Alternate 3D Worlds Collide in the Fantastical Coraline by Larson Hill
If you're thinking about seeing the new 3D animated film Coraline, there's no doubt that if you cruise the web you'll find the standard film critic reactions of "but the problem is," "sadly," "unoriginal," "falters," "lacks focus," and so on. And while as easy as those are to say on a weekly basis, and there are familiar ups and downs throughout the film, Coraline is visually brilliant in its 3D stop-motion glory, the fantastical imagery it sweeps you up in, and the ambition of its blend of innocence, imagination, and the ominous within its story.
Written by literary fantasy master Neil Gaiman back in 2002 as a children's book, Coraline now comes to life on the big screen with The Nightmare Before Christmas director Henry Selick at the helm. While Selick's presence behind the camera is a big indicator of how the film will feel from a visual standpoint, the soon-to-be Twilight cast member Dakota Fanning steps into the voice role of Coraline, a bored young girl who moves from Michigan to Oregon with her parents and soon finds a hidden door to a parallel universe in their new Victorian home. And while the story is familiar in similar fashion as The Spiderwick Chronicles, one that we have seen before, what raises Coraline from the ashes of the "unoriginal" is its vibrant visual scope that washes over you like a 3D Tsunami for a powerful symbolic purpose.
Propping up the cast is Teri Hatcher and John Hodgman as Coraline's parents, Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French as retired British next door neighbors, Ian McShane as a flamboyant Russian gymnast named the Amazing Bobinsky, Keith David as a talking cat, and Robert Bailey Jr. as a young ever-present pursuer of Coraline. At the heart of Coraline is a story that many tweens and teens will be able to relate to. Not all, but certainly those with busy parents. At various points in time, many kids have wished they had different parents, especially if they've done something wrong have been on the backend of punishment. In other cases, parents are so busy or distracted they don't realize their child is feeling isolated and alone. In some cases, kids don't appreciate the parents they do have but eventually realize that home life isn't as bad as it seems. Sometimes the grass isn't greener on the other side of the fence, even if you romanticize it in your head. And that's the core of Coraline as a story, as the parallel universe that Fanning's Coraline discovers is a representation of the "what life would be like only if" thoughts of a young girl’s imagination.
In Coraline's seemingly more exciting new world, she has an alternate mother and father who are, by first appearances, everything her real life parents aren't. Not only do her alternate parents pay attention to her but they also spend quality time with her in vibrant, highly imaginative locations filled with crazy, unpredictable characters. However, the more amazing her new reality becomes Coraline begins to feel smothered by the weight of what becomes too wonderful and foreign as it gets harder to return to her life in the real world. When she learns that her seemingly perfect alternate parents aren't quite what they appear to be, Coraline begins to feel trapped in a nightmare that she may not be able to leave, and one that many kids can't get out of either. What transpires, with the help of Keith David's talking feline, is a lesson that Coraline must learn for herself in determining which family is more important to her and how she can bring them all together as a family. Sure, you've seen thematic versions of Coraline before in the live action world of movies, but not quite like this since animation and imagination meet in a way that has a brilliant significance in our live action world.
Since the lengthy animation process behind Coraline takes 3D stop motion to a whole new level, the worlds within the story play out like a circus of the imagination. In fact, there's a sequence in the movie that features a circus full of mice, which is nothing short of dazzling and exciting to watch. There’s definitely a feel similar to The Nightmare Before Christmas, but the visuals are much more refined and serve the story as an integral environmental character. In many ways Coraline has roots in The Wizard of Oz but it’s much more bold in its contemporary approach to matching animation with the imagination for story effect. In a real world filled with action packed gunplay and criminal investigations, Coraline proves that there is room for highly creative positive messages that warn young teens to be careful what they wish for when they're bored and think their world is darker than what it appears to be. Sometimes the grass isn't greener on the other side until you get there only to appreciate what you have. Coraline is a fun and fantastical adventure that you won’t soon forget.
If you're thinking about seeing the new 3D animated film Coraline, there's no doubt that if you cruise the web you'll find the standard film critic reactions of "but the problem is," "sadly," "unoriginal," "falters," "lacks focus," and so on. And while as easy as those are to say on a weekly basis, and there are familiar ups and downs throughout the film, Coraline is visually brilliant in its 3D stop-motion glory, the fantastical imagery it sweeps you up in, and the ambition of its blend of innocence, imagination, and the ominous within its story.
Propping up the cast is Teri Hatcher and John Hodgman as Coraline's parents, Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French as retired British next door neighbors, Ian McShane as a flamboyant Russian gymnast named the Amazing Bobinsky, Keith David as a talking cat, and Robert Bailey Jr. as a young ever-present pursuer of Coraline. At the heart of Coraline is a story that many tweens and teens will be able to relate to. Not all, but certainly those with busy parents. At various points in time, many kids have wished they had different parents, especially if they've done something wrong have been on the backend of punishment. In other cases, parents are so busy or distracted they don't realize their child is feeling isolated and alone. In some cases, kids don't appreciate the parents they do have but eventually realize that home life isn't as bad as it seems. Sometimes the grass isn't greener on the other side of the fence, even if you romanticize it in your head. And that's the core of Coraline as a story, as the parallel universe that Fanning's Coraline discovers is a representation of the "what life would be like only if" thoughts of a young girl’s imagination.
Since the lengthy animation process behind Coraline takes 3D stop motion to a whole new level, the worlds within the story play out like a circus of the imagination. In fact, there's a sequence in the movie that features a circus full of mice, which is nothing short of dazzling and exciting to watch. There’s definitely a feel similar to The Nightmare Before Christmas, but the visuals are much more refined and serve the story as an integral environmental character. In many ways Coraline has roots in The Wizard of Oz but it’s much more bold in its contemporary approach to matching animation with the imagination for story effect. In a real world filled with action packed gunplay and criminal investigations, Coraline proves that there is room for highly creative positive messages that warn young teens to be careful what they wish for when they're bored and think their world is darker than what it appears to be. Sometimes the grass isn't greener on the other side until you get there only to appreciate what you have. Coraline is a fun and fantastical adventure that you won’t soon forget.