Coraline Movie scaReview!

     WOOOOOOW-WEE! Henry Selick screenwrites and directs the questionably PG-rated film, Coraline. The stop-motion production-based off Neil Gaiman's original book which is named the same- has fun with a twisted thriller/ fantasy feel that is eye-catching and always keeping you on your toes. The story turned clay-mated is slightly different from the original storyline, but in Henry Selick's words "only makes sense". Through the movie, Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, and John Goodman's voices bring each clay character to life, while animators partake in the meticulous work of making each and every action of the clay puppets come to "life".

     Now lonely Coraline, is moved away from all of her friends into "The Pink Palace" to better accommodate her parents' jobs. She begins by exploring the new town. While looking for a well, an odd boy named Wybie (as in Why Born), attempts to befriend her, but Coraline is not entertaining the thought. Back at home bored, she is told to explore the old house, and finds a secret door that at night is an alternate "perfect" world. She soon wishes to spend as much time as possible with her "other" parents and in her "perfect" world. As it gets harder for her to go back to the real world, her "other mother" gets more attached and refuses to let her go, wanting Coraline to stay with her forever. After stealing her real parents away and hiding them, Coraline must go back to the alternate universe and make a tricky deal to play a game that might or might not save them. She realizes that no matter how disorientated her real family is, they mean the world to her, so she does everything within her power to try and save them before it's too late.

     Acting can be fun and inventive when you're playing with only your voice, not your actual being. No need to worry about posture, or what you're wearing, how your facial expressions match up, or even fake tears! You can do whatever it takes to manufacture the perfect tone and attitude that you want each character to have. Lending your voice to a film has all the perks of becoming the character without exactly having to become the character! Hatcher, and Goodman both experiment with their voice-over abilities in this movie, to an even more extreme by playing both the "regular" boring, strict mother and father as well as the "other" fun, imaginative mother and father.

     Stop-motion films go through the tedious work of multiple moldings and designings of the same clay characters which are all actually different even in the slightest ways. Costumes have to be made constantly for the tiny clay dolls, and in Coraline, the main character herself has a mini-wardrobe which is one of the first of it's kind. The doll itself goes through many "looks" until they find just the right look to bring the character "to life". Each puppet is made of a human- like skeleton, with a silicone "skin" that is as realistically placed as possible. Beneath the "skin" are numerous little wires and hinges making every single part of the doll movable. Speaking of wires, the bodies themselves are not the only things structured with wire, fabric must be strung with wires in most cases, to be able to look as practical as possible when draped on the doll.

     Adventure, innocence, comedy, wonder, and just a dash of thrill kept me wanting more in the stop-motion film, Coraline. It didn't feel at all predictable, and I not once felt like dozing off, it was action-packed and plot-turning and just wonderfully thought through. As far as audience goes, I thought perhaps PG-13 would be slightly more suitable for this film. I thought that for children to watch on their own, it might be a shock to them, and that with parental guidance and explanation, it would ease their young minds. As a 17 year old however, I would rate it a solid A, never skipping a beat of impressing me.