangaroo mice out of sewing materials. They wake Coraline and lead her to the door, which, instead of a boring brick wall, now yields a long, neon and breathing tunnel.

And at the other end is…her living room again?

Actually, it’s the ‘other’ world. It looks a lot like hers, only everything is perfect. Her parents, or rather, her “other parents”, are fun-loving, ever-giving, caring, polite, and go out of their way to please her. Also, everyone has BUTTONS for eyes…but that seems to be a minro quirk that Coraline can live with.

Her other mother in particular seems interested in keeping Coraline there….

But all in all, it seems like a “dream come true…”

The other father has a piano that “plays him”, dinner is served with a literal gravy train and a chandelier with delcious drinks, other mother cooks whatever meals Coraline dsires, the actresses, who at first seem like their old selves, are actually young and thin, performing exciting acrobatics; Mr. Other Bobinski’s mouse circus is a huge and dazzling parade, himself the ring-master, complete with ornate coat and top hat.

Of course, it’s too good to be true, for the more Coraline goes back to the other world, the more the Other Mother’s motives are revealed.

While the ‘other’ father and Wybie (who can’t speak, courtesy of Other Mother) let hints out, Other Mother herself shows that for Coraline to ‘stay forever’, she needs to sew buttons on her eyes.

Immediately, things become UTTERLY TERRIFYING. Other Mother becomes frickin’ scary, her body becoming stretched, gaunt and grotesque; nightmare fuel for anyone, big and small.

Other Father gets increasingly distorted as he tries to warn Coraline of danger and Other Wybie get his FACE SEWED into a smile.

While at first Coraline could leave by just going to sleep, she discovers that she can’t now, and that Other Mother is intent on keeping her there forever and ever and ever….

Things really get scary when it turns out Coraline isn’t the first to get drawn into the ’spider’s web’…

after getting put on time-out, Coraline finds the three ghosts of the first victims of Other Mother. Turns out Other Mother enjoys eating kids after she gives them what they want.

In fact, the entire, ‘perfect’ world is utterly devoid of any substance. Everything that exists outside the other apartments, is nothing. Literally. A gigantic white void is all that resides outside the Other Mother’s domain.

She creates so that she can destroy it for her pleasure.

Eventually, the stakes are raised when, to Coraline’s horror, Other Mother has her parents taken away.

It becomes a race to the death to figure out Other Mother’s riddle of finding the dead children’s ‘eyes’ (they all chose to have the buttons…) and finding her parents.

As you can see, CORALINE is a subversive tale that is unlike any children’s fantasy, except, maybe, for Selick’s other films, which all explore similar themes of loneliness, neglect and evil in all its unlikely forms, in this case, the horrific OTHER MOTHER.

In fact, the opening credits sequence tells it all: a doll floats to the window and a pair of evil looking, metallic, spindly hands delicately grab it…and begin to disembowel all its cotton, sand, only to recreate it into…Coraline…

Coraline is a vulnerable and selfish girl who doesn’t realize the forces of evil that can easily use her for whatever sinister purposes they desire; in this case, the OTHER MOTHER, a monster from another world, feeds on the lives of little children, explaining that she needs something to ‘love’ forever and ever…of course, she’s utterly insane.

Coraline’s real parents are also unfairly neglectful, though they don’t mean to be. In the end, it all becomes a situation left to chance and time.

Wybie is, as is implied, profoundly lonely, and, it seems, the product of unfortunate circumstances, as his name would suggest.
Actually, this is one of the heaviest aspects of the film, though really, the entire movie is unusual in its metaphors and such.

But really, even if none of this registers, you can simply enjoy the utterly marvellous imagery that Selick has on display.

Not a single frame is wasted, but certainly a page of dialogue was. The pacing seems to be stilted at times, but really, the movie knows how to keep things moving and settles into a rather gentle pace unlike most animated American films. After all, Coraline is close to two hours long, an epic of stop-motion dimensions.

Speaking of that…it’s utterly remarkable, everytime I see stop-motion. The amount of work involved in such a tedious process, perhaps even more tedious that cel-animtaion, is mind-boggling. And yet, the film is alive, vibrant; a complete world with tons of texture and perhaps even more personality.

Stop-motion is a unique art, and Selick seems to be the current master. Everything is imbued with craft, care, and personality. Coraline’s sparkling blue hair that swishes with every movement is just as important as Other Mother’s spindly frame that grows more and more impossible to physically exist.

The soundtrack is deliciously delicate, atmospheric, and yet, lush.

While it is slight, maybe too slight to carry the film, it is certainly unique and even low-key, with nary a pop-song, comprehensible lyric, or standard melody to be found. Or if there was, I certainly didn’t notice, for the film is too captivating to watch.

The color scheme is unique, in that it pops off the screen. Which helps in the early scenes, especially when we Coraline’s bright, yellow jacket stand out in the gray, dismal forest.

In the Other World, everything is noticeably different. Lighting becomes neon-like, with impressionistic uses of color and light.
Again, a trait very singular to stop-motion, as it is mostly all there. Selick uses moments of CGI, but only so much that you can hardly notice it. Everything, however, I can safely say is probably hand-animated.

There are several great set-pieces. The mouse circus is one of the best, but the theater scene in the Other World is brilliant, where we see the fat, almost naked actresses (complete with pasties and sagging boobs.) perform on an elaborate stage with cardboard backdrops and the like. Then they literally unzip their old skin and become sexy, pencil thin gymnasts.

Of course, when they transform into the “evil” other versions, it’s FUCKING TERRIFYING.
Seriously. This film, especially towards the second half, is pure nightmare fuel for any kid, and entirely unsettling for even the most jaded viewer.
Uncanny valley indeed….(those button eyes….ugh….)

But in the end, Coraline is a highly unusual film, something that would almost seem more familiar in the landscape of an arthouse animated film, like the ‘abridged’ version of Alice in Wonderland with Dakota Fanning and fat naked ladies; also scary spider ladies with razor sharp teeth and a song by They Might Giants (an ear-worm for the ages.)

Also, buttons are now official scary.

Whew. For all that everybody goes on about this movie’s potential to freak out younger viewers, I have to say that as an adult, it rattled me on a whole different level. A lot of what makes this movie so delicious is how the beauty of the images disguises, and thus delays, the impact of just how disturbing the plot is. The notion of the succubus-mother sewing the eyes shut – i.e. the windows to your soul! But I still love this movie – it’s nice to have a ‘plucky heroine’ shoved into a situation where she actually has something dangerous to contend with.

OK America, before you go blindly into an animated film with your young children, why don’t you do a little research on what they are about to witness. A PG rating and stop-motion animated aesthetic do not always make a child-friendly adventure. Based upon the horror novella by acclaimed author Neil Gaiman, Henry Selick’s Coraline is chockfull of heavy material, dark story threads, and bleak possibilities. For a guy like me, those things equal undivided success; for a child aged ten, those things equal nightmare filled evenings and parents writing angry letters to Focus Features for subjecting their children to lewd and horrific imagery. Well guess what parents? No one is to blame but you. I’m not saying keep all youngsters away, but do use some discretion on whether your son or daughter can handle the fantastical elements. This is very much Alice in Wonderland displayed in all its non-Disney possibilities. A cautionary tale on being careful what you wish for, our heroine must discover the difference between a world of people neglecting her and that of people doing all they can so that they may give her all she could ever want in the future. Life is not about getting it all right now, but instead a slow and steady climb built on love and trust, one whose benefits far outweigh the whirlwind romance that is never truly as it seems.

Remember folks, this is a story that won the 2002 Bram Stoker Award for Best Work for Young Readers; it’s not all sing-songy like Selick’s masterpiece The Nightmare Before Christmas. With that said, however, it is very, very good in a very, very different way. Be prepared for a methodically and deliberately paced story. More psychological terror than jump out at you scares, the tale of Coraline escaping into a parallel world, perfectly mirrored of her own only inhabited by animated dolls, is one of enlightenment and discovery of what love truly means. Do we all want the parents that dote on us? The guardians that will do what we want and when we want it? Of course we do. But that idyllic utopia doesn’t exist, especially in the times for which we live today. Children need to be raised and supported and that takes money and a lot of hard work. What may seem like neglect in the eyes of a child is really two people doing all they can, sacrificing their time, in order to give him/her a chance at success. Only when Coraline sees the manipulation and truth behind the “kindness” her Other-Mother gives her does she realize what she has back at home.

What we are shown is a world through a tiny door in the wall of an old triple-segmented home. There are stories about this door used to explain the disappearances of some local children, including the sister of loudmouthed and shy Wybie Lovat’s grandmother. Only a weathered black cat appears to know what is going on, what the too good to be true farce beyond the door is actually masking behind it. This cat can travel between worlds, (I always knew I had a subtle fear of those creatures for a reason, they are on a totally different dimensional plain that us), and therefore knows it all, allowing him to warn Coraline by orchestrating events via those she encounters. A disgruntled child is easily malleable and fooled when doted upon and given sweets and a smile. The mantra “never talk to strangers” is never more applicable than it is here. With something a tad off-kilter in the fantasy world, Coraline finds herself shaking it off and relishing the opportunity to experience all that she had dreamed of, not knowing that if her parents succeed with their new gardening catalog, those dreams will be fulfilled in reality. Patience is a virtue and youngsters unfortunately don’t learn that fact until they are all grown up, finding ways to apologize to their parents for being such confused and naïve monsters.

With some very nice voicework—Dakota Fanning shines as our titular heroine; Keith David’s baritone brings the cat’s mixture of foreboding and help to life; Robert Bailey Jr. gets the nervous tick and stammer on the nose for Wybie, (short for WhyBorn, now that’s a name you hope your parents never considered); and both Ian McShane and Mr. PC himself John Hodgman add to the supporting cast successfully—you do find yourself enveloped in this world. A rare thing for an animated film to begin with a cast listing, it thankfully doesn’t detract from the escapism by making you think of the actor rather than the character. This fact works best with the mother, played by Teri Hatcher. I would never have been able to pick her voice out, but that just enhances it all the more, breathing life into the stop-motion clay form on screen, becoming the wolf in sheep’s clothing villain necessary for it all to work.

The real success, however, is Selick’s use of the technology to create stunning visuals. And I’ll say it now—you must experience the 3D spectacle. He never makes it a gimmick, throwing things at you or sticking sharp objects out, well too much at least, but instead uses it for atmosphere and realistic depth. When outside, there is always a branch or other obstruction used to both frame our focal point as well as create true space. The shining achievement comes in the Jones’ kitchen when Coraline lines up seed packets on the windowsill. The way you feel as though a pane of glass is between you and her, while the rain beads down it, is just absolutely spectacular.

Definitely soak in the aesthetic and intelligent storytelling as Coraline is for a thoughtful audience willing to delve deep into metaphors and hidden meaning. There is no “approved for your Attention Deficit Disorder child” stamp of approval here. In much the opposite direction, don’t be surprised if your child hates you for making them sit through it. However, it is a tale that will resonate for a portion of the public, hitting on their own feelings of selfishness and wanting the spoils without the work. When your child is intellectually mature enough to handle a rich and deep story, you as a parent will know. When he or she can see a couple of big-bosomed, large older women dressed as mermaids with pasties and not laugh or get uncomfortable, that is when you should let them see Coraline. It is ultimately a film for all ages; one that shows you as adults how it all will get better—junior will one day understand the sacrifices you are making—and you children a fantastical world to escape to with consequences that will shake you into the realization of what you have right in front of you at home.

Coraline is Henry Selick’s first foray into 3D stop motion animation. I was fortunate enough to catch this in 3D in the theaters, and it was a movie experience I am likely to never forget. As a matter of fact, this is the best stop motion feature to come out in a long while. Forget Burton’s The Corpse Bride, Svankmajer’s Lunacy (well, the animated bits) and the Wallace and Grommit movie, this is a prime, shining example at what stop motion can truly achieve.

Coraline is based of the novel of the same name, written by master storyteller Neil Gaiman. An excellent writer (he was responsible for the English script for Princess Mononoke), he magically weaves fairy tales of old and concocts a wonderful story (although the novel is slightly different). One can spot many literary references throughout: Alice in Wonderland, and many bits from the Brothers Grimm’s batch of fairy tales. Coraline is a wayward girl who isn’t exactly sick of her world: she’s just bored. By crawling down the rabbit hole that is the small door in the living room wall, she stumbles upon a magical world where all her wildest dreams come true, as well as nightmares that are unimaginable to her.

The animation itself is a pure spectacle, pure eye candy, one that makes me smile whenever I watch it. The characters are smooth and can wisp by the screen at a moment’s notice. The designs for, well, EVERYTHING are absolutely beautiful. The glittering garden Coraline’s other father takes her through, the mounds of fog cascading down the rocky knolls as Wybie looks for banana slugs, the descending black and white spiderweb Coraline falls into when the Other Mother looses her cool, these are a mere few examples of what lays inside.

Is this a film for children? Maybe, maybe not. I saw a good handful of children leave the theater crying when I saw this, but it solely matters on what you’re into, even if you’re a child. When I was young I really dug the Nightmare Before Christmas, so I feel I would have dug this if I was seven-year-old. Child or not, this is a bedazzling spectacle and a really fun ride that everyone should experience.

To get straight to the bottom line: Coraline is one of the most impressive stop-motion animations ever. In my mind, it even trumps The Nightmare Before Christmas, at least in terms of visuals (Henry Selick directed both films, by the way- a talented man). The more-advanced-than-ever cgi and animation, along with boundless creativity in sound, music, tone and picture make Coraline a must-see for those seeking a more original animated PG adventure. The story unfolds into a sort of fantasy fairy tale, centered on Coraline Jones, the preteen female protagonist. After moving to a new home with her parents, Coraline encounters growing danger after climbing through a portal to a parallel world that is in fact not so parallel. The characters she meets, creatures she encounters, and the places she goes provide for plenty of amazing eye candy and eccentricity. Both of Coraline’s ‘worlds’ are in many ways unlike our real world, with no limitations on what may occur. And like The Nightmare Before Christmas before it, Coraline is a movie that delves often into the creepy, scary, macabre, and definitely the unsettling. It can be scarier than any R-rated slasher flick- and for that, the movie is far more interesting. And I didn’t even see it in 3D!

OK, I am a animator in training and a cartoonist..but I hope that doesn’t add bias to this review..so,great animation aside…I’ll admit I didn’t like Coraline the film when I first saw it..I had read the book and was a little upset at some of the changes in the story and the pacing,,but then I saw it again..minus 3-D and reflected more on it..the things left out from the book, or made just for the film, become creepier on reflection, (the fate of Other Wybie and even the unanswered things. Just exactly where did the Beldam come from? Is the cat really a normal cat,or something more? ) the pacing is slow, but on second viewing that enhances the mood..makes sense with the film’s theme of extremes. a slow,mundane life versus a dizzyingly jam-packed one. I remember lots of negative reviews of “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and some for “James And The Giant Peach” when they came out..passage of time and sometimes taking the time to look at a movie again can not so much vindicate it,as give a new perspective on it (and I don’t mean 3-D)