Coraline (DVD)

== Coraline ==

Details:
_Directed By_ Henry Selick
_Release Date_8 May 2009
_Certification_ PG
_Runtime_ 96 minutes
_Starring_
Dakota Fanning
Teri Hatcher
Jennifer Saunders
Dawn French
Keith David
John Hodgman
Robert Bailey Jnr

== Introduction ==
When this film was advertised on TV, the words my 13 year old brother used were “that ...
...had nothing to do with Coraline as far as credits are concerned, though I cannot say he didn’t do some art work behind the scenes as I wouldn’t know. So just to clear things up, Tim Burton is nothing to do with this film! :)

So anyway, I decided to watch this film on Movies on Demand last night with my husband, I had heard it was a little scary, and that although it had been widely acclaimed, it wasn’t really suitable for young children ... more

Coraline

Details:
Directed By Henry Selick
Release Date8 May 2009
Certification PG
Runtime 96 minutes
Starring
Dakota Fanning
Teri Hatcher
Jennifer Saunders
Dawn French
Keith David
John Hodgman
Robert Bailey Jnr

Introduction

When this film was advertised on TV, the words my 13 year old brother used were “that looks rubbish”, myself, I thought it looked quite good. I usually love animated films, and I loved the Nightmare Before Christmas, which was also directed by Henry Selick (not Tim Burton as is very much mistaken, who actually was a producer to the film but only in the small sense that he drew the original animations and was a contributor to the writing).

One small thing to add to this, is that Henry Selick is the director of this film, which for some reason get confused with, thinking Tim Burton was the director. Although the work IS very much like Tim Burton in both of these films, he actually had nothing to do with Coraline as far as credits are concerned, though I cannot say he didn’t do some art work behind the scenes as I wouldn’t know. So just to clear things up, Tim Burton is nothing to do with this film! :)

So anyway, I decided to watch this film on Movies on Demand last night with my husband, I had heard it was a little scary, and that although it had been widely acclaimed, it wasn’t really suitable for young children as it did have a little bit of scariness to it. I enjoyed the film, which is only quite short at just over an hour and a half, but my husband who is more of an action packed drugs raid films, actually fell asleep!!!! Whether this was due to working nights the previous night or been bored 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 the living room and when opens the door she finds that instead of the bricks there is a tunnel leading through to another door at the end!

Coraline goes down the tunnel, and on the other side finds another world with her “Other parents”, everything is the same in terms of her neighbours, Wybie, and the house, but everything is so much…nicer. Her parents appreciate her, they love her and they do everything to please her. But when Coraline wakes up the next morning she finds the door still boarded up with bricks, and thinks she must have been dreaming.

But again it keeps happening! But as Coraline starts to fall in love with her “other world”, she doesn’t realise the danger she is in, or the danger her real parents are in!

Opinion of Plot
The plot is great, it is definitely not a plot I have seen before that’s for sure! It isn’t predictable, and right up until the end, you wonder what is going to happen next never really anticipating the next step in the story, which is great as kids films can be very predictable for the adult audience but Coraline wasn’t like that at all.

Though the film is great and I loved it, it is scary, and I can fully understand why some children wouldn’t like the film as it is a bit freaky! Even from the word go, when something we cannot see is making a doll of Coraline (who we assume is Coraline as most people who are watching the film will have seen the posters or trailers), it is very sinister the way it is done. Even something so simple as the buttons which the “other world” people have for eyes, is very sinister and scary!

I was sitting there quite scared myself at 20, someone who doesn’t even get that scared by horror films! So god knows how a 5 year old would react to the film.

Henry Selick is very clever though in that he can make animation films for adults more than children. If we think of The Nightmare Before Christmas, this is also quite scary in the way it is done, the animation etc! And Coraline is very much like this film!

All in all, I really enjoyed the film, I thought the plot was very clever, and the film was very well written, produced and directed in my opinion. But I can understand why some people wouldn’t enjoy this film, and if your children are easily spooked, I wouldn’t put this on for them at bedtime!

Characters/Performance

The film is full of big actors, Dakota Fanning who plays Coraline is a young actress at just 15 who has starred in a range of films (Charlottes Web, Uptown Girls, New Moon, Cutlass, Push), and is definitely what you would call an up and coming actress, she has been around since she was around 5 or 6, when she was starring in shows such as Ally McBeal and ER with bit parts, leading her into a full blown acting career. Dakota Fanning is the perfect part as Coraline, she has just the right amount of “attitude” to her voice, which may come from been a teenager herself, or may be acted, but either way, it is perfect for the age that Coraline is supposed to be in the film.
Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French are in the film as two old actresses who live in the flat below Coraline, they play hilarious parts, but that is obviously going to be the case with these two amazing actresses/comedians. They play amazing, if small parts in the film, and really add that great comedy factor to it, lightening the scary mood of the film! I personally didn’t know that it was French and Saunders when I was watching the film, and it was only when the credits came up that I realised it was two of my favourite comedians, showing how good parts they played in the film!
Teri Hatcher (Desperate Housewives’ Susan Mayer), plays the mother and the “other mother”, and again plays a great part, the two “mothers” in the film, although played by the same actress are completely different in their demeanour as well as almost everything else! So Hatcher plays two great parts in this film.

Those are the main people in the film who are played by people who are household names. All characters in the film are very well thought through, and extremely well acted. My favourite character, after the above, has got to be either Coraline’s father, who is so under her mother’s thumb that he is in danger of been crushed, doing everything that he is told. He is the “wife” of the household, doing the cooking (badly!), and basically been pushed around by the women in the house. I loved when Coraline asked her father if she could go outside and plant her seeds. His response was “what did the boss say” about her mother, it just really makes me laugh, showing he is told what to do, and has no say in the matter where it comes to his wife. Although he doesn’t play a huge part in the film, he is great, and so shy and nervous he makes me giggle.

Price/Availability

Now, as I said, I bought this film for 24 hours off Movies on Demand with Virgin, not on DVD, but, here are some prices for the DVD in case you want to buy it as a Christmas gift, or just for yourself!

HMV: £11.99 DVD £15.99 Blu-ray
Play.com: £11.99 DVD £15.99 Blue-ray
Amazon.co.uk: £11.98 DVD £15.98 Blu-ray
Asda: £12.71 DVD £16.71 Blu-ray
Zavvi: £12.95 DVD £15.95 Blu-ray
WHSmith: £12.93 DVD £15.93 Blu-ray

There are a few examples of the prices, as you can see the prices are between £11.98 and £12.95 for DVD and £15.98 and £16.71 for Blu-ray.

In Conclusion

* Age Group?
The film is aimed at children, but for me I would give the age group of around 10+, I don’t think there is an age limit on the film as such, and I think any age older than 10 will really enjoy this film. But, I wouldn’t show the film to children younger than 10, unless you know your children aren’t easily scared, of course you know your children more than I do!!! But, it is a little scary, and younger children could be scared by the film,

*Where should I buy it?
I would always say to buy DVDs off the internet as they tend to be cheaper, I buy most of my DVDs from Amazon, but looking at the prices I have found, there doesn’t seem to be much price fluctuation, so I would pick it up with your shopping in Asda or Tesco!

*This film is similar to…
The Nightmare Before Christmas
The Corpse Bride
James and the Giant Peach

*You’ll love this film if…
You enjoy Tim Burton films such as Edward Scissorhands. If you like animated films like the Corspe Bride. If you like films such as The Grinch! And also if you don’t mind a bit of a freaky storyline!
 

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