Coraline: The Other Other World

I read Neil Gaiman's novella of Coraline in late 2007 (I was about 21). The story is technically written for kids, but it still succeeded in creeping me out (I mean that in the best possible way). Coraline is a young girl who feels neglected by her parents, and when she finds a bizarre door in her house leading to an alternate world similar to, but more interesting than her own, she can't resist the thought of staying there forever. However, not all is as it seems; all of the residents of the Other World (I had read Coraline before I started this blog, but I don't think I intentionally stole the title from the book) have big black buttons over their eyes, and although her Other Mother and Other Father seem nice and fun, she quickly learns that the Other Mother has sinister plans.

The film version of Coraline, directed by Henry Sellick (he also directed The Nightmare Before Christmas), is extremely faithful to the book. The basic plot is the same, and the characterizations are nearly spot-on from the book. The largest difference is the inclusion of a character named Wybie; Sellick created Wybie so that Coraline would have someone to talk to on her journey, rather than speaking to herself during many parts of the narrative (though that worked in Alice in Wonderland). For the most part, Wybie was a good addition to the story; my only gripe is the way he affected the climax (in the book, Coraline relied completely on her wits, whereas in the movie, Wybie intervened).

But what made me happiest was the way the film faithfully kept the book's dark tone. Whenever Coraline was in the Other World, even when things still seemed great, there was a sense of foreboding, a "not-quite-right" feeling. Yes, I knew what was coming, but the button eyes, sickly sweet disposition of the Other Mother, and unnatural aspects all created a creepy vibe for the audience. I still have a hard time believing how relatively successful the movie was because of the tone (then again, Nightmare Before Christmas is a cult classic); I knew that Gaiman and Sellick fans would go see this, but I wasn't sure how much mainstream appeal it would generate.

Not only did the movie do fairly well at the box office, it was critically acclaimed. This is one of the best non-Pixar animated films I've ever seen, and the critics agreed. After seeing this, I finally became convinced that we could finally get a Good Omens movie; in the past, movies based on Neil Gaiman works have been poorly received and/or ignored by moviegoers, but now, we have seen that a Gaiman-based film can succeed on both counts.

Finally, I think this was the first theatrical movie I saw in 3D, and until seeing it, I had been skeptical about the new format. I wondered if it would be able to translate to the home theater format, and I was afraid that a lot of movies would resort to "cheap 3D tricks" (to quote Muppet Vision 3D from Disney MGM Studios). Coraline, however, was able to use the 3D technology effectively without throwing in any 3D gags (my fear was based on the Monsters vs. Aliens trailer, which was full of them, such as a guy playing with a wooden paddle and ball).

Up next: The art of parody...