Coraline

          Coraline, is a fantasy thriller in which a young girl, Coraline, played by the talented Dakota Fanning, visits the life parallel to her own. The setting of the movie is in Ashland, Oregon in the “Pink Palace” apartments where Coraline and her parents played by John Hodgman and TeriHatcher, have just moved from Pontiac, Michigan to work on their career.

           Quickly upon moving to Oregon, Coraline realizes she doesn't much like it. There are no other kids in the building and the weather is forever raining and gloomy. Her only 'friend' is Wybie who isn't even allowed on the property of the Pink Palace because rumor has it, dangerous things happen there. With her parents always neck-deep in work, Coraline is free to roam around the house and explore. Everything in the house seems uniform and boring until Coraline comes across a door that has been completely sealed up. Coraline leaves the door alone, seeing as it's locked, but that night in her dream she visits the strange world behind the door. Every night thereafter, Coraline is thrust into a world completely opposite hers the minute she goes to sleep. Contrary to a dream though, this life is very real despite her waking up each morning in her own bed again. This “other life” has everything she could ever imagine, her mother cooks (breakfast for dinner!) and her father sings, the garden is filled with flowers and everything seems brighter. Coraline is warned earlier on not to let this place get to her head, all is not a dream come true here. One night she stumbles upon the ghosts of the children who'd visited this world before her and had never made it home to their real lives. Coraline is plunged into a quest fir the eyes of the children as to let their souls free. The only catch? They're invisible to the naked eye and Coraline much find all the eyes before morning.

           The animation of this film is absolutely mesmerizing and the costumes for each character are all expertly sewed for every shot. The film is stop-motion animation, and the first of said kind might I add. The transition of the puppets from scene to scene is very graceful and makes the characters come to life in a very human-like manner. The scenery is also very lifelike aside from the obvious animations. Altogether, the set is very well put together and creates the scene for a wonderful movie.

Regarding the overall construction of the production, I thought everything was placed in the most specific, and best fit part of the story. I felt all the small details, like the fog and how every hair on her head moved when there was wind, were effects that were not needed but made the film that much better by including them. The music fit the movie precisely too. It was not a “poppy” soundtrack, but rather an ominous-sounding female voice that made the mood of the scenes more dramatic, Like the classic song in the movie Jaws.

           My overall opinion of the movie is that a lot of hard work must have gone into the filming and every effort paid off in the end. The story was wonderful and a lovely twist on the “grass is always greener on the other side” moral. It was nice for a children-targeted movie to be enjoyable for adults too. I will gladly be seeing the next Henry Selick directed film.