As the legend goes, writer Neil Gaiman sent a copy of the CORALINE book to director Henry Selick before it was even published. Gaiman felt THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS director's style fit the material perfectly. And he was right. Animation production company LAIKA ventures into its first feature film with a film that at least equals Selick's work on the holiday perennial NIGHTMARE.
Coraline Jones (Dakota Fanning, THE SECRET LIVES OF BEES) is upset with her family's move to a new apartment in the woods. Her mother (Teri Hatcher, TV's DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES) and father (John Hodgman, TV's THE DAILY SHOW) have little time to entertain her. The apartment, which is actually a large mansion divided up into separate units, features a collection of odd tenants. Miss Spink (Jennifer Saunders, TV's ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS) and Miss Forcible (Dawn French, TV's THE VICAR OF DIBLEY) are two aging burlesque performers, who have a habit of sowing angel wings to put on their stuffed Scotties. Mr. Bobinsky (Ian McShane, TV's DEADWOOD) is a Russian retired circus performer who trains mice to march in a band… at least that's what he claims. Out adventuring, Coraline meets Wybie Lovat (Robert Bailey Jr., THE HAPPENING), the grandson of the apartment's reclusive owner, who won't let him even enter the building. When Coraline discovers a small door in the wall, she unlocks a portal to an Other World, where her Other Mother and Other Father are too good to be true. Right from the start we know something is off — all the people in his world have buttons for eyes.
Stop-motion animation has an otherworldly quality that always seems to fit dark children's fantasies. Selick's screen adaptation of this Hugo Award-winning tale has the magic that it needs. From the puppet designs to the intricate sets in both Coraline's real world and her alternate reality, the visual look is awe-inspiring. Selick transports us into his worlds, and we don't want to leave. As the story unfolds, and the menace builds, the Other World's sly transformation is handled with wonderful subtly. Oddness pops up creating uneasiness and when the full picture becomes clear, we become more fearful of what Coraline has gotten herself into.
Much like Gaiman's MIRRORMASK, this tale deals with a young child who travels to a strange land to learn that her parents aren't as bad as she made them out to be. But CORALINE is more successful do to its sense of story. MIRRORMASK is just as inventive visually, but the visuals in CORALINE resonate more, because the themes and world are more realized. We worry about Coraline when she falls for the wonders of the Other World, and wonder if she's being tricked when a black cat from her world starts talking like Keith David. And as the first stop-motion 3-D stereoscopic film, the in theater experience is given more depth of frame without getting gimmicky with objects flying out at the audience. And still I believe when the film is watched at home the story will continue to draw viewers in.
For families and animation fans, 2009 has started out strong. Those looking for a visual treat and engaging fantasy will not be disappointed as well. Many of the great children's tales have a dark bent to them. CORALINE borrows from them, creating its own unique universe. Coraline is a little Veruca Salt lost in Alice's Other World, who in the end wishes for the same wish as Dorothy. She's in good company, and so is her film.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
