Certificate:

Director: Henry Selick

Release Date: 8 May 2009

Tagline: Be careful what you wish for.

Main Cast: (voice)

Dakota Fanning … Coraline Jones

Teri Hatcher … Mel Jones / Other Mother / Beldam

Jennifer Saunders … Miss April Spink / Other Spink

Dawn French … Miss Miriam Forcible / Other Forcible

I really liked this. A beautifully crafted stop-motion animated tale about a bored girl whose explorations give her more than she bargained for. This is the first 3D stop-motion film to be made, although I can’t comment on if was a success or not as I watched the 2D version.

Coraline is rather an unlikeable character. Her family have just moved in to a rather peculiar house that has been divided in to apartments, and the other residents are all oddballs. Neither of her parents have much time for her so she’s left to find her own entertainment. She’s sullen and rude, and I kind of liked it when she realised how much trouble she’d got herself in.

She comes across a small door which leads her to a parallel universe where her parents are attentive and her every whim is catered for. She is offered a chance to stay with these ‘other parents’, but she must first replace her eyes with black buttons (all of the characters in the other world beyond the door have buttons for eyes). This doesn’t appeal to Coraline, and the true nature of her predicament becomes evident.

Coraline is a dark fairytale like story with some really creepy moments and a sinister undertone and is definitely not for small children. In fact, I can see this giving more than one or two a few nightmares.

Rating: