Based on the book by Neil Gaiman, “Coraline” is supposed to come out in Februrary of 2009. It’s stop-motion animation, and it will be directed by Henry Selik, who directed “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and “James and the Giant Peach”.
I’m really excited for this movie! It’s totally on my list of movies to watch in 2009. Here are some clips and whatnot that have been released.
Coraline, from the fantastic Neil Gaiman, in stop motion animation by the people responsible for The Nightmare Before Christmas? Coraline is going to be amazing.
[spoiler]Having recently moved into a new apartment with her loving but distracted and preoccupied parents, Coraline finds herself bored one rainy day and, upon her father’s suggestion, decides to explore the flat. She finds a locked door in the drawing room, which her mother opens and explains once led to the flat next door but was bricked up when the building (which was once a single house) was separated into apartments. That night, Coraline hears a strange noise and sees a small black shadow slip down the hall outside her bedroom and into the drawing room. When Coraline turns on the light, it has vanished.
The next day she takes her mother’s key and opens the door to find, instead of a brick wall, a dark corridor which leads to another apartment, seemingly a twisted copy of her own. This alternate world is inhabited by her “Other Mother” and “Other Father”, two duplicates of her parents except with buttons sewn over their eyes. Once there, her Other Mother traps Coraline in the other world by kidnapping her parents, wanting her to live there forever. Coraline learns that her Other Mother captured three other children before her and turned them into ghosts, stealing their souls.
Desperate to escape, Coraline makes a bet with her Other Mother: If she can find the three children’s souls and her parents, then they can all go home. The Other Mother agrees, swearing to honor the agreement on her “good right hand”. Coraline uses a stone with a hole in it (given to her previously by an eccentric neighbor) to find the children’s souls, despite attempts by the Other Mother to trick her. The children warn Coraline that the Other Mother will break her word sooner than let Coraline leave. Coraline confronts her Other Mother and pretends to guess falsely that her real parents are trapped in the corridor between the two flats. When the Other Mother opens the door to prove that she’s wrong, Coraline escapes with the souls, the key to the door, and her parents (who were actually hidden as ornaments in a snow globe above the mantelpiece) by throwing a cat at the other mother. The other mother bleeds black tar instead of blood.
The children are able to pass on to the afterlife, but Coraline’s task is not yet done. After breaking her word, the Other Mother sends her good right hand to retrieve the black key when it gets caught in the door between the two flats. The hand enters Coraline’s world and tries to steal the key from her. Coraline manages to lure the hand to a well and tricks it into falling into the well, ridding the world of the danger of the Other Mother forever.
This novel deals with concerns about identity, family love and belief in one’s self.[/spoiler]
I’m not sure if they’re going to keep everything in the book though. From what I seen/read, it’s going to be very close to the book, with the exception of one added character, who was needed in order for the movie screenplay to progress.
The plot seems very creative and intense. Also kinda creepy, but interesting enough for me to want to see it. But I don’t really want to see it in 3-D.
Off-topic: I haven’t seen The Nightmare Before Christmas, because some of what I’ve seen were sorta scary for me. Although, the idea for it is really clever, I’m sure. I might see it, once I’ve overcome my fear of some of them, heh heh.
TSS: Exactly what I thought when I was a kid! Now, it’s one of my favorite films.
bright-dot-dasher: I think the 3D thing is just an option. Not all theaters have the sort of screen to project a 3D movie. I’m thinking if you want t see it in 3D, you’ll have to go to an IMAX theatre or something.
And yes, you should see Nightmare someday. The 1st scene is a bit on the creepy side, but after those first two minutes, the monsters reveal themselves as “not scary, but it’s their job to be”, kinda like Monsters Inc. It’s a bit dark, but very funny and with a lot of heart.
I’m not sure if I want to see it, but since I keep on watching those clips, that’s probably a sign that I’m interested.
That clip of Weiby with “Slugzilla” was funny; I wonder what he’s doing. Most likely just fooling around.
I’m interested to see how they develop the Weiby character. He’s the character that wasn’t in the book, but was needed for the movie to be Coraline’s sort of best friend.
If things in the “other world” are the opposite, then I wonder how the other Weiby will be like? If real Weiby is weird and kind of goofy, other Weiby must be more serious, helpful and understanding…I don’t know, it’s just a guess.
For those commenting on the creepiness, that is kind of the point. Many reviewers have called it one of the most horrific children’s books ever written. The basic gist from what I’ve read of multiple reviews from varying ages, is that the plot plays on the level of a grand fantasy adventure for children, and when you get down to the psychological horror aspects, as a horror story for adults.
