Coraline
Coraline
Directed by:
Henry SelickScreenplay:
Henry SelickCinematography:
Pete KozachikComposer:
Bruno CoulaisCast:
Dakota Fanning, Dawn French, Teri Hatcher, Ian McShane, Jennifer Saunders, Keith David, John Hodgman, Emerson Tenney, Robert Bailey Jr., Christopher MurrieVOD (3)
Plots(1)
Coraline Jones is a girl of 11 who is feisty, curious, and adventurous beyond her years. She and her parents have just relocated from Michigan to Oregon. Missing her friends and finding her parents to be distracted by their work, Coraline tries to find some excitement in her new environment. She is befriended--or, as she sees it, is annoyed--by a local boy close to her age, Wybie Lovat and visits her older neighbors, eccentric British actresses Miss Spink and Forcible as well as the arguably even more eccentric Russian Mr. Bobinsky. After these encounters, Coraline seriously doubts that her new home can provide anything truly intriguing to her, but it does; she uncovers a secret door in the house. Walking through the door and then venturing through an eerie passageway, she discovers an alternate version of her life and existence. On the surface, this parallel reality is similar to her real life--only much better. The adults, including the solicitous Other Mother, seem much more welcoming to her. Coraline is more the center of attention there--even from the mysterious Cat. She begins to think that this Other World might be where she belongs. But when her wondrously off-kilter, fantastical visit turns dangerous and Other Mother schemes to keep her there, Coraline musters all of her resourcefulness, determination, and bravery to get back home--and save her family. (official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (11)
The film features an Alice theme, a script for a short at most, and Selick's eccentric fantasizing. After half an hour it simply doesn't do anything and comes ever closer to the desperate cry "Let something start happening, for God's sake!" Ironically, what I enjoyed the most was Dakota, who intones perfectly and literally "acts" in the vocal positions of a nasty brat, a scared little girl, and a brave girl. The rest of it was terrible and didn't even need the assistance of Tim Burton.
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A very pleasant island of stop motion imperfection in a sophisticated flood of silicon superhumans. Beautiful animation further enhanced by the 3rd dimension, very poetic decadent drollery and a very nice atmosphere. It's unfortunate that the musical accompaniment does not captivate as much as Elfman's songs once did. Coraline is more infantile than Burton's work and it doesn't have the sharp verbal humor, but despite all the plush, it is able bite nicely. I had a great time. [85%]
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I was a bit worried when the film was slower to start and visibly tried to engage my imagination and some of my patience with its story, but after a few minutes the doubts were successfully erased and I became increasingly satisfied with the final form. Sure, it's no Miyazaki, it lacks Danny Elfman's catchy compositions and the story doesn't sound particularly likeable, but there's still the charm, the imaginative idea and the very original execution, which is always the most important thing in animation. The Oscar nomination, in my opinion, is well deserved and pretty much says it all.
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This is an animation that you just don't see very often anymore. I'm especially glad that Henry Selick chose this particular book by Neil Gaiman to adapt into a stop-motion animated puppet film. Coraline looks amazing in this animation and I'm glad that there are still people who appreciate and put effort into stop motion animation. The result is definitely worth it. Additionally, the horror-themed animation is even better. And this fairytale has a strong horror element.
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I made myself watch it and I feel like it's matured a little bit. I don't always let Gaiman get to me. There's still the contrast between genuine horror and pleasingly button-grotesqueness, but it's still great regardless. The stop-motion animation is also incredibly rich and imaginative. So why not?
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Gallery (88)
Photo © Universal Pictures
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