Coraline (2009)

An adventurous 11-year-old girl finds another world that is a strangely idealized version of her frustrating home, but it has sinister secrets.

Director:

Henry Selick

Writers:

Henry Selick (screenplay), Neil Gaiman (book)

Stars:

Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, John Hodgman

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 7 wins & 43 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dakota Fanning	...	Coraline Jones (voice)
Teri Hatcher	...	Mel Jones / Other Mother / Beldam (voice)
Jennifer Saunders	...	Miss April Spink / Other Spink (voice)
Dawn French	...	Miss Miriam Forcible / Other Forcible (voice)
Keith David	...	The Cat (voice)
John Hodgman	...	Charlie Jones / Other Father (voice)
Robert Bailey Jr.	...	Wyborne 'Wybie' Lovat (voice)
Ian McShane	...	Mr. Sergei Alexander Bobinsky / Other Bobinsky (voice)
Aankha Neal	...	Sweet Ghost Girl (voice)
George Selick	...	Ghost Boy (voice)
Hannah Kaiser	...	Tall Ghost Girl (voice)
Harry Selick	...	Photo Friend (voice)
Marina Budovsky	...	Photo Friend (voice)
Emerson Tenney	...	Magic Dragonfly (voice) (as Emerson Hatcher)
Jerome Ranft	...	Mover (voice)

Storyline

When Coraline moves to an old house, she feels bored and neglected by her parents. She finds a hidden door with a bricked up passage. During the night, she crosses the passage and finds a parallel world where everybody has buttons instead of eyes, with caring parents and all her dreams coming true. When the Other Mother invites Coraline to stay in her world forever, the girl refuses and finds that the alternate reality where she is trapped is only a trick to lure her.

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Plot Keywords:

parallel worlds | stop motion | scissors | button eyes | body horror | 

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Taglines:

Oh. My. God.

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Genres:

Animation | Drama | Fantasy | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for thematic elements, scary images, some language and suggestive humor

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [France] Official site [Japan]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Russian

Release Date:

6 February 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Coraline y la puerta secreta

Filming Locations:

Portland, Oregon, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$60,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$16,849,646, 8 February 2009, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$75,286,229

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$124,596,398

Company Credits

Production Co:

Focus Features, Laika Entertainment, Pandemonium

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min 105 min (extended cut)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The original sweater the design team had designed for Coraline's father sported a big maize-and-blue University of Michigan logo. However producer Bill Mechanic decided to change the design in favor of his alma mater, Michigan State.

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Goofs

While Coraline is eating dinner with her "other parents" she has an empty glass and a full water glass. When Coraline is shown again the water glass is half empty and again when Coraline is shown there is no water glass present at all.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Coraline Jones: [after hearing a creature while exploring the hills] Hello? Who's there?

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Crazy Credits

Partway through the credits, behind the scenes footage of the mice swirling around the portal is shown, giving a look at the process of animating in front of the blue screen.

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Connections

Featured in AniMat's Classic Reviews: The Secret of Kells (2013)

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Soundtracks

Dreaming
Performed by Bruno Coulais, The Children's Choir of Nice, and Teri Hatcher
Written by Bruno Coulais
Copyright (c) 2008 Bruno Coulais

User Reviews

Wonderfully imaginative animation; a visual masterpiece

Henry Selick, the director of " The Nightmare Before Christmas" and "James and the Giant Peach", once again takes us to a world full of imagery and wonder...but this time...some of it is actually frightening. It was filled with such magic and enchantment that I completely forgot that it was a dark tale..until the occasional scares filled the air. It has some highly fun and amusing characters in it also, and that is the strongest thing of the movie. After viewing it, I came to the conclusion it was basically an "Alice in Wonderland" tale (girl entering new and strange world, plus the cat that talks makes it obvious) but this world has a dark twist. Filled with a great cast and terrific visionary, I feel this movie is fun for all ages (who says kiddos shouldn't be scared?)