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| Coraline and Wybie Lovat |
Coraline,
the suspenseful, touching, and funny stop motion film will keep you
interested and make you chuckle! The movie Coraline stars the voices
of, Dakota Fanning (Coraline); Teri Hatcher (Mother and other
mother); Jennifer Saunders (Miss Spink); Dawn French (Miss Forcible);
Keith David (Cat); John Hodgman (Father and other father); Ian
Mcshane (Mr. Bobinsky); and Robert Bailey Jr. (Wybie Lovat). The film
takes place in Ashland, Oregon where Coraline and her family move to
live in an apartment called the Pink Palace. The type of the film is
a stop motion, animation, fantasy, etc. Whatever tickles your fancy!
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| Coraline's other parents |
In the beginning of the film when Coraline’s mother and Father are unloading the moving truck, Coraline goes exploring where she takes a stroll down a trail where she attempts to find a well she had once heard of. As she meanders down the path, she encounters a small black cat. This cat will be very important throughout the movie! Then Coraline is startled by a loud horn where she then sees a person speeding down the hill on their bike who seems to be wearing an odd looking mask. The kid takes off his mask and introduces himself as Wybie, a kid who lives in the neighborhood. Wybie explains to Coraline that she has been standing on the well this whole time. Wybie’s grandma then calls him home so Coraline makes her way back to her new home too. When Coraline is home, Wybie delivers a doll to her that resembles her. Coraline starts walking through the house where she discovers a small locked door. Coraline is curious to find out what is on the other side. I mean, if you found a small door in your home, wouldn’t you be curious? I think so. Coraline bugs her mother to help her get inside so she riffles through a drawer in the kitchen where she finds many keys but one stood out the most so she grabbed it and tried it on the little door. It worked! But, Coraline was disappointed to find only a brick wall on the other side. But, later that night, she follows a mouse around the house till she sees it crawl under the small door. She opens the door to find something that looks like a tunnel. She crawls through it where she finds herself in the same room she was just in but greater! Nicer parents, tastier food, a more colorful and fun house, and a room that makes her smile from ear to ear! But Coraline soon realizes that these “other parents” have buttons for eyes. The other mother has a fun idea of playing outside in the mud but Coraline turns it down and explains she would like to get her rest. Her other parents put her to bed in her other room and she wakes up in the morning back in her dull, drab bedroom. Thereafter, Coraline’s parents leave to get groceries leaving her home alone for the evening. You know what Coraline is going to do now. She goes to see her other parents through the small door in her house but finds them asleep. While she is there, she sees the black cat that was introduced in the beginning of the movie. The cat tells her the other mother has been watching her through the doll Wybie gave her. Coraline’s other parents then awaken while she is trying to leave but decides to go to sleep in her other room knowing she will just wake up back in her room. But, it takes an odd turn and when she wakes up, she realizes she is still in her other room. Why was she still there? Coraline tries to sneakily escape but finds that the small door is locked and blocked by an unusual looking dresser. She finds her other mother and demands to be set free but this just infuriates her other mother. Later that night, Wybie quickly pushes her out the small door to help her return home but she must hurry before her other mother sees Wybie helping her. When Coraline returns home, she is relieved but soon realizes her parents are no where to be found. Where have they gone? The next morning, the black cat shows Coraline a mirror where inside are her parents freezing and shivering, covered in snow. Coraline begins to tear up and her mother inscribes, “help us” in the fog on the window but soon the heavy fog covers the mirror completely to the point where her parents weren’t visible any longer. Frustrated, Coraline slams her fists on the mirror, shattering it into many pieces. Frantic, Coraline goes to see her other parents. Coraline challenges her to a game. If her other mother wins, she will stay with her and her other mother can sew buttons on her eyes. If Coraline wins, she gets to take her parents back to the real world. Coraline races against the time to find her mother and father but along the way, there are many obstacles. She must find the souls of 3 children her other mother had captured a while back along with finding her parents. But, it wasn’t going to be easy.
An
aspect of film making I found interesting was the set design of
Coraline. Anything and everything was handmade! One specific part
that was out of this world was the garden that Coraline walks through
in the movie which was all handmade and filmed. The plants were made
out of items such as plastic mesh, paper, clay, wires, and fiber
optic lights. One scene where Coraline is walking through the garden
and the flowers are growing each step she takes, that was created by
making one flower out of clay and wires and putting a crazy amount of
mirrors around it giving the illusion that there are multiples of
them. Now that is incredible! Also, when Coraline and Wybie were
standing in the mysterious fog, that was all handmade too. They made
the fog using dry ice and poured it on the set design to make it look
real. This idea didn’t just pop into their heads though. They tried
other things first such as, cotton, computer animations, and other
items but none of it gave a real sense to the film. Overall, the
entire set design was precise and well put together and it blew my
mind and I hope it did the same to yours!
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| Coraline's director and a model of Coraline |
Another
aspect of film making I thought was interesting was the costume design. It’s not as simple as you might think, especially in stop
motion where all the characters are lilliputian and all the clothing
needs to move smoothly with the characters to make it look lifelike.
People are hired to hand knit and sew all of the outfits for every
single character. Now, this doesn’t mean they can create one outfit
then be done. The character must have a selection of clothes to match
the characters personality. Also, they have to make more than one of
each outfit because one might be used for a scene in the mud, in the
house, in the rain, etc. Now, these outfits may seem quite easy to
make but it’s not just what you see on the outside. If you look on
the inside of the clothing, there are wires placed inside just as
there is inside the character models themselves. The wires help the
clothes move smoothly and stay in place. So, the character moves, the
clothes move. This entire process made my eyes grow wide. I had no
idea how much time was spent just making these small little outfits!
Overall,
I adored this film. It was funny, sad, interesting, and suspenseful.
The place, sound, everything kept me interested, especially the
characters personality and looks. Coraline having blue hair was
definitely out of the ordinary but it matched her personality and it
made the entire film more interesting. The film itself was very well
done. There was a lot of time and effort put into it and it looks
completely lifelike. It amazes me how the film is put together by one
second shots with someone moving the character a smidgen each time. I
definitely recommend this movie to any age group. It will keep you
interested and make you laugh so get out there and watch it. I hope
it will get a good review out of everyone!
