Coraline Jones is an inquisitive and imaginative girl. When she and her parents move to a new apartment, Coraline feels neglected because they are caught up in their work. But then she finds a secret door that leads to an alternate world where her Other Mother always has time for her and her ... Read review
Neil Gaiman adapts his own fantasy novel for this stop-motion animated adventure from the ... more
director of "The Nightmare Before Christmas". 11-year old Coraline (Dakota Fanning) must escape an alternate reality where her parents dote on her when this seemingly perfect world starts to turn bad. From Henry Selick the visionary director of The Nightmare Before Christmas and based on Neil Gaiman's best-selling book comes this spectacular stop-motion animated adventure! Coraline Jones (Dakota Fanning) is bored until she finds a secret door and discovers an alternate better version of her life on the other side. When this seemingly perfect world turns dangerous Coraline must use her resourcefulness determination and bravery to save her family.
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Advantages: Fun for adults and older kids. Disadvantages: Too scary for little kids.
Coraline Jones is an inquisitive and imaginative girl. When she and her parents move to a new apartment, Coraline feels neglected because they are caught up in their work. But then she finds a secret door that leads to an alternate world where her Other Mother always has time for her and her strange neighbours are transformed into fantastical circus performers. It seems like a dream come true, but there’s something far more sinister at work. Coraline ... ...Everything from the house where Coraline lives to the players’ faces is slightly crooked – nothing is too pretty. But this is a suitable style for such a macabre tale that comes across as a skewed, modern-day variation on “Alice in Wonderland”. His characters are apple-headed and have spindly arms and legs, so they look as though they might topple over at any instant. Their movement is a bit jerky and in combination with the fluid camerawork, digital ... more
Coraline Jones is an inquisitive and imaginative girl. When she and her parents move to a new apartment, Coraline feels neglected because they are caught up in their work. But then she finds a secret door that leads to an alternate world where her Other Mother always has time for her and her strange neighbours are transformed into fantastical circus performers. It seems like a dream come true, but there’s something far more sinister at work. Coraline discovers all is not as it seems when her Other Mother decides to she wants to keep her. Then our plucky heroine has to use all her wits to escape and get back home.
Director Henry Selick (who helmed the marvellous “Nightmare Before Christmas”) is one of few directors who continue to persevere with stop-motion animation while all other animation studios are riding the wave of computer-generated imagery. So his productions stand out from the crowd. It’s a painstaking process that involves using three-dimensional models that have to be moved a fraction of an inch for every frame and considering there are approximately twenty-four frames per second, you get some idea of how long it takes to make this kind of movie. So Selick’s devotion to his craft is unquestionable. He builds the character models over metal armatures with ball and socket joints, so they can be moved with subtlety and have a strong sense of an underlying skeleton. Their skin us made of rubber stretched over the framework. So the puppets perhaps lack the detail of a CGI actor, but they have their own peculiar charm. Much of this comes from the way the director refuses to make anything look too neat or symmetrical. Everything from the house where Coraline lives to the players’ faces is slightly crooked – nothing is too pretty. But this is a suitable style for such a macabre tale that comes across as a skewed, modern-day variation on “Alice in Wonderland”. His characters are apple-headed and have spindly arms and legs, so they look as though they might topple over at any instant. Their movement is a bit jerky and in combination with the fluid camerawork, digital tweaks to some scenes and the 3D medium, this creates an odd floating sensation when you watch it. It is effective when the main protagonist is going through the tunnel to the other world but is disorienting at other times.
The director’s use of lighting and colour is effective in creating atmosphere. We see how unappealing Coraline’s new home is thanks the palette of greys and browns Selick uses and the way the lighting seems to drain colour from the characters and their surroundings. Most of the heroine’s visits to the alternate world take place at night, when lighting is key. You see the golden glow of lamplight that brings warmth and adds to the dreamlike quality when Coraline is enchanted by what she sees. But the darkness also lends itself to a shadowy, nightmarish atmosphere when things have taken their malevolent turn. The director takes care to pick out the bright colours that would appeal to Coraline’s imagination when things are going well and harsher, colder shades during the more forbidding periods. There is a nice range of textures, particularly in terms of fabrics where you can almost feel the slickness of Coraline’s raincoat and the comforting lumpiness of her mother’s woolly jumpers. Hair is coarse and looks like nylon fibres while the animals’ fur takes on a slightly clumpy texture that makes them look rather mangy, especially the cat. There are many Heath-Robinson-style inventions that increase the pervasive air of oddity – from dog-operated stage sets to a giant mantis garden rotivator and a player piano with gloved hands to tickle the ivories.
The overall impression is that of a quirkily unique world with the ability to charm and unsettle in equal measure. Selick is very good at keeping the audience on edge – there’s always the feeling that there may be something nasty lurking around the corner and there often is. The second half of the movie may therefore be too dark for young or sensitive children, although the sinister aspect may appeal to an older audience. The air of menace also keeps the things surprisingly tense for an animated film, so adult viewers will find it easier to stay engaged throughout the hundred-minute running-time. It also keeps the pacing tight.
Selick’s screenplay is based on the novel of the same name by Neil Gaiman. Selick grasps the essence of the author’s style, presenting the story as a modern-day Grimm’s fairytale true to the original style. The moral is to be careful what you wish for and the potentially fatal consequences become clear in the second half of the film. There’s also a strong message about how appearances can be deceptive. There are shades of “Alice in Wonderland” thanks to the rabbit-hole motif, larger-than-life characters and the sinister alternate world. But Selick plays up to this and is never afraid to be frightening so adults may get more out of it than kids. That being said, there’s nothing truly horrific, just a lot of creepy shenanigans. Most of the humour comes from character comedy, but there’s a lack of actual gags, which seems odd for the animation format.
The characterisation is slightly more complex than you might expect from a cartoon. Sure, Coraline may feel neglected by her parents, but she’s a moody, stroppy little madam in her own right. Her real mother is stressed and short-tempered, with little time for her offspring and her father is easily distracted. Her Other Mother and Other Father are much more fun; always there to care for and entertain her and sensitive to her every desire. They’re too good to be true, as the knowledgeable cat points out. When things get spooky, it’s not a surprise, but it’s certainly not a treat either. Meanwhile Coraline’s eccentric and frankly odd neighbours are transformed in the other world into flamboyant circus performers who just want to entertain her. The dialogue is aimed at a child audience, but there are plenty of spiky comments for adults to enjoy too.
The voice cast includes many familiar names. Child star par excellence Dakota Fanning lends her pipes to the titular character, giving enough attitude to make the part feel surprisingly true to life, so her sulks feel believable without making her unlikeable. Teri Hatcher voices Coraline’s real and Other Mother, flipping from snappy to syrupy depending on what’s needed and clearly enjoying the chance to play the villain in later stages of the film. The Artist Formerly Known as Lovejoy (aka Ian McShane) ladles on the accent as eccentric mouse-tamer Mr Bobinsky, while Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders increase the kook factor and capitalise on their long-term partnership as the sweetly dotty Misses Forcible and Spink. B-movie aficionados may recognise Keith David (alumnus of a seemingly endless number of John Carpenter movies) as the voice of the cat rumbling through his lines with an “I-told-you-so” intonation. Overall the vocal performances are well-cast and suit the gothic stylings of the rest of the production.
The original music by Bruno Coulais and They Might Be Giants takes a Danny Elfman-style approach, featuring plenty of dark choruses, creepy piano and music box chimes. It’s a sinister, yet oddly pretty score. There are lots of little creepy motifs including insect-like strings and chimes for the little door and an ethereal chorus and strings for the cat. Bobinsky warrants his own theme of discordant brass and drums while the other eccentrics are accompanied by bright but off-kilter circus-style music that sets your nerves on edge. As the movie progresses, the music becomes more forbidding, upping the ante with threatening brass and strings in conjunction with discordant choruses. A song about Coraline offers some light relief. But by and large the score is an unsettling but appropriate accompaniment to the production.
“Coraline” is unusual for an animated film in that its intended audience doesn’t appear to be tiny tots. It will probably appeal to an older group because it’s too dark for little kids. I can imagine some nightmares would ensue from watching it for sensitive kiddies thanks to the vampire dogs and creepy villain. I suspect fans of Selick’s other work and Neil Gaiman’s novels will lap it up, as will the emo crowd. It’s lovely to look at, tightly plotted and quirky enough to become a cult favourite. But somehow I couldn’t bring myself to love it. Maybe it’s the lack of cartoon humour or the overall darkness, but I didn’t like it as much as I’d hoped to. But it’s still worth a look.
Advantages: Brilliant Film Disadvantages: Slightly too scary
== Coraline == This weekend I settled down with a DVD that had not been opened for a couple of months because I naively thought that it was a simple child’s story. The DVD was bought for me as a gift from one of my brothers and I believe it costs around £11 new which is pretty standard for a DVD that is both popular and only recently released. If you have not seen Coraline then you may have seen the trailer of this stop-motion 3D animated film, it’s ... ...=== The story of Coraline is based on a book written by Neil Gaiman about a young girl who moves with her mother and father from Michigan to a converted mansion called ‘the Pink Palace’ which is also home to a crazy Russian Circus Master and two whacky actresses called Miss April Spink and Miss Miriam Forcible, Coraline is noticeably unhappy with the move, and her parents job leaves her bored and unimpressed with her new home and she explores the ...
amyloop 26.10.2009 (16.11.2009)
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Advantages: Fantastic Animation, Spellbinding Fairytale Disadvantages: The begining was a bit slow.
...( The Nightmare Before Christmas) Coraline tells the animated story of a young girl who has moved into a new apartment with her workaholic parents. Her mother and Father, so engrossed in their work, have little time for their daughter, and Coraline, bored and lonely is left to her own devices. She discovers a very small door, hidden beneath the wallpaper and becomes curious. That night, Coraline is to discover what lies behind the magical door. A ... ...'Other Mother' is the Mum Coraline dreamed of, and everything is as she would wish it to be in her 'real world'. The only thing distinguishing the people on the other side of the door are their lack of eyes, and black buttons stitched on as a replacement. But typically, all is not as it seems and there is a far more sinister agenda. Will Coraline sign away her soul to the 'other side' (or rather trade her eye's for some shiny black button's?) or ...
Rhiana 05.05.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Coraline (DVD)
Advantages: Great animation, perfect casting, wonderful story Disadvantages: A little scary for young children (and me!)
Eleven year old Coraline has just moved into the Pink Palace Apartments with her workaholic parents. Both of her parents are always on their computers trying to finish writing a gardening book and never seem to take any notice of their only daughter. Coraline is left to her own devices and ends up making friends with one of her new neighbours, Wybie, a young strange boy, and his cat. When exploring the new house, she comes across a small door hidden ... ...is tucked up in bed, Coraline hears the squeaking sound of mice and follows their trail through the house where they take her to the hidden door. But this time Coraline finds no bricks but a mysterious tunnel leading out of the house. As all little girls would do, Coraline's suspicion gets the better of her and, with no other excitement coming from the house or her parents, she makes her way into the tunnel. It ends up leading her into the replica ...
frankiefromings13 26.06.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Coraline (DVD)
Advantages: Excellent animation, great characters, dark and edgy. Disadvantages: Scary for little ones.
Coraline Jones is bored out of her mind. Her parents don't have time for her and she has left her friends behind to move into a dilapidated Victorian house in the middle of nowhere. Feeling lonely and unloved why wouldn't she follow the mice through the little door into a strange world? However, all is not as it seems as Coraline slowly realizes her other mother might just want to love her a little too much, and why does everyone here have buttons ... ...bad and the alternative reality Coraline finds herself in when she goes through the little door is certainly that. Unsettling and amazing in equal measure you find yourself feeling equal parts of awe and disgust as magical mice are revealed to be rabid rats and Coraline's "other mother" slowly reveals herself to not be quite as lovely as she appears. The magic of the whole thing is undoubtedly helped by the use of stop-motion animation which is rarely ...
Shortsharpshock 24.08.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Coraline (DVD)
Advantages: Looks fantastic, with a brilliant soundtrack to accompany. Disadvantages: Might be too scary for children
=== Coraline === Coraline is an on screen adaptation of Neil Gaiman's book of the same name. It was directed by Henry Selick, whose work you might recognise from The NIghtmare Before Christmas. Coraline is certainly of a similar visual style to this film, so it might be useful to use this film as a way of deciding whether this is the film for you. That being said, while I personally didn't enjoy Nightmare that much, I still appreciated its visual ... ...'''Basic Plot''' Coraline Jones has moved to a new house with her parents, but ends up being bored out of her mind, especially when her parents don't want to play with her because of work, and when the only kid in the neighbourhood appears to be a freak. Soon, she discovers a tiny door that leads to a perfect world, where her parents pay her as much attention as they can. However, she soon realises that everything isn't what it appears. The story ...
johnhobbs123 29.05.2009
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Advantages: Great storyline and an amazing director! Amazing characters! Disadvantages: May be a bit scary for young children.
of the film, I don?t know, but he did say he didn?t think much to the film.
So this is just a film review, not DVD. I paid £3.95 to watch this film for 24 hours on Virgin movies on demand.
Plot
Coraline Jones and her family have move into the Pink Palace Apartments. Coraline is a young girl, it never discloses her age, but I would guess she is around 12/13. She feels like her parents ignore her, as they are both so busy writing about gardening. Coraline is left to explore the house, and the grounds when she comes across a tiny door in the wall, but upon pestering her mother to unlock the door, she finds it is bricked up, and goes back to exploring where she meets the young boy Wybie, who is weird and won?t shut up, and his cat.
That night though, when Coraline is sleeping, she dreams she follows the dancing mice which go into ...
stephbond89 28.11.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Coraline (DVD)
Advantages: great story and in 3D! Disadvantages: None
Coraline was released in the cinema earlier this year and was a movie I thoroughly enjoyed, so I was eagerly anticipating its release on dvd. The film came out on dvd in early October and I was pleasantly surprised that both the 2 and 3D versions were made available, as the 3D version in the cinema was excellent. For the 3D version a set of 4 3D glasses are included in the DVD pack. It has a PG certificate and runs for 110 minutes. According to the pack the 3D DVD is limited edition.
The basic storyline
Coraline is a young girl, voiced by Dakota Fanning, around 10 years old, who moves to a new house with her parents, who both run their own gardening magazine. Due to the move and settling in her parents are extremely busy and don?t have much time for Coraline. Feeling ignored Coraline sets off to explore the new house and garden. In ...
tecnomars 02.11.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Coraline (DVD)
Advantages: good voice acting, amazing animation Disadvantages: a bit scary for little kids.
When Coraline first came to our cinema screens I was looking forward to watching it, until my mum, step dad and sisters told me it wasn't very good. I am quite easily influenced when it comes to films so I decided to steer clear of it despite my boyfriend saying 'Noo, you're really going to like it!' - as I'm a fan of "The Nightmare Before Christmas" and "James and the Giant Peach" - none the same but with some amazing animation and a bit of a spooky plot.
The Plot
Coraline is focuses on the Jones family and their recent move to the 'Pink Palace'. They have some quirky neighbours - an eccentric that hosts a mouse circus and two ladies (voiced by French and Saunders) who used to be in show business and collect stuffed dogs.
One night Coraline follows a mouse through a secret door and is transported into the other world ...
kayleaf 27.11.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Coraline (DVD)
Contains mild threat and scary scenes and one use of mild language
Video Category
Feature Film
Country Of Origin
United States of America
Plot
Coraline Jones (voiced by Dakota Fanning) and her parents (Teri Hatcher, John Hodgman) have moved into the Pink Palace, a once-vibrant boarding house that's turned drab and dilapidated. As her parents work feverishly on a new gardening catalog, the bored and belligerent Coraline is admonished to explore her new world's possibilities. Along the way she meets her fellow tenants, including two aging English showgirls and a mouse-training Russian acrobat, as well as an outcast neighbourhood boy named Wybie. But it is a mysterious hidden door that most piques Coraline's interest--a gateway to a parallel world where her 'other' parents and neighbours live only to see Coraline well fed and endlessly entertained. All is not cakes and carnivals for Coraline, though, and the black buttons that have replaced the eyes of these otherworldly imitations hint at darker intentions. When these intentions are revealed, Cora and a friendly magical cat use their wits and willpower to defeat Coraline's wicked 'other mother' and restore balance in the real world.
Release details
DVD Region
DVD
Studio(s)
UNIVERSAL PICTURES UK; CINRAM LOGISTICS (SWINDON), UNIVERSAL PICTURES UK
Deleted scenes, Making-of, Feature commentary with director Henry Selick and composer and composer Bruno Salick
Aspect Ratio
1.85 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Sound
Dolby Digital
Professional reviews
Review
This thrilling stop-motion animated adventure is a high point in Selick's career of crating handrcrafted wonderlands of beauty blended with deep, disconcerting creepiness (Entertainment Weekly, 02/03/2009)
Selick's imaginative sets and puppets are in perfect pitch with Gaiman's fantasy. The 3-D effects aren't overdone but are used intelligently to make this world come brilliantly to life (Hollywood Reporter, 02/03/2009)
The third dimension comes of age with CORALINE....CORALINE is a remarkable feat of imagination, a magical tale with a genuinely sinister edge (Los Angleles Times, 02/03/2009)
[A]n exquisitely realized 3-D stop-motion animated feature....CORALINE lingers in an atmosphere that is creepy, wonderfully strange and full of feeling (New York Times, 02/03/2009)
[T]hose who tough it out with this twisted, trippy adventure in impure imagination will only be the better for it (Rolling Stone, 02/03/2009)
It's gorgeous to watch in all its dazzling stop-motion animation splendor....It's exquisite images have an undeniable whimsical appeal (USA Today, 02/03/2009)
CORALINE is a dark delight....This eccentric and deliriously inventive fantasy finds stop-motion auteur Henry Selick scaling new heights of ghoulish whimsy, buoyed by a haunting score that works its own macabre magic (Variety, 02/03/2009)
DVD Description
As covetous children are often warned: 'Be careful what you wish for'. It's this very cautionary wisdom that sets the stage for Henry Selick’s CORALINE, an eerily eye-popping stop-motion animation tale of fractured dreams and families made whole. As the films opens, Coraline Jones (voiced by Dakota Fanning) and her parents (Teri Hatcher, John Hodgman) have moved into the Pink Palace, a once-vibrant boarding house that's turned drab and dilapidated. As her parents work feverishly on a new gardening catalog, the bored and belligerent Coraline is admonished to explore her new world's possibilities. Along the way she meets her fellow tenants, including two aging English showgirls and a mouse-training Russian acrobat, as well as an outcast neighbourhood boy named Wybie. But it is a mysterious hidden door that most piques Coraline's interest--a gateway to a parallel world where her 'other' parents and neighbours live only to see Coraline well fed and endlessly entertained. All is not cakes and carnivals for Coraline, though, and the black buttons that have replaced the eyes of these otherworldly imitations hint at darker intentions. When these intentions are revealed, Cora and a friendly magical cat use their wits and willpower to defeat Coraline's wicked 'other mother' and restore balance in the real world. Based on Neil Gaiman’s beloved children’s novel, director Selick (THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS) uses the stop-motion technique to bring CORALINE to life with amazing visual and emotional depth. The result is a frightfully magical adventure that will give the whole family plenty to shriek, cheer, and talk about.
![Coraline [DVD] [2009] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/93679145.jpg "Coraline [DVD] [2009] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]")
![Coraline [DVD] [2009] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/92557716.jpg "Coraline [DVD] [2009] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]")
![Coraline (2D Version Only) [DVD] [2009]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/97238041.jpg "Coraline (2D Version Only) [DVD] [2009]")
![Coraline - 2 Disc Limited Edition (Includes the 2D and 3D Version and 4 Pairs of 3D Glasses) [DVD] [2009]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/100691780.jpg "Coraline - 2 Disc Limited Edition (Includes the 2D and 3D Version and 4 Pairs of 3D Glasses) [DVD] [2009]")
