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Coraline (film)

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Coraline
Theatrical release poster
Directed byHenry Selick
Written byHenry Selick
(screenplay)
Neil Gaiman
(novella)
Produced byClaire Jennings
StarringDakota Fanning
Teri Hatcher
Keith David
Robert Bailey Jr.
John Hodgman
Jennifer Saunders
Dawn French
Ian McShane
CinematographyPete Kozachik
Edited byChristopher Murrie
Music byBruno Coulais
They Might Be Giants
Distributed byFocus Features
Release dates
February 6, 2009 (US)
May 8, 2009 (UK)
Running time
100 min.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$60 to $70 million[9][10]
Box officeDomestic:
$75,006,000
Foreign:
$8,557,848
Worldwide:
$83,563,848[11]

Coraline is a 2009 animated stop-motion 3-D fantasy film based on Neil Gaiman's 2002 novella Coraline. It was produced by LAIKA and distributed by Focus Features. Written and Directed by Henry Selick, it was released widely in US theaters on February 6, 2009, after a world premiere at the Portland International Film Festival. It is rated PG by the MPAA for thematic elements, scary images, some language and suggestive humor.

The film made $16.85 million during opening weekend, ranking third at the box office.[12] As of February 2009, the film has grossed over $80 million worldwide.

Plot

Coraline Jones moves into the Pink Palace Apartments in Ashland, Oregon from her comfortable life in Pontiac, Michigan with her loving but work-consumed parents. While exploring the nearby forest, Coraline encounters a stray black cat and an odd boy named Wybie Lovat who tends it. She also befriends long-retired actresses Miss Spink and Miss Forcible, and an acrobat named Mr. Bobinsky.

While exploring her apartment, Coraline finds a small door closed by bricks. Awakened that night by a button-eyed "jumping mouse", she follows it to discover a passage extending beyond the miniature door, which leads her to an alternate version of the house grounds called the "Other World". Upon arrival therein, Coraline meets button-eyed doppelgängers of her mother and father, who claim to be her "Other" parents. These figures guide her to a more luxurious and attractive version of the house and its surroundings. The Other Mother and Father celebrate her presence with delicious food, a beautiful, enchanted garden, and the affection Coraline feels she is missing in her own world.

Coraline continues visiting the Other World, where she is entertained by the "Other" versions of Wybie and the neighbors. The black cat, who can speak when in the Other World, informs Coraline that the Other Mother and her world are a trap set to entice children who believe themselves neglected. Coraline refuses to believe this until the Other Mother offers for her to stay in the Other World if she will sew buttons over her eyes. Coraline demands to return to her real parents, angering the Other Mother into assuming a tall, wretched form and trapping her in a small room behind a mirror as punishment. There she finds three ghost children who previously fell into the hands of the Other Mother and lost their eyes and souls to her.

With the help of the Other Wybie, Coraline escapes to her own world, only to find her real parents kidnapped by the Other Mother. Aided by the black cat and a seeing stone given to her by Spink and Forcible, Coraline returns to the Other World seeking to free her parents and the ghost children by challenging the Other Mother to a game. One by one, she finds the children's "eyes" (or rather their souls) and disintegrates the monstrous, twisted inhabitants of the Other World guarding them. She also finds her parents and tricks the Other Mother into opening the door to her own world, deliberately claiming that they are behind it, to make her escape, closing the door on and severing the Other Mother's needle hand.

Though her parents are safe (with no memory of the incident) and the ghost children have moved on to the afterlife, Coraline's task is not done. Coraline realizes that the Other Mother will try to enter her world to reclaim her, and goes to drop the only key to the door connecting their worlds down a well on the premises. The Other Mother's severed hand enters Coraline's world and attacks Coraline, attempting to retrieve the key. Fortunately, Wybie arrives to aid Coraline and, after a brief struggle, crushes it with a large rock. Coraline and Wybie drop the shattered hand and the key into the well, ridding their world of the Other Mother's influence forever. The next day, Coraline has a garden party with her parents and neighbors, content with living in her new home.

Production

Coraline [was] a huge risk. But these days in animation, the safest bet is to take a risk.

— Henry Selick, [13]

At its peak, the film involved the efforts of 450 people,[13] including from 30[14] to 35[13] animators and digital designers in the Digital Design Group (DDG) directed by Dan Casey and more than 250 technicians and designers.[14] One crew member was hired specifically to knit miniature sweaters and other clothing for the puppet characters, using knitting needles as thin as human hair.[13]

Coraline was staged in a 140,000-square-foot warehouse which was longer than a Hillsboro city block; the building was formerly the home of a company called Southern Plastic Mold.[13][14] The stage was divided into 50 lots,[15] which played host to nearly 150 sets.[13] Among the sets were three Victorian mansions, a 42-foot apple orchard, and a model of Ashland, Oregon including tiny details such as banners for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.[14]

Cast

File:Coraline preview shot.PNG
Coraline Jones, as she appears in the film.
  • Dakota Fanning as Coraline Jones, the brave, clever, curious protagonist and a self-proclaimed 11-year-old explorer. She is aggravated by crazy grownups (as they all seem to be), not being taken seriously for her young age and outgoing demeanor, and people constantly mistaking her name for Caroline. Neil Gaiman describes her as "full of 'vim' and 'spunk' and all those wonderful old-fashioned words." She and Wybie also appear to have a "love/hate" relationship.
  • Teri Hatcher as Mel Jones, Coraline's busy mother, her father refers to her as the boss, and the more attentive Other Mother. Her real mother is a writer working on a gardening catalog. Her husband, Charlie calls her "the boss", as she is the one who keeps her family in line. She loves her daughter, but is very busy and doesn't always give Coraline the attention that Coraline thinks she needs. The Other Mother, the main antagonist, is the creator of the Other World and its inhabitants, and, as Teri Hatcher describes her, the seemingly "perfect mom, because she's a perfect cook and has the perfect answer to every question, and later on she becomes quite monstrous". The three ghost children refer to her as "the Beldam", an archaic word meaning "hag or witch".
  • John Hodgman as Charlie Jones, Coraline's father, and the Other Father. John Hodgman described him as "the kind of guy who walks around a banana peel and falls into a manhole". Author Neil Gaiman describes him as a man who "does that thing that parents do when they embarrass their kids and somehow think they're being cool". The Other Father is a singer–pianist, as well as a gardener. He is later transformed into a melancholy, pathetic pumpkin-like creature by the Other Mother, presumably for giving Coraline too much information.
  • Keith David as The Cat, a black cat from Coraline's world, who appears and disappears at will (much like the Cheshire Cat), and has the ability to speak in the Other World. He acts as a guide and mentor to Coraline throughout her journey, both in the Real World and the Other World. He hates rats and is often tended by Wybie, although Wybie claims he is a feral cat.
  • Robert Bailey Jr. as Wybourne "Wybie" Lovat, the grandson of Coraline's landlady. A character introduced for the film adaptation so that the viewer "wouldn't have a girl walking around, occasionally talking to herself." Wybie wears a metallic skull mask with a three-piece turret lens that he wears outside, as well as a handmade motorized bicycle used to patrol the woods. In the Other World, Other Wybie is very sweet and has been rendered incapable of speech by the Other Mother as she thought Coraline would prefer him that way. He was later punished for not smiling by having his mouth pinned into a permanent but horrible grin. After all this, he helps Coraline escape back to the Real World, but is destroyed for his disobedience, with his clothes left behind which were hung like a flag to intimidate Coraline. Wybie and Coraline have showed signs of having a "love/hate" relationship, and his parents are never mentioned or seen in the film.
  • Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French as Miss Spink and Miss Forcible respectively, a pair of retired burlesque actresses. They own several Scottish Terriers (including the stuffed remains of their dead ones) and talk in theater jargon, often referencing their time as actresses. The Other Spink and Forcible are young, beautiful, Shakespeare-quoting acrobats (briefly wearing fat suits resembling their Real World counterparts) and their dogs behave like humans. They are later transformed into a two-headed beast made of stale taffy (a reference to the stale candy they serve Coraline in the Real World), and their dogs into light-sensitive bats.
  • Ian McShane as Mr. Bobinsky, (Full name is Sergi Alexander Bobinsky, friends call him Mr. B) one of Coraline's neighbors. He is a blue-skinned Russian giant who once trained as a gymnast and lives on a steady diet of beets. The Other Bobinsky is the ringmaster of a circus of rats disguised as jumping mice, and is later transformed into a plethora of rats. Coraline's mother believes him to be inebriated.
  • Carolyn Crawford as Mrs. Lovat, Wybie's Grandmother and owner of the Pink Palace Apartments. She originally grew up in the old Victorian Mansion with her twin sister who mysteriously vanished. Believing that the 'house' some how had taken her sister, Mrs. Lovat moved out of her childhood home and divided it into four separate apartments and put it up for rent. However, afraid of the house claiming another child, she did not allow any tenants to have 'kids', and she doesn't allow Wybie entrance to it.

Differences between the film and the novel

  • The story originally took place in the UK, rather than Ashland, Oregon.
  • Wybie was not a character in the original novel.
  • In the book, the Other World isn't "better", as much as Coraline says that it is "more interesting".
  • Coraline originally had brown hair in the book, and blonde hair in the graphic novel, but is changed to blue in the movie.
  • Mr. Bobinsky from the movie, is known as Mr. Bobo in the book.

Release

Focus Features distributed the film. Coraline appeared at Comic-Con 2007. A trailer was shown with the films Beowulf, U2 3D, Twilight, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Inkheart, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, My Bloody Valentine 3D, and The Tale of Despereaux.[citation needed]

Sequel

In an interview by MTV with director Henry Selick, he states that “There’s always a chance for a sequel ... I’d like to do something else with Neil.”[16]

Reception

Coraline was generally well received by critics. Carrie Rickey of The Philadelphia Inquirer asked "Is it premature to assign it classic status?" Film critic Leonard Maltin of Entertainment Tonight called the film "the best 3-D movie I've ever seen," and "a beautiful piece of work on every level". Pete Hammond of Hollywood.com called it "a visual stunner that takes animated films to new heights". Tom Maurstad of The Dallas Morning News wrote that "sweet and creepy blend beautifully", and added that Coraline "is the best kind of children's entertainment — smartly told and deeply felt." Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune called the film "an adventurous movie with brains, personality, a look and a knack for inducing shivers." Peter Howell of the Toronto Star said that it "leaps off the screen, whether you see it in 3-D or not." Jennie Punter wrote in the Globe and Mail that Coraline is "quite possibly the best 3-D movie ever made." David Edelstein said the film is "a bona fide fairy tale" that needed a "touch less entrancement and a touch more … story":[17]

As I drank in the phantasmagoria, the surreal music-hall routine, the flower dances, the giant praying mantis ride, the heroine’s endless prowls around artificial landscapes, I kept wondering what I was missing. It might be as basic as emotional focus. The pace is barely varied, and instead of becoming a spitfire detective (as in the book), Coraline drifts around in a daze.

A. O. Scott of The New York Times called the film "exquisitely realized" with a "slower pace and a more contemplative tone than the novel. It is certainly exciting, but rather than race through ever noisier set pieces toward a hectic climax in the manner of so much animation aimed at kids, Coraline lingers in an atmosphere that is creepy, wonderfully strange and full of feeling.[18] Scott concludes that the film is "grounded in the pluck and common sense of its heroine, who is resilient, ingenious and magically real."

The film currently[when?] has an 88% "Certified Fresh" rating at Rotten Tomatoes,[19] and a 80 out of 100 at Metacritic, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[20]

Box office performance

According to Paul Dergarabedian, a movie business analyst with Media by Numbers, for the film to succeed it needed a box office comparable to Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, which grossed $16 million its opening weekend and ended up making more than $192 million worldwide; prior to the film's release, Dergarabedian thought Laika "should be really pleased" if it made close to $10 million on its opening weekend.[14]

In its U.S. opening weekend, the film made $16.85 million, ranking third at the box office.[21] It made $15 million on its second weekend, bringing its U.S. total up to $35.6 million, $25.5 million of which coming from 3D presentations.[22] In Mexico, the film ranked first during its opening weekend, grossing $1.30 million on 399 screens.[23] As of April 28, 2009, the film has grossed $75,006,000 in the United States and Canada and $83,563,848 worldwide.[11]

Soundtrack

The soundtrack for Coraline on E1 Music (formerly Koch Records) features songs performed by French composer Bruno Coulais with one, "Other Father Song", by They Might Be Giants. Coulais's score features choral pieces sung in a nonsense language. It was released digitally February 3, and in stores since February 24, 2009.

Website

The website for Coraline involves an interactive exploration game where the player can scroll through Coraline's world. It won the 2009 Webby Award for "Best Use of Animation or Motion Graphics," both by the people and the Webby organization. It was also nominated for the Webby "Movie and Film" category.[24]

Video game

On June 16, 2008, D3Publisher of America announced the release of a video game based on the film. It was developed by Papaya Studio for the Wii and PlayStation 2 and by Art Co. for Nintendo DS. It was released on January 27, 2009, close to the film's theatrical release.[25]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Coraline rated PG by the BBFC". BBFC. 2009-01-29. Retrieved 2009-04-05. Run Time 100m 19s
  2. ^ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/05/AR2009020503442.html
  3. ^ http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/352012/Coraline/overview
  4. ^ http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/ny-etdd6024524feb06a,3,351949.story
  5. ^ http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/coraline
  6. ^ http://www.baltimoresun.com/topic/hc-coralinerev.artfeb06134112,0,5231392.story?track=rss-topicgallery
  7. ^ http://daily.greencine.com/archives/007328.html
  8. ^ http://www.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2009/02/06/alice_in_freudland/
  9. ^ "Coraline," which cost approximately $60 million to make, is the first stop-motion animated feature to be shot entirely in 3-D. And while that effect dates back at least to the early part of the last century, filmmakers are still learning how -- and how not -- to implement it.Clark, John (2009-02-01), "Adding Dimension to the Storytelling", New York Times, p. AR.16, ISSN 0362-4331
  10. ^ "Coraline" had a budget of between $60 and $70 million.Schuker, Lauren (2009-03-27), "Film: Taking it to another dimension: Can 3-D movies save Hollywood?", Wall Street Journal, p. W.10, ISSN 0921-9986
  11. ^ a b "Coraline". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2009-03-13.
  12. ^ "Moviegoers into 'Into You'". The Hollywood Reporter. February 8, 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-16.
  13. ^ a b c d e f McNichol, Tom (2009). "Hollywood Knights". Portland Monthly. Retrieved 2009-02-15. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  14. ^ a b c d e Aaron Mesh (February 4, 2009). "Suspended Animation". Willamette Week. Retrieved 2009-02-10.
  15. ^ "Backstage view (19th of 21 backlot production photos)". David Strick's Hollywood Backlot. Los Angeles Times. August 7, 2008. Retrieved 2009-02-15. Backstage view of the facility in which Coraline's stop-motion animation is filmed in Portland, Oregon. The Coraline stage is divided into approximately 50 units separated by black curtains. Each unit contains a different set that is in the process of being dressed, lit, rigged or shot.
  16. ^ MTV
  17. ^ Edelstein, David (February 1, 2009). "What You See Is What You Get". New York Magazine. Retrieved 2009-02-16.
  18. ^ Scott, A.O. (February 6, 2009). "Cornered in a Parallel World". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-02-16.
  19. ^ "Coraline Movie Reviews, Pictures". Rotten Tomatoes. February 5, 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-10.
  20. ^ "Coraline (2009): Reviews". Metacritic. February 5, 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-10.
  21. ^ "Moviegoers into 'Into You'". The Hollywood Reporter. February 8, 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-16.
  22. ^ "Holdovers Live Under Killer Friday Debut". Box Office Mojo. February 15, 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-16.
  23. ^ Strowbridge, C.S. (February 15, 2009). "International Details - Bride Wars as Bridesmaid". The Numbers. Retrieved 2009-02-16.
  24. ^ http://www.webbyawards.com/webbys/current.php?season=13
  25. ^ Remo, Chris (2008-06-16). "D3 Announces Coraline And Shaun The Sheep Adaptations". Gamasutra. Retrieved 2008-06-16.
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