Erin from Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs and I are hosting Comfy, Cozy Cinema again this year and up this week was Coraline, based on the book by Neil Gaiman, and released in 2009. It was directed by Henry Selick.

Regular blog readers might have figured out that spooky or creepy movies are not really my thing, but, on occasion, I watch them with friends or family.

Up front, I want to say that while this movie isn’t one I would watch again and again because it was creepy to me (and because I’m not a huge fan of Neil Gaiman’s stories…they always creep me out!)  I do understand why those who like a bit of a spookier movie like it. Also, I do want to make clear that I do NOT hate this movie. It simply creeps me out and makes me uncomfortable, so once is enough for me.

It is well done and fun for those who like their movie a bit on the creepy side. I’m just not one of those people! The story is also interesting, as Gaiman’s usually are. If you’ve read any news about him lately, you know he’s pretty good at making up stories. Ahem. Anyhow…moving on.

The movie is a stop-action animation movie geared toward “kids”, but I find it a bit too creepy for many kids and me. Of course, others may not feel the same way and may think it is totally fine for kids.

Before I get too far into this post, let me give you a little description of the movie from online:

While exploring her new home, a girl named Coraline (Dakota Fanning) discovers a secret door, behind which lies an alternate world that closely mirrors her own but, in many ways, is better. She rejoices in her discovery, until Other Mother (Teri Hatcher) and the rest of her parallel family try to keep her there forever. Coraline must use all her resources and bravery to make it back to her own family and life.

Now a bit more of the plot.

Coraline Jones has moved into a new house in a new state (Oregon, I think) and on her first day she sets off to explore. She is originally from Michigan which is one reason Erin suggested this one for this year’s Comfy, Cozy Cinema.

Coraline is followed on her walk by a creepy cat and sort of creepy boy. The boy’s name is Wybie, short for Wyborn, and he says the name wasn’t his idea.

His grandmother owns the house Coraline is living in and Wybie says he’s surprised she rented it since she doesn’t normally rent to families with children.

Like a lot of movies like this, Coraline’s parents are distracted and annoyed by her presence.

Wybie sends a doll wrapped in newspaper to Coraline’s house the next day and the doll looks exactly like her. Um…ew. I am not a fan of a lot of dolls, especially creepy ones.

While unpacking, Coraline finds a snow globe of the Detroit Zoo and that, I think, is the Easter egg Erin wanted me to look for since she’s been to that zoo many times.

Later that night Coraline explores the house and finds a small door with a tunnel that leads into a world just like hers except everyone has doll eyes and her “parents” are paying attention to her.  At first Coraline really likes this world and likes to go back and forth between the worlds.

Things get weird when new neighbors in the real world warn her about the dangers of the Other World and then the parents in the Other World try to convince her to stay with them and tell her she can’t go back to her real life. They tell her if she wants to stay she’ll have to sew buttons on as her eyes.

Everything about this movie is weird but things just keep getting weird. At one point she learns about Wybie’s great-aunt who once disappeared into the Other World and never came home.

If you want to know what happened to the original Wybie, you will have to watch the movie but not read the book because he isn’t in there.

The animation of this movie is very interesting, but I always think stop motion animation is.

While looking up some trivia about this movie, I read that there were 24 different puppets of Coraline used to make the movie. Each one took ten people and 3-4 months to construct.

(If you want to know more about how it was made, you can watch this video about it here:

• If you would like to read a little more trivia/facts I have them for you here:
  
  The character Wybie Lovat is not in Gaiman’s 2002 novel. Writers said he was added so Coraline would not have to talk to herself and so she would have a friend her age.

• The band They Might Be Giants wrote several songs for the movie but they were all scrapped when the tone of the movie changed. I’m guessing from a lighter tone to a darker one. I listened to They Might Be Giants in the 90s and think their songs probably would have added to the movie

• The plan was initially to have the movie be live action. Dakota Fanning was asked to portray Coraline , but when it was decided instead to make a stop-motion animated film, Fanning was asked if she would still be interested in providing Coraline’s voice. She agreed, especially after seeing Coraline’s design.

• One crew member was hired specifically to knit miniature sweaters and other clothing for the puppet characters, using knitting needles almost as thin as human hair.

• Neil Gaiman was typing the name “Caroline,” but he made a mistake, and it came out “Coraline.” Gaiman says, “I looked at the word Coraline, and knew it was someone’s name. I wanted to know what happened to her,” which inspired him to write the novel.

• The film was shot over the course of 18 months, following two years of pre-production.
• In the initial recording session, Dawn French played the role of Miss Spink, and Jennifer Saunders played Miss Forcible. The director wasn’t satisfied with the result, though, so he had French and Saunders switch roles and re-recorded their parts. These second recordings were used in the film and some viewers says this might explain why the characters resemble the actress who did NOT provide the voice.

Have you ever seen this one? What did you think of it?

You can read Erin’s impressions of the movie on her blog.

Next week we will be watching an intense one with some creepy scenes — The Mummy.

The rest our list for the remainder of our Comfy, Cozy Cinema is included below.

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If you write book reviews or book-related blog posts, don’t forget that Erin and I host the A Good Book and A Cup of Tea Monthly Bookish Blog Party. You can learn more about it here.

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Hello! Welcome to my blog. I am a blogger, homeschool mom, and I write cozy mysteries.

You can find my Gladwynn Grant Mystery series HERE.

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