This Puts 'Coraline' a Cut Above Other Animated Horror (original) (raw)
Updated Aug 16, 2024, 11:03 AM EDT
Daniel is a University of Louisville graduate with an English degree, a sizable collection of Blu-rays, books, records, and a love of hiking.
Summary
- Henry Selick's work on The Nightmare Before Christmas propelled him to become a leading figure in stop-motion animation. His adaptation of Neil Gaiman's Coraline further cemented his status as a stop-motion pioneer.
- Coraline serves as the perfect entryway to horror for children, with its dark fantasy aesthetic and frightening, but age-appropriate, imagery.
- Coraline stands out as one of the greatest animated films of the 21st century, thanks to its stunning production design, voice cast, and masterful usage of 3D technology.
When considering the greatest animated works of the last few decades, Henry Selick's name should be one of the first on your mind. Selick worked with Disney for many years, where he directed the iconic The Nightmare Before Christmas, which is often understandably but mistakenly attributed to Tim Burton, who instead had a story and production credit. Selick's work on that film quickly rocketed him into a position as a leading figure in the medium of stop-motion animation, and his greatest movie celebrated a milestone this year that has inspired a hotly anticipated, limited theatrical re-release.
Coraline, Selick’s 2009 directorial feature, turned 15 in February of 2024 and has grown to iconic status as one of the most beloved stop-motion animated films. Thanks to a great voice cast, a spooky aesthetic, and beautiful visuals, Coraline is a wildly entertaining, accessible movie that appeals to all audiences. The film is returning to theaters for one week, starting August 15th, thanks to a collaboration between the filmmakers and Fathom Events. The great news for Coraline fans old and new is that this re-release includes the 3D version of the film, making it the first opportunity for many fans to see this now-classic movie in the groundbreaking way that it was originally intended. The 3D effects were integral to _Coraline_’s production process, so unless you happened to see it in 2009, or own a 3D television, you have probably never seen the film in this unique format.
3D can be a gimmick at times, with particle layers lazily added over in post to justify a slight upcharge, but Coraline was built around the experience, much like what James Cameron set out to do with his **Avatar**films. With new approaches to filming stop-motion, pioneering 3D printing technology, and extra care put into adding dimensions to every frame, Coraline in 3D takes the movie to a whole other level. With the 15th anniversary screenings this month, this already-beloved classic can be revisited in the biggest, most exciting way.
Henry Selick Made Laika’s Debut a Hit with ‘Coraline’
Although Coraline has grown into a beloved animated film over these 15 years, Selick only worked on two other films before the now-iconic horror heroine’s big-screen debut. After the critical success of James and the Giant Peach failed to turn into commercial success, and the 2003 live-action stop-motion hybrid feature Monkeybone was a disappointment in both areas, Selick took a backseat for many years.
The animation studio Laika, which had recently been the subject of a corporate takeover by Nike's owner Phil Knight, was given over to his son Travis Knight soon after Monkeybone was released. Knight, having just left a short-lived career as a rapper under the name Chilly Tee (seriously, look it up), had no experience whatsoever in animation. However, he showed not only that he was taking this position seriously, but that he was actually very talented in this field. Knight has since gone on to direct features himself, with Laika's brilliant Kubo and the Two Stringswhich was released in 2016.
Knight's pioneering feature film experience, and Laika's first feature after their rebrand, would be an adaptation of Neil Gaiman's novella, Coraline. Gaiman met with Selick before the book was even published and expressed interest in Selick taking on a film adaptation. This all fell into place right as Laika was geared up to make a feature, so the stars aligned for Selick to adapt Gaiman's work with Knight as both a producer and an animator.
Selick was close to co-directing Fantastic Mr. Fox with Wes Anderson before taking on Coraline. Selick had previously worked with Anderson on the animated aquatic sequences in The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, where he crafted a variety of vibrant, beautiful fish and other sea life that can be seen from the submarine’s windows throughout the film. When Coraline fell into place, Selick left Fantastic Mr. Fox to work with Laika, and secured the studio’s place in the industry right from their first feature.
Coraline was released to acclaim and was a box-office success. The film is rightfully held up as a high watermark for 21st-century animation, a refreshing and vibrant use of stop-motion as a medium, and a great way for young audiences interested in family-friendly horror films. However, the element of Coraline that is perhaps more technically precise and artfully motivated than in any other major motion picture is its use of 3D technology. This, combined with the expert stop-motion craft on display, the great voice cast, and stunning production design makes Coraline one of the greatest treasures of the animated film medium. The success of Coraline should be enough for everyone to know Sellick’s name, and to appreciate his legacy in the animation industry.
Henry Selick Stitches Together Fantasy and Horror for All Ages in 'Coraline'
Coraline follows the titular character, voiced by Dakota Fanning, living a mundane life in a new town. Her parents, voiced by John Hodgman and Teri Hatcher, are too preoccupied with the stressors of adult life to pay much attention to their increasingly bored and curious daughter. She discovers a portal behind a mysterious sealed door in their home, and enters to find an alternate universe called the Other World. In this world, she meets a black cat portrayed by Keith David and alternate versions of her parents and all the residents of their neighborhood. This alternate world is warmer and more inviting, but something sinister lurks underneath that will continue drawing Coraline deeper into its spell.
Some movies have obvious attachments to certain times of the year, and Coraline immediately establishes itself as perfect for that October-November range with the gorgeous, autumnal production design. The dark fantasy and horror elements of the plot also make it a great movie to revisit around Halloween. The film has some imagery that could be genuinely frightening to younger audiences, but never veers into anything graphic or inappropriate that would disqualify kids from enjoying the movie. Selick is no stranger to a family-friendly horror atmosphere, as Jack Skellington and the entire visual style of The Nightmare Before Christmas similarly exude this accessible but spooky tone.
The dark fantasy aesthetic and the uncanny characterizations of the Other parents make this a perfect starter horror film for children to check out around Halloween. The film balances creepy moments with whimsy, musicality, and comedy that anchor Coraline as a deeply enjoyable, heartwarming movie experience. As much credit for nailing this tone belongs to the talented voice cast, which is made up of actors who hit their marks perfectly in delivering spooky, whimsical, and comedic dialogue that accentuates the vibrant world crafted by the animators and artists who focused on the visual elements of the film.
'Coraline' Was a Years-Long Labor of Love
Coraline and Wybie observe a 'bottomless well' near the Jones' house
Image via Focus Features
One leap in animation technology that Coraline was able to utilize was the use of 3D printing for character models. This allowed the crew to quickly replicate many different models of heads and faces to increase the variety of expressions for their characters. Coraline’s face alone had over 6,000 variants. While printing technology made this process easier, making this film was certainly still a labor of love.
The production still had to hand-stitch tiny costumes, paint sets, and painstakingly put the characters together frame-by-frame to capture each detail of movement, expression, and environmental storytelling. A week of production would result in only a few seconds of footage. The tedious nature of stop-motion filmmaking goes to show how much passion and dedication the animators and filmmakers behind these movies must put in, and Coraline is one of the greatest examples of the reward that comes with all the hard work.
'Coraline' Experiments With 3D in an Artful, Gimmick-Free Way
Image via Focus Features
Coraline released the same year as Avatar, making 2009 something of an apex for 3D theatrical viewings. Although 3D continued to be common for many years after, and James Cameron has extended a lifeline with the continued expansion of the Avatar franchise, Coraline is the greatest example of a film using 3D technology in a way that is stylistically innovative while also tying into the textual themes of the work itself. 3D can often reveal itself to be a meritless gimmick when used in a way that feels overwhelmingly intended to do nothing other than scrape a few extra dollars into the box office haul. It is always a disappointment to sit through a 3D film after paying an additional charge to find that the only 3D elements are haphazardly constructed visual effects, with one popping out of the screen in an incredibly obvious manner every few minutes to remind you what you paid for.
The 3D in Coraline was captured in a completely new, innovative way. No stop-motion feature had ever utilized stereoscopic 3D before Selick and this crew took on the challenge for Coraline. The process involves shooting everything through two lenses, side by side to create a depth effect. Stop-motion being a medium that uses 3D models instead of drawing to animate, the 3D element of the filming process feels perfectly suited to the form of storytelling.
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Henry Selick's 10 Best Stop-Motion Characters, Ranked
“Just because I cannot see it, doesn't mean I can't believe it!”
As Coraline ventures into the Other World, the film reveals even more value in the 3D presentation as the visual look of this alternate dimension grows in vibrancy, depth, and style compared to the "real world." The trapping of the Other World, devised to lure children in and allow the Other Mother's true form to steal their souls, is that it does appear far more aesthetically pleasing than the real world. The boredom and mundanity found in Coraline's everyday life in their new home is thrown out the window in the colorful, exciting Other World. The 3D cinematography brilliantly visualizes this dichotomy.
Ultimately, the effect of 3D technology in the presentation of any movie comes with limitations. Most people do not have 3D TVs, theatrical viewings cost more in 3D, and some find the experience headache inducing — a point James Cameron has hoped to remedy through experimenting with high frame rate 3D. This does not mean it cannot be a valuable addition to a movie-going experience. If you have the chance to see Coraline in this format, know that you will struggle to find another movie that makes better use of 3D, and you will open up a new way of appreciating one of the greatest animated films ever made.
_Coraline_’s eclectic style and striking visuals are made for the big screen, and with Laika ramping up production on Travis Knight’s upcoming feature, Wildwood, it is a great time to revisit their first and best movie.
Coraline is available to rent on Amazon in the U.S.