Zachary FenellCoraline
February 7th 2009 02:45
Coraline, 2009
When Neil Gaiman's Coraline came out as a surprisingly thin novel in 2002, it was considered to be a children's story, even as dark as it was. In reality, most of Gaiman's novels can fall into this category, especially stories like the Graveyard Book and Stardust. The first rumor of a movie being made for Coraline were met with a lot of puzzlement, however: it didn't seem to have the imagery that a live-action movie would need, and it might have been a little short for most movie-goers.
For my part, I held on to hope. Maybe - just maybe - they would come up with some method to produce it without losing the charm.
Coraline tells the story of an unfortunate only child of the same name who has been transplanted away from her friends to a small rented apartment in an ancient house in Oregon. Her overwhelming boredom fuels an exploration of the house where she finds a tiny door hidden behind the wallpaper in the living room. This door leads to a mirror world where her Other Mother does all the things that her real mother doesn't, and she can stay forever if she wants, with gardens and home-cooked meals and entertainment galore - as long as she lets the Other Mother replace her eyes with buttons.
The animation is actually the same stop-action style and method (and, indeed, from the same fellow) as the Nightmare Before Christmas and the Corpse Bride. In fact, it falls squarely into the same genre as being "horror stories for children". We watched it in the full 3-D effect with the neat-o glasses, and I have to say also that 3-D technology has come a long way - it's a far cry from the paper-cutout effects we grew up with. (In fact, make a point to sit through the credits for a special treat.)
I like to see the moral of the story with any movie. The motivation of expressing human experience is what is really important to me. I absolutely adored the fact that Coraline was depicted as an uncannily accurate version of a ten-year-old - she's not overly clever or artificially given to altruism. She doesn't even take on the charge to rescue the other children until it becomes part of rescuing her own parents. If there was any type of "up-shot" on what the movie was about, it might be that if the grass is greener on the other side, it's probably spray-paint. This is a lesson in appreciation and trusting yourself.
The Other Mother (or the Belle Dame) may be a little intense for younger kids, and I think the that biggest obstacle this movie is going to have to overcome is that it's a little too much for the usual child-like audience but may be too simple to appeal to much older crowds. If viewers can look past their expectations, they will find something visually amazing and strangely (yet moderately) engaging. It is not at all the same type of animated movie as Wall-E or the Incredibles, but I think it may be the harbinger for a new sub-genre of movies for juveniles and teens.
(Also, I am totally knitting that star sweater.)
I really wish I had fallen in love with this movie a little more. I had to divorce myself from my knowledge of having read the book at least a dozen times in order to get into the experience itself. I suspect that this is going to be a sleeper, but big things are coming in its future. Or a giraffe.
4 Stars
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