I’m an ardent fan of Neil Gaiman and his works. I first encountered them when I was going through my old comic collection. His “Books of Magic” was my first viewport into his wonderfully imaginative world. I liked the book at once and found myself getting his other works. My next stop was at Stardust and it didn’t disappoint. On the same high, I managed to watch the film adaptation of the novel, only to find that – to my dismay – it wasn’t as good as I had expected it to be. Nevertheless, it had a few good moments ( and had an uncanny resemblance to the Elder Scrolls : Oblivion, as I later found out ) and I could say I might have enjoyed bit of it. That was a year ago.
Yesterday, I got myself to watch the latest adaptation of his work – Coraline – and am pleased to say that it was well worth the time spent ( the fact that I hadn’t read this particular book might have helped with that judgment ). A little background info – The novella was published in 2002 and garnered many awards. It was even compared to classics like Lewis Carol’s Alice in Wonderland. It follows the story of a 11-year old girl called Coraline (not Caroline, which may lead you to have normal expectations from the person :)) who moves into to a new apartment, aptly name as the Pink Palace, in the country side. Isolated as she is, and getting very little attention from both her parents, she finds herself exploring the ancient house, meeting it’s other inhabitants. In her adventuring, she manages to find a secret little door that leads to an alternate dream world where she finds the “other” versions of her parents and neighbors. A curious aspect of this place, as she finds, was that everyone inhabiting it had buttons for eyes. Finding her “other” parents more caring and easier to relate to and the rest of the world just as interesting and wild, she starts to visit them frequently. But the illusion slowly breaks up to reveal the nightmare it really is, showing the true face of the “other” world and it’s loving mother. “Coraline now has to realize what’s important in life and fight to keep herself and her family alive with the help of a talkative cat”, quoting Kenneth Turan.
Down the mouse hole
On to the movie – The film is an animated one, created using stop-motion animation techniques coupled with 3D effects, which delivers an impeccable visual style that is both atmospheric and stunning. If you’ve read the Books of Magic, the 2nd part specifically, you would notice a resemblance. Henry Selick excels once again, creating the first all stop-motion 3D feature film. Nothing less to be expected from the man who gave us The Nightmare Before Christmas. The stark contrast between the 2 worlds and it’s inhabitants and the sheer scope and audacity of the auditorium scene, with it’s 200+ canine occupants, makes it hard to keep one’s mouth closed.
Excellent acting by the cast – Dakota Fanning delivers an expert performance as Coraline, and very believably so. Mr. Bobinsky is enacted by Ian McShane, who puts up quite a show with a Russian accent that’s as funny as his(Bobinsky’s) figure. Teri Hatcher and John Hodgman perform as the parents, both in and outside the alternate world. Teri Hatcher’s performance is especially noteworthy, offering a creepy feeling to the “other mother” while perfectly emulating the “other-other” one’s personality. The excellent soundtrack, composed by Bruno Coulais, only enhances the movie’s dreamy feeling with it’s adorable nonsense-language lyrics and berceuse music. The simplicity of the film betrays the amount of work put it into it – One wouldn’t believe that the film was in the works for a staggering total of a hundred and seventy nine weeks, ninety six of it in pre-production, involved the work of four hundred and fifty people and was staged in a 140 000 ft warehouse which was separated into fifty lots, totally hosting a hundred and fifty sets. It seemed that the film’s production process was just as grand as the film.
Did all that work pay of f then ? Seems so. For starters, you’ve got my opinion :P.[Also] Just falling short of $17 million, the film grossed $16.85 million on it’s opening weekend and received favorable reviews, sporting a 88% Fresh score on the Tomatometer and MetaCritic indicating a good reception. As of April 28, 2009 the film has grossed a huge $83.56 million worldwide.
A movie well suited to be a classic, Coraline leaves a distinct and memorable impression in the mind of the viewer with it’s delightful characters, imaginative story line and contemplative mood – An experience that shouldn’t be missed. For those who missed it in the theaters, the home-video is slated to be released coming July.
Of Adages and Axioms 
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