Be careful what you wish for.
A young girl walks through a secret door in her new home and discovers an alternate version of her life. On the surface, this parallel reality is eerily similar to her real life - only much better. But when her adventure turns dangerous, and her counterfeit parents (including Other Mother) try to keep her forever, Coraline must count on her resourcefulness, determination, and bravery to get back home - and save her family.
Genre(s): Animation, Adventure, Family, Fantasy
Runtime: 100 minutes
Rating: 7.9/10 (24,442 votes)
Release Date: 5 February 2009
Country: USA
Languages: English, Russian
Company: Laika Entertainment
Sound: DTS, Dolby Digital
MPAA: Rated PG for thematic elements, scary images, some language and suggestive humor.
Director(s): Henry Selick
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Producer(s):
Claire Jennings - producer
Harry Linden - line producer
Bill Mechanic - executive producer
Mary Sandell - producer
Henry Selick - executive producer
Michael Zoumas - executive producer
Writer(s):
Henry Selick - (screenplay)
Neil Gaiman - (book)
Cast:
Dakota Fanning - Coraline Jones (voice)
Teri Hatcher - Mel Jones / Other Mother / Beldam (voice)
Jennifer Saunders - Miss April Spink / Other Spink (voice)
Dawn French - Miss Miriam Forcible / Other Forcible (voice)
Keith David - The Cat (voice)
John Hodgman - Charlie Jones / Other Father (voice)
Robert Bailey Jr. - Wybie Lovat (voice)
Ian McShane - Mr. Sergei Alexander Bobinsky / Other Bobinsky (voice)
Aankha Neal - Sweet Ghost Girl (voice)
George Selick - Ghost Boy (voice)
Music: Bruno Coulais, They Might Be Giants
Claire Jennings - producer
Harry Linden - line producer
Bill Mechanic - executive producer
Mary Sandell - producer
Henry Selick - executive producer
Michael Zoumas - executive producer
Writer(s):
Henry Selick - (screenplay)
Neil Gaiman - (book)
Cast:
Dakota Fanning - Coraline Jones (voice)
Teri Hatcher - Mel Jones / Other Mother / Beldam (voice)
Jennifer Saunders - Miss April Spink / Other Spink (voice)
Dawn French - Miss Miriam Forcible / Other Forcible (voice)
Keith David - The Cat (voice)
John Hodgman - Charlie Jones / Other Father (voice)
Robert Bailey Jr. - Wybie Lovat (voice)
Ian McShane - Mr. Sergei Alexander Bobinsky / Other Bobinsky (voice)
Aankha Neal - Sweet Ghost Girl (voice)
George Selick - Ghost Boy (voice)
Music: Bruno Coulais, They Might Be Giants
Posted on: February 27, 2009
July 29th, 2009
I believe that the lucid imagination puts their own markers in thepublic conceptual landscape.
Regular readers know that many of these for me are films that anchorpersonal structure. But I have some books that do this as well, andprobably at a more fundamental level. One of these is "Alice inWonderland" and it is a minor game to recognize that work incontemporary copies.
This film is blatantly patterned after Alice. The two worlds, thevaginal transition. Mirrors, small doors. Animated flowers. Wickedqueen. There's the business of returning to the origin by walking awayand even the cat that advises. All of those bits are here, plus a dashof "Pinocchio." But there is another influence that may not be soobvious to you.
I encountered a very special piece of stop-motion work a couple yearsago: "Blood Tea and Red String" which is also derived from Alice, hasthis surrogate ragdoll notion and also supports a storyline of capturefor love. The stylistic elements in this later project clearly wereinfluenced by that film which I gave my highest rating. So in watchingthis, I touched two of my most important markers, plus having thefolded notion of one world similar to the other, but more magicalexcept for artificial eyes. Its an example of Ted's law, one which mayhelp to extend or better understand it.
The dimensionality of the thing — advertised heavily in my area — wastrivial, uninteresting. It was a compelling show, owing to itsstructure. But you'll do better to go to the sources, I think.
Ted's Evaluation — 3 of 3: Worth watching.
August 3rd, 2009
We weren't quite sure what to expect with Coraline. We knew it would begood since it was a Tim Burton film and we ended up being very pleasedwith it. It was definitely what you'd expect from Mr. Burton. It had agreat mix of humor, dark situations, and overall weirdness. It would bea little too creepy for children who aren't able to distinguish fantasyfrom reality, so I would recommend it to children 7+.
The film is done in claymation, but it is done so well that after a fewminutes, you hardly notice it. Mr. Burton did a wonderful job on all ofthe characters. He did a great job matching personalities and looks toeach of the characters and they are characters that anyone can relateto. The music was absolutely wonderful and quirky and carried youthrough the scenes. I would love to see this in 3-D. Adults are able toenjoy this just as much as children and I am very pleased with thisfilm. It's original, creative, well-done, and worth a look. Definitelyworth a purchase. You'll find yourself wanting to watch this one again.
August 4th, 2009
This is a generally visually interesting movie to watch, there's a lotof little touches here and there as eye candy but not really at thelevel required to prop up such a thin story, but overall the movie ispretty good and some of the scenes are really entertaining. The movietends to have a slow pace with the storytelling developments that aresimilar to a young girl's imagination, brought to life through 3Danimation looking like Tim Burton puppets for the most part.
PLOT: Coraline a little girl with blue hair who feels invisible exceptto the creep loudmouth kid up the street who stalks her, a situationwhich really annoys her. She is totally dissatisfied with her parentschoices for her, the just don't "get" it. They move into a largeancient pink house with a secret door in the wall.. the door leadssomewhere very interesting yet there's something creepy going on…hmmmmm.. oh but the door beckons… and it's a welcome escape from thisdrudgery…
plot development is thin and generally slow, a lot more effort couldhave been put into the richness of the script but there are some goodanimation scenes that show effort in that area at least. Worth a peekif you don't mind the slow pace, see it in complete darkness or in 3Das well for full effect. Some rather trippy scenes, but notgroundbreaking.
August 13th, 2009
Why did they not warn IN BIG LETTTERS that SPIDERS are in thisanimation? It is like a nightmare for people who hate spiders. Do notwatch this movie if you hate spiders. OMG, how can this movie notcontain a warning? IT SAID PG FOR GOD'S SAKE !!! It is understandablethat the director wanted to create a totally loathsome villain in theOther Mother, but, this was an animated movie, rated PG, and onlymentioned harsh language. Oh yeah, and what about the practically nudeVenus on the Half Shell size DDD with pasties? That was really nice forthe kids to see. What in the world were they thinking, not warningabout spiders and naked women? This is not a movie you want youryounger kids to see. And if you think your kids are OK to handle this,that is a sad commentary on what kids are watching these days.