by Janet Sandford

Created on: March 15, 2009

Coraline is a film based on a children's horror story written by Neil Gaiman who is also responsible for his fanciful book of prose, Stardust. His novella, Coraline is a mixture of dark morbidity and delicate whimsy. These 'qualities' have been reproduced in an stupified and brilliant 3D animation. The work of director Henry Selick has a lot in common with Lewis Carroll and the man who wrote such stories as In the Knight's Kitchen and Where the Wild things Are, Maurice Sandak. The world they live in is a universe where everything looks normal but with a heightened realism giving it a scary surrealism. In Coraline you are transported into a land of frightening monsters, flourescent beauty and incomprehensible bravery.

The young Coraline (Voice of Dakota Fanning) is an extremely inquisitive and intelligent child who would like to travel between worlds. Her parents (Terry Hatcher and John Hodgman) have just moved into the top floor flat of an old house in Oregon. It has been raining incessantly and Coraline, left alone, is bored and feels rejected by her parents. Having a curious nature, Coraline decides to take a trip outside her surroundings to see what she can find. Hidden away in her living room, she finds a tiny door which has been wallpapered over. She opens the door and in front of her she sees a long lustrous tunnel stretching out towards the horizon. Most children would probaly close the door and go back inside being scared to face what lies ahead. But not curious Coraline - she has to step forward into the unknown.

Strangely enough, at the end of the tunnel is a room very similar to the one she has closed the door on. The room is a miror image of her parents flat except that it is warmer, tiidier and the furniture is of a better quality. Inside the room she is greeted by a man and a woman who are identical to her parents except they don't have real eyes and eye lashes only polished black buttons in the orbits where the eyes should be. Coraline is shocked at first by what she sees but soon she accepts her "other mother" and "other father" and is overpowered by their warm hospitality.

Coraline's new parents spoil her. They attend to her every whim and play games with her. Her "other mother" cooks plate after plate of scrumptious food to fill her tummy with goodness. Coraline is overwhelmed as her real mother never cooked or showed her any attention. Her "other" parents ask her to stay in this picturesque world with them forever. Except, there is a catch -

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