Why You’re Missing out if You Haven’t Watched Coraline.

November 21, 2013 in MOVIES

MOVIES – Why You’re Missing out if You Haven’t Watched Coraline.

Why You're Missing out if You Haven't Watched CoralineMy all time favorite of the current batch of feature animated stop-motion movies is Coraline. And today, I’m going to be talking about it.

You can either watch the video below or read the transcription:

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Current Stop Motion movies

Studios have really stepped up and made stop-motion incredible. The last movie that came out – which was ParaNorman– I really, really enjoyed.

I thought it worked really well. The animation was incredible. The designs were fantastic. But, I still don’t think it was as good as Coraline.

It Was a Neil Gaiman Story

One of the reasons was, of course, it’s an adapted version of Neil Gaiman’s Coraline short story. I think he wrote it for his daughter.

The 3D Worked

Why You're Missing out if You Haven't Watched Coraline01I actually went to the theaters and I watched it in 3D. It was one of the few movies that I’ve actually gone to the movie theater to watch in 3D that I thought was appropriate to be watched in 3D.

I thought it really worked.

The stop-motion here is, of course, quality stop-motion. The designs of the characters are really quirky and very, very cool.

How It’s Like Miyazaki’s Spirited Away

In a lot of ways, this kind of reminds me of Miyazaki’s Spirited Away.

It’s the same kind of genre where you’ve got a little girl with parent issues, and somehow she and them end up being thrust into this fairyland- this fairy world, this kind of magical world- where the little girl ends up having to step up and take charge, and become something other than what she is in order to triumph over the situation.

This is very similar to that.

This is a little girl who has, again, parental issues. They’re not paying attention to her. And then, she has to move to a new house where there’s this little secret door.

And that door leads to a parallel universe where it’s like the ideal situation, the ideal parents, everything that she ever wanted.

But there’s a catch.

It’s a Dark Fairytale

Why You're Missing out if You Haven't Watched Coraline03So, it’s kind of creepy.

It’s one of the things that I liked about it. It doesn’t follow the generic rules of American animation. And I’m very critical about American animation when it comes to this sort of thing.

I’d like the genre in America to expand. This is a really good example of where it can go.

It’s still a family movie, but it kind of pushes the boundaries so that it’s a little bit more of an acquired taste because it has very disturbing horror elements to it, in the exact same way that a movie like Pinocchio had the same kind of horror elements in it, where it’s kind of disturbing.

I think Dumbo may have had similar things like that too.

If you’ve watched The Nightmare Before Christmas , it’s kind of like that, because it’s the same director. And no, Tim Burton did not direct Nightmare Before Christmas. It was Henry Selick.

Henry Selick directed that movie. He directed James and the Giant Peach. He also directed Coraline, and he directed Paranorman.

Henry Selick is actually doing some really fantastic work. I highly recommend, if you have not seen Coraline, you should definitely it.

Whether or not this is good for your kids to watch, that’s a different thing.

See, that’s why I like the movie. It’s not necessarily for everyone. It’s not sugar-coated. It pushes the boundariesWhy You're Missing out if You Haven't Watched Coraline02 a little bit, so that it’s a little creepy, but the story works so well.

I don’t know what it is about this movie, but it’s just great. I like everything about it. I watched it so many times.

Paranorman is on Netflix streaming. Coraline is not. And it so should be.

It should be viewed by more people. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it.

Coraline, adapted from a story from Neil Gaiman, directed by Henry Selick. Great, great movie.

What Do You think?

If you’ve seen this movie, let me know. What do you think?

If you haven’t seen this movie, why haven’t you? Did it not grab you? Did it not make you want to see it? I’d like to hear your opinion.

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I’ll see you next time. Bye.