The director of The Nightmare Before Christmas returns with 2009's first animated film. How does his latest effort hold up?
Directed by Henry Selick Written by Henry Selick based on the novel by Neil Gaiman Cinematography by Pete Kozachik Music Composed by Bruno Coulais and They Might Be Giants
Cast
Dakota Fanning ... Coraline Jones
Teri Hatcher ... Coraline's Mother/The Other Mother
John Hodgman ... Coraline's Father
Keith David ... The Cat
Dawn French ... Miss Forcible
Jennifer Saunders ... Miss Spink
Ian McShane ... Mr. Bobinsky
Robert Bailey, Jr. ... Wybie Lovat
Rated PG for thematic elements, scary images, some language and suggestive humor.
Coraline is the first 3-D movie I have ever watched in a theater, so excuse me if I gush a little at the experience. The visual effects begin with the opening credits, where the titles are set apart from the background visuals, which are surrounded by a transparent curtain framing the shot. It is beautiful and is the setup for is an incredible visual experience. I sat in amazement for the better portion of the movie in awe of the visuals alone and I was not alone as both young and old alike gasped when the next amazing shot would materialize on the screen.
Henry Sellick, the visionary who brought us Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas, used the 3-D effect not as a gadget to throw things at us, but as a tool to make the world dynamically enhanced. The sight of the house, set apart from the mountainside, starts us off and it never lets up from there. I have to emphasize, if you can get to a theater with 3-D enhanced screens, watch this movie in the format it is meant to be seen in. You can enjoy the film in its standard format, but to truly appreciate the beauty of the picture, you need to see it with the 3-D effects in full force. It is that beautiful.
Coraline is the adaptation of a novel by fantasy author Neil Gaiman, the man best known in the comic book world as the creator of Sandman. He has a number of brilliant novels under his belt, including the fantastic Good Omens, but Coraline is one of his stories meant for the kids. What Gaiman does best is take his characters and set them in a world that is both strange and scary, surrounding them with a fairy tale mythology that harkens back to both classical literature and popular culture. Coraline is a classic fairy tale, best described as a mixture between Hansel and Gretel and Alice in Wonderland with a little Wizard of Oz thrown in for good measure.
Coraline is a young girl who professes her independence but still longs for the attention and love of her parents. The movie starts with her looking for an old well around the house her parents just moved her into. She has been uprooted from her old home, and separated from her friends, to live in a strange and unsettling new home. While searching for the well, she meets a young boy named Wybie. Just as you would expect, the two do not hit it off as Coraline is a stubborn little firecracker and Wybie is a very unusual, yet strangely lonely boy. While you might be tempted to side with Coraline, you also feel sympathy for the young boy alone in the world with only his eccentric grandmother to keep him company.
The other characters in the house, which is split into separate apartments, are two former actresses, Miss Forcible and Miss Spink, and a strange man named Mr. Bobinsky. The two actresses are always willing to tell Coraline the stories of their wonderful stage careers of yesteryear and Mr. Bobinsky is promising he is training a circus of hopping mice. Coraline considers Mr. Bobinsky to be eccentric while her mother thinks he might be a drunk. All three of these characters, as well as the mice, play a large part later in the story.
Once Coraline returns to the house, you really begin to feel sorry for her. Her mother is very abrupt and seems to live by the motto it is better for children to be seen and not heard. I believe we are to understand the family is under a lot of pressure and might be facing financial difficulties, but the way she treats her daughter is criminal. Her father, on the other hand, is aloof and distracted, more absent minded than cruel, and seems to be at the mercy of the mother as well. That makes the instant when Coraline finds a secret door, leading to an alternate world so attractive.
This other world is an antithesis of the real life of Coraline. While no one pronounces her name properly at home (Caroline), everyone in the other world knows the correct enunciation. While her mother and father have no time for her in the real world, her “other” parents have all the time in the world for her in the alternate reality. Instead of strange recipes her father makes back home, her mother makes wonderful meals for the family. Even annoying little Wybie has his mouth sewn shut so he can’t annoy her and is more tolerable. It makes him an even sadder character in this world.
And everyone has buttons for eyes.
The only major similarity between the two worlds is a black cat that can slip back and forth between the two worlds and is be able to talk in the “other” world. Everything seems better in this world for Coraline except, as in Hansel and Gretel, nothing should ever be taken at face value. Once Coraline explores the strange world of the “others,” the film begins to slip into a hypnotic tone, much the same as Alice in Wonderland. It does not take long for Coraline to understand the “other” mother might not be as great as she appears.
The plot of Coraline is a little mature for little kids and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone under the age of eight. There are some very disturbing images and the “other” world might prove to be a bit frightening for the little ones. I think this movie is a perfect fit for kids 8-12 since the ideas of both exploration and alienation should be hitting them at that point in their lives and they might relate to the feelings of Coraline. The question of whether any of this happened or if it was all just a dream might satisfy frightened youngsters, but I believe most kids over the age of eight will understand what the story means.
The animation is a strange mixture. The doll like appearance of the puppets harkens back to classic stop-motion animated films like Santa Claus is Coming to Town and Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer. Once the action moves to the other world, the effects are also very similar to that of Nightmare Before Christmas. It is a strange mixture, but the added 3-D effects create a world very unusual and oddly attractive. The button eyes and the use of rag dolls by characters in the film make the choice to use doll-like figures a perfect fit in a world where you can’t always tell what is real and what is not. The animation ends up being perfect for this film and gives it an uneasy feeling that is needed for this story to work.
There are a few things I had problems with including the fact that, even after Coraline has made the decision that her real home is where she needs to be, her mother still comes across as a dismissive parent who has more time for her work than her own daughter. This plot strand reminds me of The Wizard of Oz, where Coraline just wants to believe “there’s no place like home, there’s no place like home” but once she returns it is still black and white and not much has changed. The moral is there is always something worse, but is that really the message you want to teach the kids? Even with those complaints, it’s still the best movie of this young year so far.
The 411: Coraline starts the year off as the animated film all others will try to measure up to. With films like Up, Monsters vs. Aliens and a new Ice Age movie, kids will have forgotten this one by the end of summer. Adults, on the other hand, should take heed. This is a very interesting, original movie and despite its animated origins is well worth your time. I don’t know if it will be as widely accepted as Selick’s first big hit, Nightmare Before Christmas, but it is a fun story with amazing visuals. In the start of a year that has not produced any awe inspiring movies yet, Coraline stands heads and shoulders above its competition. Make sure you watch it quickly in its 3-D format because, once the Jonas Bros. 3D concert film arrives, you might have trouble finding it again. You will not be disappointed.
