Employing stop-motion animation that renders human beings with the distinctive characteristics evident in both The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach, Selick finds the perfect look to bring Gaiman's vision to life.
Coraline (2009)
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work ![]()
Reviews Counted:32
Fresh:25
Rotten:7
Average Rating:7.2/10
Consensus: With its vivid stop-motion animation combined with Neil Gaiman's imaginative story, Coraline is a film that's both visually stunning and wondrously entertaining.
Rated: PG [See Full Rating] for thematic elements, scary images, some language and suggestive humor.
Runtime: 1 hr 41 mins
Genre: Childrens
Theatrical Release:Feb 6, 2009 Wide
Box Office: $75,169,351
Synopsis: As covetous children are often warned: "Be careful what you wish for." It’s this very cautionary wisdom that sets the stage for Henry Selick’s CORALINE, an eerily eye-popping stop-motion animation... As covetous children are often warned: "Be careful what you wish for." It’s this very cautionary wisdom that sets the stage for Henry Selick’s CORALINE, an eerily eye-popping stop-motion animation tale of fractured dreams and families made whole. As the films opens, Coraline Jones (voiced by Dakota Fanning) and her parents (Teri Hatcher, John Hodgman) have moved into the Pink Palace, a once-vibrant boarding house that’s turned drab and dilapidated. As her parents work feverishly on a new gardening catalog, the bored and belligerent Coraline is admonished to explore her new world’s possibilities. Along the way she meets her fellow tenants, including two aging English showgirls and a mouse-training Russian acrobat, as well as an outcast neighborhood boy named Wybie. But it is a mysterious hidden door that most piques Coraline’s interest--a gateway to a parallel world where her "other" parents and neighbors live only to see Coraline well fed and endlessly entertained. All is not cakes and carnivals for Coraline, though, and the black buttons that have replaced the eyes of these otherworldly imitations hint at darker intentions. When these intentions are revealed, Cora and a friendly magical cat use their wits and willpower to defeat Coraline’s wicked "other mother" and restore balance in the real world. Based on Neil Gaiman’s beloved children’s novel, director Selick (THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS) uses the stop-motion technique to bring CORALINE to life with amazing visual and emotional depth. The result is a frightfully magical adventure that will give the whole family plenty to shriek, cheer, and talk about. [More]
Starring: Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, John Hodgman, Dawn French
Starring: Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, John Hodgman, Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders, Ian McShane
Director: Henry Selick
Director: Henry Selick
Screenwriter: Henry Selick
Producer: Bill Mechanic, Claire Jennings, Henry Selick,
Composer: Bruno Coulais
Studio: Focus Features
Get This Movie
Reviews for Coraline
Selick puts his real faith not in the gimmickry that Coraline's audiences will think they've shown up for, but in the stronger virtues that they'd likely view as old-fashioned: character, and story, and so on.
[The] chilly visual vocabulary, along with a narrative that too often detours into ingenious irrelevancies, makes Coraline an object to be admired, but not embraced.
A a children's entertainment that's much too scary for little kids (ugly insects provide a pervasive visual motif) and too lifeless to enchant older audiences.
Coraline is a plucky heroine, and director Selig's imagination is indisputable. But the story falters in parts, and its dark tone could be off-putting for children.
This animated screen rendering of Neil Gaiman's masterful children's horror fantasy is so full of life and texture, it's almost gilding the lily to add the third dimension to it.
This is perhaps the most effective 3-D movie I have ever seen, with a sophisticated, involving story that will appeal to many adults.
An extraordinary achievement that nevertheless falls short of its full potential, Coraline is absolutely worth seeing, for older children and adults alike.
Coraline is a remarkable feat of imagination, a magical tale with a genuinely sinister edge.
Although fairytale, art and cinema references abound, Coraline is thoroughly and excitingly original -- and quite possibly the best 3-D movie ever made.
Spooky, stunning and savvy, Coraline is one of those kids movies that makes you wonder if all the kids are going to walk out of the theater with hair scared white and eyeballs frozen in awe.
The writer-director and his gifted animators impress with stop-motion detail. Yet Coraline is short on delight
Parents may need to give a reassuring squeeze now and then, but Coraline is the best kind of children's entertainment -- smartly told and deeply felt.
Coraline lingers in an atmosphere that is creepy, wonderfully strange and full of feeling.
It's not just the 3-D glasses that add an extra dimension to the horror and hilarity of Coraline.
Latest News for Coraline
December 10, 2009:
Henry Selick Discusses Life After Coraline ![]()
He's had a busy 2009, but Henry Selick isn't resting on his laurels -- and as he recently told HitFix, one of the three projects he's working on is a reunion with Neil Gaiman. More...
December 02, 2009:
Awards Tour: Annie Nominations, Up and Coraline lead
State of the art CG and stop-motion lead the way in the most well-known animation awards ceremony. More...
November 13, 2009:
James Schamus talks Taking Woodstock - RT Interview
James Schamus might be a workaholic. If it's not enough that he's the head of Focus Features -- the independent imprint of Universal -- he's also an established producer and... More...
November 02, 2009:
Henry Selick Talks Coraline, Future Projects, and More ![]()
If you're a fan of "Coraline" director Henry Selick's work, you won't want to miss this interview, which finds him discussing projects past, present, and future. More...
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 44% 44% | Night at the Museum: B… |
| 32% 32% | Terminator Salvation |
| 36% 36% | Angels & Demons |
| 95% 95% | Star Trek |
| 25% 25% | Four Christmases |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 88% 88% | Inglourious Basterds |
| 78% 78% | The Hangover |
| 49% 49% | Taking Woodstock |
| 26% 26% | The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard |
| 47% 47% | The Girl From Monaco |
RT On Current TV
DIRECTV 358 | Comcast 107 | DISH Network 196 | More...
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
CloseSponsored Links
Fresh Links
Featured

Techland lists the best Sci-Fi films of this decade.

Moviefone takes a look back at the biggest stinkers of the past 10 years.

The Me and Orson Welles star answers reader questions on TIME.com.

Hollywood.com's C. Robert Cargill offers his thoughts on what the best decade for film was.

In the AV Club's "Scenic Routes," Mike D'Angelo reminisces about the Tim Burton film.
Promos

Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!



Top Critic


