Coraline is officially awesome ...

… according to me, that is. But for what it’s worth, I though this Henry Selick directed, stop-motion animated adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s book turned out very awesome indeed. I’ve seen a few other stop-motion films before, mostly of the Henry Selick and/or Tim Burton variety, but I don’t think even The Nightmare Before Christmas can measure up to this one. Much in the vein of Pan’s Labyrinth, Coraline puts a dark twist on the Alice-in-Wonderland theme of a girl who discovers another world in her own proverbial backyard (although perhaps not quite as dark as the aforementioned R-rated Guillermo del Toro film.) In fact, it's sort of like a modern-day Grimm fairy tale; it has the same kind of dark undertones. But I was really blown away by the sheer artistry of the stop-motion animation in this film. Since the rise of computer animation, the medium in which almost all American children’s films are now made, it’s amazing to think that everything depicted in Coraline was actually generated, not by a computer, but by human hands. Every puppet, every leaf and blade of grass, every roof shingle was physically constructed for the movie. The result is a stylized, but somehow very lifelike picture that is beautiful, funny, and in some ways intensely creepy.

Our story begins with young Coraline Jones moving into an old house that’s been divided up into separate apartments in some remote and rainy location. Her distracted parents and eccentric neighbors pay little attention to her, and she soon becomes bored and lonely, until she discovers a small door in the house that doesn’t seem to lead anywhere – most of the time. Despite several ominous clues and veiled warnings, Coraline is slowly drawn into the world beyond the door, a world very closely resembling her own, except for the simple fact that this one revolves around her. It’s magical and fun, and everything a kid could ever dream of – at first. Of course, things aren’t what they seem, but by the time Coraline senses danger she’s already become too entangled in the web to escape without first defeating something very old, very evil, and very nasty: the other mother.

One thing that impressed me the most about Coraline was actually the “real world” parts of the film. Not that the “other” world wasn’t fantastically and artistically portrayed. Believe me, those parts were really, really cool. But Coraline and her family seemed so lifelike and believable, like real people in a real world. Not only is that something you don’t usually see in stop-motion (which tends to rely heavily on crazy, cartoonish characters), but it also made the threat of the “other” world all the more sinister and scary. I also liked the character of Wieby (sp?). He wasn't in the book if I remember correctly, but I thought he made a delightful addition to the story. There wasn’t a lot of music in the movie, but the music that was featured in the opening sequences and closing credits was really lovely in a creepy sort of way, setting the tone of the film quite nicely.

I'm kind of curious as to how the film was marketed. I suppose the target audience was younger children, just like with the book, but I think it would be wrong to write it off as something that would only interest kids. I know I certainly enjoyed it, as did my (also college-aged) friend with whom I went to see it. Although I probably enjoyed it a little bit more.