Coraline

by Alex West

CORALINE (voiced by Dakota Fanning) is bored to tears in her family’s new apartment.  Her parents are too busy writing a gardening magazine to entertain her, and the elderly neighbors are too wrapped up in their own lives to pay any attention to what she has to say.  When her father tries to distract her by telling her to count the doors and windows in their apartment, she finds a magical door that leads to an alternate version of their home, with an alternate mother and father who look exactly like her own–except for their shiny black button eyes.

At first everything is fun and games–her Other Father designs a special garden just for her, her Other Mother cooks her favorite foods, and the alternate neighbors put on special shows for her.  When she is given the chance to stay, she jumps at it–but there is a price: she can only stay if she replaces her own eyes with buttons…

This film features gorgeous stop-motion animation based on the book by Neil Gaiman, and directed by Henry Selick (who also brought us THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS).  There is incredible attention to detail, and viewers will enjoy the quirky characters who surround Coraline in both worlds.  This is the first movie to be filmed completely in 3-D.  It takes full advantage of the medium without being too in-your-face showy.

This may not be the ideal film for the very young; the Other Mother is increasingly nightmarish as the movie progresses, and so are the later versions of the Other Neighbors, but older children should have no problem with this film.  While some segments are truly horrific, they have just the right blend of terror and whimsy to leave children enthralled rather than hiding behind the sofa.