“She wants something to love, I think. Something that isn’t her. Or, maybe she’d just love something to eat.” From its initial release in 2009, Laika Studios’ first film Coraline easily put them on the map for animation fans, between its breath-taking, hand-crafted animation and its surprisingly mature tone. The 15th anniversary has brought a new opportunity for young and old fans to see the film in theaters, with a 4K transfer and freshly remastered 3D. But what is it about Coraline that continues to resonate with such a large audience?
Upon its initial release, Coraline certainly attracted a following, but was largely overshadowed by the other large animated films that came out in 2009 – Disney had Up, The Princess and the Frog, and even their attempt at a darker animated tale with the motion capture style adaptation of A Christmas Carol. Yet A Christmas Carol was such a flop for Disney that the president of their Motion Pictures Group had to resign – was it that there wasn’t a taste for such dark animation? Directly comparing A Christmas Carol to Coraline, it’s easy to see where the former stumbles in an attempt to create family-friendly horror, while the latter prospers.
Coraline doesn’t exactly disguise its eerie nature from the beginning – the opening sequence is a doll being stitched together by a pair of long, metal hands, then seemingly cast out into the world. An adult can easily connect to this sequence and sequences of body horror from more adult-oriented horror, especially when they discover the true nature of the dolls later, but a child is more likely to find it just eerie from the music. And while Coraline certainly doesn’t hold back once it gets going, it never feels as dreary as A Christmas Carol – nor does it reduce its scares to comic relief to make them palatable for children, a la Scary Godmother or Hotel Transylvania. The main balancing act rests in Coraline herself – her exceptional bravery and spunk keep the “game” between her and the Other Mother suspenseful without becoming excessively dark or seemingly hopeless. It’s a tough feat to pull off, but Coraline sticks the landing far more than A Christmas Carol.
It also just looks a lot better. While it’s been given a slight retouch, Coraline’s world and backgrounds are just as eye-popping today as they were in 2009. As much as Coraline loathes her new ‘boring’ apartment complex initially, the amount of detail put into every door and picture frame could easily make an adult viewer envious of where she’s entering. Furthermore, as Coraline discovers the other world, the viewer is drawn into her extraordinary-looking meals, elegant nightly stage performances seemingly done just for her, and her incredibly beautiful bedroom. It’s enchanting enough to dismiss the warnings of danger as easily as Coraline does. When the danger does rear its head, these wonders reveal themselves as grotesque illusions – illusions that trick the viewer as easily as a young girl.
Coraline isn’t alone for the ride. The film has an eccentric cast of characters, ones that Coraline is initially hesitant to for this reason. Her neighbors each have their peculiarities, from training a circus of dancing mice to giving conflicting fortunes through tea leaves. One character was specifically added for the film – the grandson of the apartment’s owner, Wybie. Henry Selick has stated that the reason for the character is for Coraline to befriend someone her age and for her to not be ‘talking to herself’ throughout the entire film. It’s hard to imagine the film without both of them – and eventually, as Coraline comes to discover that a superficially fetching world can be grim under the surface, she comes around to those around her.
The featurette after the film, “Reinventing Coraline,” gives an in-depth look at the process of stop-motion animation, as Laika’s designers are given the challenge of building a new Coraline puppet with the most recent innovations in the field. Why they need a new puppet emphasizes how much work is put into stop-motion – while Disney can throw Donald and Mickey into Hot Ones without having to sweat much, every time Laika does a new promotional picture with Coraline is additional wear and tear on the puppet. The addition of computers into the field is also discussed – while it helps to streamline the process considerably, the process of building a stop-motion film remains a very intricate and underrated form of animation.
Overall, the rerelease of Coraline has stood the test of time and then some. It’s rare to see children’s horror executed so flawlessly, dodging the pitfalls of being too scary for its target audience or talking down to them by making it “silly” horror. The labor of love put into the animation makes it a visual treat, especially remastered. Furthermore, there’s something that’ll resonate with everybody about the character of Coraline herself. Whether it’s her sarcastic demeanor, remarkable bravery, or striking cleverness, there’s a reason she’s been the face of Laika for so long, and hopefully many years to come.
Coraline is currently playing theatrically for its 15th anniversary; otherwise, it is available digitally and on home video and is even available in 3D (either on the often forgotten Blu-ray 3D format or with the classic pairs of glasses).
