The Coraline movie masterpiece for kids
The Coraline movie is here! Neil Gaiman’s marvellous children’s novel Coraline has become a suitably magical feature film directed by none other than Henry Selick, the man that directed the 1993 cult classic animated feature film ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’. If any director was capable of bringing Gaiman’s unnerving tale of people with Button-eyes in an alternate version of our actual world, it is Selick. The visual aspect of the Coraline movie is a superb example of stop-motion animation, a filmmaking process that can truly be enchanting when executed well.
Where the original Coraline book was of the same odd and magical sort that we have all come to expect and want from Neil Gaiman, the look of the Coraline movie took several moviegoers by surprise with its palette of vibrant colours and the method of animation. The Coraline movie is a marvellous thing to look at, and will fascinate viewers of every generation with its weird story and highly entertaining cast of characters.
The acting talent attached to the stop motion adventures of the Coraline movie is rather impressive too. Dakota Fanning handles the role of Coraline herself, and the rest of the cast has a collection of British television legends in the cast, including Ian McShane, Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders. Teri Hatcher performs the voice of both versions of Coraline’s mum. The Coraline movie’s sarcastic feline friend is performed by John Hodgman.
It is rather fitting that such a strange story is brought to the screen in such a manner that it does capture the feel of a dream. Stop-Motion animation has that wonderful otherworldly quality to it that CG is yet to possess. There is something wonderfully odd about stop motion, especially here in the Coraline movie. It may be the knowledge that the moviegoer is watching inanimate objects moving around on the big screen, or it might just be that the finished vision of a stop-mo movie is so different to most other animated films of the contemporary scene.
While the Coraline movie is not really as filled with lingering images as The Nightmare Before Christmas, it is certainly not devoid of it’s visual treats. Just wait for the musical scenes, the strange metamorphoses of the characters, and of course, the chilling buttons that characters have in place of eyes in the alternate world. Viewers that haven’t read the book are in for a real treat as they discover the crazy universe that Gaiman created, a world that is similar to ours, just rather awry.
For those who are familiar with the book (and it has been enjoyed by just as many grown-ups as youngsters), the Coraline Movie is as near a faithful movie version of the Coraline novel as it’s going to get. This is one kid’s film that is going to become a much-loved classic for every generation. The Coraline film is pure magic.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 14th, 2009 at 5:52 am and is filed under Movies. You can follow any comments to this post through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
July 17th, 2009 at 10:56 pm
I went to see the film and I found the Music effective too!
Hope you enjoyed your last day at LLS
Leo
July 18th, 2009 at 6:50 am
Thanks, Leo. Very emotional but a great day. Keep up the performing and hope to see you sometime in September.
Alan
March 6th, 2010 at 9:20 pm
It’s a damn shame then that this meticulously crafted, psychedelic visual-journey isn’t matched with a screenplay that was given just as much effort. The inbuilt metaphors of the Alice tale are still there however writer Linda Woolverton adds very little in the way of character development or plot undercurrents, seemingly intent on relying on the visual effects wizards and actors to contribute the extra layers. Her biggest missed opportunity is further exploration into the Mad Hatter or even the White Queen – both of whom are half-baked caricatures – with the Hatter coming off as a mere chance for Depp to be quirky, rather than the cleverly-written character with an interesting back story that he should have been. To Woolverton’s credit though, she did manage to concoct some deliriously amusing dialogue for the Hatter and the Red Queen; a small highlight of her script which partially redeems her lack-lustre attempts elsewhere.