Coraline (2009)

3.5

ANIMATED
U.S. Release Date: 02/06/09
Running Length: 100 Minutes
MPAA Classification: PG (Thematic Elements, Scary Images, Some Language and Suggestive Humor)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Cast: (voices) Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French, Keith David, John Hodgman,
Director: Henry Selick
Screenplay: Henry Selick (adapted from Neil Gaiman)
Cinematography: Pete Kozachik
Music: Bruno Coulais
U.S. Distributor: Focus Features

Review by: Carter Moulton

02/23/09

When people envision The Nightmare Before Christmas, they automatically think of Tim Burton. Coraline’s marketing campaign even tried to trick people into thinking that Burton had a hand in making Coraline by saying, “From the Director of The Nightmare Before Christmas” in the trailer.  What most people don’t realize is that Burton produced The Nightmare Before Christmas; he didn’t direct it.

Henry Selick did. Other films on Selick’s resume include Monkeybone (unfortunately) and James and the Giant Peach. The opening scene of Coraline, which includes credits, shatters any doubt one might have about Henry Selick as a director. The scene shows someone (or something) with long, wiry hands constructing a doll. The design and feel of the doll closely resembles Dr. Finkelstein from The Nightmare Before Christmas. As the opening plays out, it immediately uncloaks Selick’s talent for all those who neglected his contributions to The Nightmare Before Christmas. While not quite as good as Nightmare, Coraline is better than The Corpse Bride, Burton’s stop-motion follow-up.

Based on the book by Neil Gaiman, the movie focuses on Coraline Jones (voiced by Dakota Fanning) as she is thrown into a strange, twisted fairytale. Her parents are both writers approaching an important deadline that will determine the family’s future. Mel Jones, the mother, is often annoyed with Coraline, while the father (Charlie), who resembles a stretched out, overworked Adrien Brody, is of the “ask your mother” variety. Selick decided to place a new character into Neil Gaiman’s world: Wybie Lovat. I think it was a good choice. Wybie plays Coraline’s annoying-in-a-hate-to-love-kind-of-way friend. If he weren’t involved, Coraline would be left walking around by herself for over half the picture—not a problem in a novel, but a bit boring for a children’s film.

Photo © Focus Features

One day, Coraline stumbles upon a small door within the house. It’s been covered with wallpaper, and opening it reveals nothing more than a brick wall. She discovers that the brick barrier occasionally disappears, revealing a tunnel to a parallel dimension. Everything is exaggerated (positively) in this parallel world. Here, Coraline is treated perfectly by her "Other Mother" and her "Other Father." They prepare festive meals for her, plant a garden for her, and, most importantly, pay her all the attention she could ever want. It’s a magical place, and Coraline is invited back repeatedly. Something about this world is odd though: everyone has buttons for eyes. After a few wondrous visits, Coraline is told that she can stay forever…under one small condition. I won’t ruin the twist, but, needless to say, not everything is as peachy as it seems.

To me, Coraline is a film that lunges back and forth between a simple children’s movie and an instant masterpiece. Maybe this is a result of Coraline lunging back and forth between home and her wondrous world, maybe it's a result of the different tones Selick chooses to play with. The fantastical element of the parallel universe, especially towards the beginning, creates some of the most memorable, beautiful scenes of the film. A scene where the “Other Father” plays piano uses 3D so effortlessly that its takes the technology to new level. Another scene, where the “Other Father” shows Coraline a garden that he’s planted just for her, uses ambient light and color in ways that pop out both literally and historically. Meaning, these two sequences cement Coraline as a film featuring the best usage of 3D in cinema history (although 3D is at an extremely early stage).

On the other hand, when Coraline is out of the parallel universe, things begin to get a bit slow. One can argue that Selick was aware of this, contrasting different tones to fit the narrative, but this is a children’s film—twisted as it might be. When I walked out of the theater, the majority of young children were either terrified or bored. I'm sure walk-out observations would've been eerily similar after The Nightmare Before Christmas, although that movie seemed to market itself to a somewhat older audience. The blame (if any) should lie with the marketing team rather than with the film itself. However you want to dissect the movie, in the end it comes out clear: with vibrant characters and, at times, an even more vibrant world, Coraline is a twisted fairytale that reassures us of the future of 3D technology.

Note: Keep in mind, all of these observations are from a guy who hasn’t read the novel.