Coraline (2009) Focus/Fantasy-Adventure RT: 100 minutes Rated PG (thematic elements, scary images, some language, suggestive humor) Director: Henry Selick Screenplay: Henry Selick Music: Bruno Coulais Cinematography: Pete Kozachik Release date: February 6, 2009 (US, original date)/August 16, 2024 (US, Fathom re-release) Cast: Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French, John Hodgman, Robert Bailey Jr., Keith David, Ian McShane, Carolyn Crawford. Box Office (2009): $75.2M (US)/$124.5M (World)
Rating: *** ½
I ordinarily don’t go to Fathom movie events. They’re not AMC A-List eligible and I’d rather not pay $20 a pop to see the likes of the recent Winnie the Pooh horror movies. Although I’ve been tempted to see a few of the anniversary re-releases, I never gave in until now.
I saw Coraline when it first came out in 2009. I liked it, but I didn’t see it in 3D. The theater I went to didn’t offer that option. I figured it would look great with the added dimension, but I never got the chance to see it that way. Life got in the way. When I heard about Fathom’s 15th anniversary release of Coraline in remastered 3D, I decided to go for it. I might not have another chance to see the dark stop-motion animated cult classic as director Henry Selick (The Nightmare Before Christmas) intended. Let me tell you, it’s AMAZING!
Coraline (Fanning, Man on Fire), an imaginative 11YO girl with parents who put work ahead of their daughter, is trying to adjust to her new surroundings in Oregon. She and family move into a creepy old house called The Pink Palace Apartments. She meets the landlady’s weird grandson Wybie (Bailey, The Happening) who gifts her with a rag doll that looks exactly like her. He found it in his grandmother’s old trunk in the attic.
While exploring the house (and staying out of her parents’ hair), Coraline finds a small door with a brick wall behind it. That night, she opens it again and finds that it leads to an alternate reality called the “Other World”. There, she encounters nicer, more attentive versions of Mom (Hatcher, Desperate Housewives) and Dad (Hodgman, The Daily Show). That’s not the only thing different about them. They have buttons for eyes.
Coraline likes this version of them much better. She keeps going back to Other World even though she’s warned by others to stay away. One of those others is a mysterious cat (David, They Live) who has the ability to speak in OW. The girl finally makes the decision to stay there. That is, until Other Mom tells her she’ll have to have buttons sewn over her eyes. Suddenly, it’s not a great place anymore. She tries to leave, but Other Mom turns into a monster determined to make her stay.
Before today, I only saw Coraline the one time. I liked it, but never felt a strong urge to rewatch it. I’m sure glad I changed my mind. I don’t normally go for 3D, but this is one of the rare times when the gimmick actually adds something to the experience. The portal leading to OW looks even cooler with depth. Also, a few things actually come at you, one of the top things I always look for in a 3D movie. When I see that, I feel like that teenage Movie Guy watching one of the cheesy 3D movies that came out in the early 80s.
I also LOVE the stop-motion animation which may have been tweaked a bit by CGI. No matter, it still looks awesome. Pixar is all fine and well, but it lost its novelty when computer-animation became the norm. Stop-motion, on the other hand, has come a long way since the 70s Christmas specials from Rankin-Bass. It started with The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) and continued with James and the Giant Peach (1996), Corpse Bride (2005), Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005) and Coraline. Other greats include Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), ParaNorman (2012) and Kubo and the Two Strings (2016).
Selick, who also wrote the screenplay, tells a great tale that’s both dark and funny in a slightly macabre way. It will appeal to the weird kids who like any of the titles I mentioned in the previous paragraph. The voice talents, particularly Dakota Fanning as the titular girl, do a wonderful job. Ian McShane of the John Wick films shows up as one of the neighbors, a Russian gymnast who operates a mouse circus, while the British comedy duo of Jennifer Saunders (Ab Fab) and Dawn French give voice to the eccentric retired burlesque performers who live in the downstairs apartment. Hatcher does great work as the humorless, no-nonsense mom who won’t even buy her daughter a pair of colorful gloves.
I had a fun time watching Coraline this afternoon. It was totally worth the $20. To the film’s true fans, be sure to stick around for a post-credits featurette about the making of the remastered version. The artists talk about what it took to bring the Coraline puppet back to life. Me, I was just glad to get a second chance to see Coraline in 3D.
