THE MOVIE PAGES presents in CORALINE coraline.htm

What Do The Critics Say?

"Fine vocal performance, including one from Teri Hatcher as Coraline’s mother and 'Other Mother', flesh out this compelling fantasy. Dakota Fanning voices Coraline, a you go, girl type dealing with two very buzz kill parents who just uprooted the family and moved to Oregon. Near perfect family entertainment: if your family can handle some pretty ghoulish creatures. There’s not a wasted moment in the film."
Christian Toto WHAT WOULD TOTO WATCH?
"It's one of the best fantasy stories on the screen in some time, and possibly the most kid-friendly horror movie of all time."
Widgett Walls NEEDCOFFEE
"Here's my recommendation, don't let this be your kid's first scary movie, especially in the 3D, which is the only way to see this beautiful, hypnotic film."
Jeff Bayer THE SCOREBOARD REVIEWER
"A virtuoso piece of storytelling with amazing attention to detail."
Allan Hunter DAILY EXPRESS
"A wonderfully weird film, a modern-day Alice in Wonderland that marries technology and good old-fashioned storytelling." Mike Scott TIMES PICAYUNE
"It takes an extraordinary mind to create a truly original, truly new, truly beautiful fable, Coraline is one such creation."
Giles Hardie SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
"The film combines stunning visuals: there are scenes of incredible beauty, with good old-fashioned storytelling that is funny, inventive and at times scary. The 3-D effects are used with great restraint and Coraline is the best young heroine we’ve had in ages. Destined to be a classic."
Cosmo Landesman UK SUNDAY TIMES
"The film is so detailed, filled to the brim with magical images, wild entertainments and a life lesson for children with parents who are both busy working. The voice talents ground the film but it’s the rich imaginative world that’s created that make this animated film a winner for me."
Margaret Pomeranz ABC AT THE MOVIES

"It's absolutely fabulous darlings, with Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French adding their considerable vocal talents as the bickering, voluptuous eccentric Brit actresses Miss Spink and Forcible: both past their prime but ignoring that sad fact. This riveting fairy story is told in stop motion animation, which in 3D is rather like being there. Visual invention is staggering, ranging from fabulous fantasy to eerie scary."
Andrew L Urban URBAN CINEFILE
"A gorgeously hand-crafted and pleasurably detailed piece of work. It’s also genuinely strange, creepy and arresting."
Tim Robey DAILY TELEGRAPH
"A labor of love in every frame."
Colin Covert MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE
"Gorgeously fantastic, in all senses of the word."
Jette Kernion CINEMATICAL
"The Wizard of Oz for the 21st century."
Charles Koplinski ILLINOIS TIMES
"Off-beat, weird, original, intense, stunning, jaw-dropping, enthralling and ingenious, this film is a beautiful piece of work that will hold your attention and capture your heart."
Simon Thompson HEART 106.2
"I think this is a wonderfully inventive film. I didn't see this in 3D and I wish I had, because I gather that the 3D is used really well in the fantasy sequences. I'm giving it four."
David Stratton ABC AT THE MOVIES
"The animation is impeccable for the majority with stark pastels and a washed out series of colors that make 'Coraline" feel so much like a nightmare and a lot less like a children's film. Selick composes a child's horror film, one that touches on themes of abandonment, neglect, and the notion that a horrific world awaits us where we sleep."
Felix Vasquez Jr CINEMA CRAZED

The Inside Story The story of Coraline Jones and her adventure in the Other World is one that has crossed many avenues of storytelling: father to daughter, pen to paper, book to movie, studio set to 3-D screen. Once upon a time: in the early 1990s, author Neil Gaiman’s daughter Holly was, as he remembers, "four or five years old. She used to come home from school and she would see me sitting and writing. She would then clamber up on my knee and dictate little stories to me; these were often about small girls named Holly whose mothers would be kidnapped by evil witches who looked like their mothers. I thought, 'Right, I’ll go and find a book like this for her.' I looked, but there wasn’t anything even remotely like that. So I figured I would write that book, and I started to do so." Holly Gaiman reflects: "Coraline was a story that my Dad read me bits and pieces of when I was a little girl, a story that he had started writing for me and one which nobody else had ever heard or read. It’s a lovely story, one that has both haunted and inspired me since I was a little girl." But after completing a few chapters, Neil Gaiman found his career taking off, and it would be another five or six years before he found the time to return to Coraline. At which point he suddenly thought, "Holly is getting too old for it." However, she now had a younger sister, Maddy, and Neil Gaiman realized that that if he did not finish the book soon his other daughter would be too old for it as well. With a formal book contract being drawn up, he came up with a plan for productivity; "For the next two years, instead of reading in bed before I turned off the light, I would write Coraline." He began to keep a notebook beside his bed and before he went to sleep he would write fifty to one hundred words, maybe five or six lines each evening. "It was a very slow way of writing," he admits."That’s about one page every six days. But, doing it every night, eventually, I found myself approaching the end." Finally, in 2000, he was able to spend a week finishing the book. Central to the story is a childhood memory of the author’s; just as children are for a time certain that their toys come to life when they are asleep or not looking, the young Neil Gaiman had his own household suspicions. They were stoked by an old manor house that he was living in with his parents. He recounts, "There was a door in a living room that opened onto a brick wall. But I was convinced that it wouldn’t always do that. I tried sneaking up on it; I’d lean against it, as if I was doing something else, and then open it quickly and look. “I thought if I could only approach it properly, there would be a corridor behind it. I had a dream that I opened the door and there was a tunnel. In the book, Coraline finds a door that has been bricked up, but one day she goes through the door and there is a corridor." The after school story had become a bedtime one; having finished the book, Neil Gaiman read a chapter each night to Maddy Gaiman before she fell asleep. "If she had been scared or troubled by it, I probably would have put it away. But she loved it." "It’s a story that draws you in and keeps you there. You get attached to Coraline, and root for her to come out on top," Maddy notes. The book, which was illustrated by Neil Gaiman’s frequent collaborator Dave McKean, was published in the U.S. by HarperCollins in 2002. This was "at the height of Harry Potter mania," the author notes. "But it was also the first year that J.K. Rowling had missed her deadline, so we got media attention a children’s book would not normally get!" Authors Philip Pullman ("His Dark Materials" trilogy) and "Lemony Snicket" (Daniel Handler) were among those who praised the book.

Gaiman reports that "because of its awards and because Coraline is written in a very plain vocabulary and has an interesting story, it got taught as a set text in schools." Its honors include the American Library Association’s Best Book for Young Adults; the Hugo and Nebula Awards; Child Magazine’s Best Book of the Year; and a Publishers Weekly Best Book citation, among many others. The unabridged audio book, read by the author, was voted a Publishers Weekly Best New Audio. During the years of writing "Coraline", Neil Gaiman followed with interest the feature film work of director and animator Henry Selick; the author had gone to see "The Nightmare Before Christmas" (1993) the first week it was released, and then saw "James and the Giant Peach" (1996) as well. "Henry was on my radar as a remarkable creative force. I would talk to my agent and he would say, 'There’s this guy Henry Selick; you two would like each other.' So when I finished writing the "Coraline" manuscript, I gave it to my agent and asked him to send it to Henry. This was about eighteen months before the book was published," Gaiman recalls. "When I first read the manuscript, I was struck by the juxtaposition of worlds; the one we all live in, and the one where the grass is always greener. This is something that everyone can relate to. Like Stephen King, Neil sets fantasy in modern times, in our own lives. He splits open ordinary existence and finds magic," Selick notes. "Neil invites the reader in to participate in Coraline’s adventure, and I wanted to do the same for the moviegoer." "Within a week, Henry said he wanted to do it. Producer Bill Mechanic: with whom he had worked before; bought the movie rights, and Henry started work on the script immediately," Gaiman said. "By sheer force of never giving up, Henry has gotten the movie made." Selick notes that, "Neil was there with help and advice right from the start, yet was not overly precious with his book and would step away when I needed to focus. You want to honor the important parts of a book in adapting it, but you also have to invent and change as well." Once Selick decided that he would take the look of the movie into a different realm than Dave McKean’s artwork for the book, he brought onboard revered Japanese illustrator and designer Tadahiro Uesugi on board as concept artist. Selick offers, "We’re going for both a classic storybook look and a strong graphic look, and Tadahiro is inspired by American illustrators of the late 1950s and early 1960s." With a new draft of the script approved, "Coraline" entered pre-production in 2005. Art direction and storyboarding came first, as storyboard supervisor Chris Butler oversaw storyboard illustrators in visualizing every scene and character. As crucial as this might be for live-action movies, for animated features it is doubly so. "It’s not like live-action, where you can use multiple cameras or do retakes. The animators are moving one frame at a time, so you need to know exactly what shot you’re getting before you actually do it," head of storyboards Chris Butler ("Tim Burton's Corpse Bride") explained. A character’s portrayal in animation involves several elements of performance. Voice work is one of them. Contrary to popular perception, on "Coraline" it was just the beginning for the character. "We record the voices first and then we have someone read the sounds so we know where all the mouth positions should be. Later, the animators match the stop-motion puppets’ mouth movements to the words that the actors have already recorded,"Selick says. "Sometimes it’s very challenging for the actors because they don’t have sets or props or costumes."

"They haven’t seen their characters in action, unless there is some existing test footage. So they are just doing pure voice work, and they have to record numerous different versions so that one can change one’s mind about what might be needed for a particular scene, Selick notes. "The performance that the animator brings to the character is triggered by the vocal performance." Much as a director and producer would do on a live-action feature, two time Ottawa International Animation Festival award winner Selick (1992 & 2005) and executive producer Bill Mechanic ("Dark Water") began brainstorming casting ideas. It was imperative that Coraline, the girl who Selick admiringly says "cannot be held back", was cast first. Dakota Fanning, who at the time was Coraline’s age yet already a veteran actress, got the offer for the role and accepted it. "All kids, at some point, yearn for different things than they have. Coraline also has to learn to accept people for who they are and not wish them to be anything different, whether it’s her parents or Wybie or her new neighbors," says the 2002 & 2005 Sierra Award winning young actress. "She reminded me of Dorothy in "The Wizard of Oz" and Alice in "Alice in Wonderland"; in this story, there are scary parts, but it’s also very fun and a wonderful fantasy. Coraline is a great movie for both adults and children." And how does her onscreen character compare to her? "Coraline is more tomboyish than I am; I'm a little more girly than she is. But the clothes that she wears, I would wear in a second!" The key relationship in the movie is between Coraline and her mother; or, perhaps more accurately, among Coraline and her mothers; her actual Mother and her Other Mother. The moviemakers cast a wide net for the actress who could vividly convey both mothers’ characters. We had confirmed Dakota as the central voice, so I cut and tested about seventy actresses voices against Dakota’s. Teri Hatcher went right to the top of our list. She has this warm, beautiful instrument of a voice." Hatcher was intrigued with the project straightaway. "As a mom, I know it’s hard to find quality entertaining movies for the family, and that’s what Coraline is." In her voiceover debut, the 2005 Golden Globe award winning actress takes on the tricky dual role of Coraline’s weary mother and the cheerily accommodating Other Mother. Hatcher pointed out; "It’s actually three different voices, for three different versions of Coraline’s mother." While (as is the norm on animated features) the movie’s leads did not record their readings at the same places and times, two other actresses on Coraline did; Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders ("French and Saunders" 1987 - 2005), a prominent U.K. comedic writing and acting team for three decades , recorded together as Miss Forcible and Miss Spink. When the moviemakers began discussing casting possibilities for the duo, Gaiman made his "one big casting suggestion, of French and Saunders. Dawn had read the English audio book of Coraline and done such an amazing job of it." Originally Dawn played Miss Spink and Jennifer, Miss Forcible. After recording their voiceovers, Selick suggested they swap roles. "They switched parts, and from then on everything was great," he recalls. "Well, we are strangely interchangeable," Saunders offered. "Yes, we are quite often flip sides of the same person," French added. Coraline’s 'put-upon' father, Charlie, is voiced by John Hodgman (Baby Mama"); Mr Sergei Alexander Bobinsky by Ian McShane ("Death Race"); Emmy Award winner Keith David the Cat, while Robert Bailey Jr makes his voice debut as Wybie. "Coraline" (the biggest production ever to be made in stop-motion animation and, the first to be made in stereoscopic 3-D) was made at LAIKA in Portland, Oregon, where it took a week of production to complete seventy four seconds of movie footage. Synopsis

Coraline Jones is a girl of 11 who is feisty, curious, and adventurous beyond her years. She and her parents, have just relocated from Michigan to Oregon. Missing her friends and finding her parents to be distracted by their work, Coraline tries to find some excitement in her new environment. She is befriended (or, as she sees it, is annoyed) by a local boy close to her age, Wybie Lovat; and visits her older neighbors, eccentric British actresses Miss Spink and Forcible as well as the arguably even more eccentric Russian Mr. Bobinsky. After these encounters, Coraline seriously doubts that her new home can provide anything truly intriguing to her. But it does; she uncovers a secret door in the house. Walking through the door and then venturing through an eerie passageway, she discovers an alternate version of her life and existence. On the surface, this parallel reality is similar to her real life only much better. Until this wondrously off-kilter, fantastical adventure turns dangerous, and her counterfeit parents try to keep her forever, Coraline must count on her resourcefulness, determination, and bravery to get back home and save her family.

The Verdict

"Henry Selick, who is best known as the director of "James and the Giant Peach" and Tim Burton's "The Nightmare Before Christmas", has hit the jackpot with his latest effort, "Coraline". The film has a gorgeous glow to it, even in its 'darker' moments. The strength of the stop-motion animation is enhanced by a superb voice cast selection and the use of stereoscopic 3D. Dakota Fanning and Teri Hatcher take the lead roles but I'm sure everyone will have their favourite character for all are truly grand. I must admit to being partial to The Cat who, as the film progressed, really grew on me. Wierd, wonderful, a little frightening, a riot of distinct colors and stunning visuals makes "Coraline" a real must see experience. Try and catch it in 3D if you don't mind parting with a few extra bucks. Top Shelf! 4 1/2 STARS." Who's Voice Is That?

Dakota Fanning
Teri Hatcher
Jennifer Saunders
Dawn French
Keith David
John Hodgman
Robert Bailey Jr
Ian McShane
Aankha Neal
George Selick
Hannah Kaiser
Harry Selick
Marina Budovsky
Emerson Hatcher
Jerome Ranft
Christopher Murrie
Jeremy Ryder
Carolyn Crawford
Yona Prost

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Coraline Jones
Mel Jones/Other Mother/Beldam
Miss April Spink/Other Spink
Miss Miriam Forcible/Other Forcible
The Cat
Charlie Jones/Other Father
Wybie Lovat
Mr Sergei Alexander Bobinsky/Other Bobinsky
Sweet Ghost Girl
Ghost Boy
Tall Ghost Girl
Photo Friend #1
Photo Friend #2
Magic Dragonfly
Mover
Toy #1
Toy #2
Wybie's Grandmother
Shakespeare Rascal

The Production Team

Director
Screenplay
Book
Producers
Original Music
Director of photography
Film Editors
Casting
Production Designer

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Henry Selick
Henry Selick
Neil Gaiman
Claire Jennings & Mary Sandell
Bruno Coulais & They Might Be Giants
Pete Kozachik
Christopher Murrie & Ronald Sanders
Linda Lamontagne
Henry Selick