Coraline Revisit: A Classic and Scary Journey to the Other Life
Copyright © Laika, Pandemonium Films, Focus Features
Title: Coraline
Director: Henry Selick
Based on: Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Release Date: February 6, 2009
The theatrical re-release trend has pushed to a new level in this decade. For instance, there are numerous Studio Ghibli films being re-released for the Studio Ghibli Fest of 2024, which is an event that celebrates Studio Ghibli's film catalog. What is being talked about right now is a certain film being remastered in 3D in order to celebrate its 15th anniversary with its own theatrical re-release by LAIKA. Today, this review will talk about Coraline, a horror animated movie that pushed LAIKA towards success in 2009. Just as this re-release sounds, it gained positive reviews from both critics and audiences alike, for its faithfulness to the novella and its well-written titular lead. In addition, the movie was also loved for its eerie nature and unique use of the multiverse. Thanks to the positive reception, it won many awards, even including the fact that it was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature for 2009. Up to this day, the film is labeled as one of the best animated films of all time. As it utilizes phenomenal animation and a meaningful story, Coraline aims to be a sublime spooky adventure for kids to still experience today.
Summary
Adventurous 11-year-old girl, Coraline (Dakota Fanning), moves to a new house set in a new but boring town. As she goes off bored, she discovers a mysterious door to an alternate reality that is much like her own, except much better. However, things do not go right when the Other Mother (Teri Hatcher), plus the rest of her Other family, try to keep her in the reality forever. To get out of there, Coraline uses resources and bravery to go back to her own family in her normal reality.
Reasons
To describe what comes first about the movie being "one of the best" picks, Coraline is known for its magnificent stop-motion animation, pretty story, and meaningful message. To address the elephant in the room, LAIKA styled the animation to look both creepy and beautiful. Sure, this is their art style but they put a lot of detail and to stylize the movie up to an eleven, as well as its fluidity being smooth and erratic. The character designs are all well-done, ranging from the normal-looking Coraline to the scary-looking Other Mother, although it is worth noting that this is still for the kids demographic. If one looks well enough at it, the buttons are a nice touch to the symbolism, to mean control and plaything. Moving on, the story does amazing at being a scary take on the multiverse trope. It is pretty much Alice in Wonderland, except with the Wonderland being dangerous and scary, and this film is its own thing. The first half is normal until Coraline enters the Other world. It does a great job at telling a dark fantasy story in a rather realistic matter for kids to relate to. There is also the "moving in" trope which is well-executed here because Coraline hates it at first. After confronting the Other reality though, she gets used to her new home. Speaking of which, the movie has a meaningful message that kids should know about. If anyone is wondering, the message is that a loving family is what matters most, even though you may not have enough good things there. This is a deep one because of how kids want more without even knowing if their parents are good to them or not. There are also some other messages such as being grateful of what you have and braving the unknown. Kids may not get used to these but they are going to be important later on in their journey.
The other parts that Coraline is noted for are the voice talent, realistic characters, and black humor. Because of its star-studded voice cast who were famous in this movie's time, one can argue that the voice acting aged well. It is filled with stars like Dakota Fanning (as Coraline), Teri Hatcher (as Mel and the Other Mother), and much more. To connect with, the characters are interesting and realistic for its respective message that it is telling to its demographic. The main lead, Coraline (Dakota Fanning), is a realistic role model that kids can relate to. She starts off as stubborn and bitter about her new home. Whenever she enters the Other reality, she becomes curious and realizes that her own reality is safer than wherever she has transported to. Coraline's mother, Mel (Teri Hatcher), may be just a supporting character but she is the normal, loving mother that she would live with. On the other side (no pun intended), the Other Mother (Teri Hatcher), is an intimidating villain, even for a kids movie. At first, she gives a lot more to offer but when Coraline lives with her, she becomes a full-fledged monster. Finally, the movie executes jokes that the family would enjoy, especially to make the adults laugh. Most of the movie has black humor and some rather sexual jokes. Kids will not really get it but the adults would.
Even though this is a sublime film by any means, Coraline may have its tiny flaws which are the lack of enough jokes for kids to enjoy, the lack of twists in the story, and how it can get too scary sometimes. The main flaw to address first is that it does not have that much jokes that kids are going to get. If LAIKA is going to make a scary film aimed at that demographic, then they better at least get in some jokes for the kids, other than just make a simply beautiful story. Although this is not much of a flaw, another thing to address is that there are not much twists in the story, since the movie wants to be straight. The only twist is the Other Mother's reveal and that is pretty much it. The storywriters do not need to fix this but this would make the film more exciting and surreal. To finish, there is no problem with making a horror film for kids. Despite that, the movie can go overboard with being scary which would be a problem for some kids, especially those who are extremely sensitive.
Conclusion
Wrapping things up, Coraline tells a spooky story for kids with its magnificent stop-motion animation and a meaningfully scary adventure. As predicted from LAIKA, the animation is the most notable thing to come out from this movie, for its detail and color palette. This movie is a classic not only for the animation but also for the story it is telling. Even though this is going to scare kids, the messages from this movie are good to take with into their life with their own real family. Kids may not get it well at first. If they look deeper enough, they can get what is going on with the girl adventuring into this fantastical reality. Definitely give this film a look or perhaps a re-look. The remastered 3D version is currently playing in theaters, so go open the mysterious door to there!
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