Film Review: Coraline

Coraline is a fairytale with a modern twist. Utilising a well-known plot of neglectful parents, inquisitive girl and magical world, Coraline follows in the mode of stories like Alice in Wonderland and Pan’s Labyrinth. Based on the novel of the same name by Neil Gaimen, Coraline has been interpreted for film by Henry Selick. His animated style, as seen in The Nightmare before Christmas, and James and the Giant Peach, gives Coraline a distinctive and strong aesthetic. Engaging the younger audience with an interesting story that is both creepy and exciting, shows that the author and director are both focused on good storytelling, not merchandising opportunities.

At the beginning of the film, Coraline moves to a new town with her overly busy writer parents. Left to her own devices Coraline explores her new surroundings and neighbours. Her findings are bitterly disappointing. Restless and bored she aggravates her parents and focuses in on the local kid, Whybe, as a good target for teasing. When Coraline is given a doll that bears a remarkable resemblance to her, things start to go from the mundane to the insane. Coraline discovers a door to a parallel universe. In this brighter world, she is the centre of everyone’s attention, with doting parents and entertaining neighbours. But there is a catch; if she wants to stay she is going to have to make some sacrifices.

Updating the classic story premise of the uncaring parents, Coraline focuses in on the modern parental concern of the two-income household and the impact on children’s ‘quality-time’. Coraline’s parents are permanently glued to their computer screens, preoccupied as opposed to disinterested. Coraline isn’t all sweetness and light; you can feel a certain pity for her parents, who she relentlessly badgers as they work from home. Coraline’s desperation for adult attention and need to stand out makes her more intriguing than many of her animated contemporaries.

The real draw-card for this film is the attention to detail. The animation is absolutely wonderful. At 100 minutes, Coraline is the longest stop-motion film ever made. The result of many years of work, it took Selick and his team a week to make two minutes of running-time. The end result is a piece of art. Care has been given to every minute detail, making every scene visually enchanting. The first stop-motion animation to be filmed in 3D, it is definitely worth the extra ticket price to see Coraline in this format. The effects aren’t showy, but enhance the playful aesthetics of the film, giving it a fantastic depth.

The recognisable voices lent to this project, with the exception of Dakota Fanning as Coraline, will be unknown to the younger audience. French and Saunders are delightful as retired performers Miss Miriam Forcible and Miss April Spink and Ian McShane takes a turn as Russian Mr. Sergei Alexander Bobinsky, ringmaster extraordinaire. Once again Teri Hatcher gets to vent the frustrations of the desperate housewife as Mel Jones/Other Mother.

Whilst the denouement is a little rushed, not meeting the exceptional standards established in the first two thirds of the film, the deconstruction of the other world is fascinating as it unravels in front of your eyes. Coraline doesn’t handout unrealistic platitudes like, ‘all your dreams can come true’, the overly sentimental dribble some animated studios spin out. Coraline’s message is simple – your parents are probably doing the best they can, and in most cases you could do a lot worse.

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Director: Henry Selick

Cast: Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French, Ian McShane, Teri Hatcher

Coraline is in cinemas now