Coraline the Movie in 3-D

I love movies, but nowadays I seldom see them live in the theaters. Before Coraline, the last movie that I remember watching during opening weekend was Dark Knight with my Clarion friends and our then-incoming Clarion instructor Neil Gaiman. So six months later I'm telling Clarion stories to friends, new and old, writers and non-writers, as we wait in line to see the midnight showing of Coraline written and directed by Henry Selznick and based on Neil's children's book. Each of us received a pair of plastic framed black 3-D glasses instead the kind made of flimsy white paper and red and blue tinted lenses that were so popular in the early days of 3-D. Indeed, the wrapping of the new modern glasses read: "Not safe for use as sunglasses."

Coraline is a story about a young girl whose family moves into an old house where under the wallpaper she discovers a small child-sized door that opens to a brick wall. In the middle of the night while following a mouse, she discovers that the door actually opens to a tunnel to another small door that leads to an identical house with an Other Mother and Other Father who look just like her real parents except that the Others have buttons for eyes. As Coraline explores her own world and this magically fun Other world, she discovers the truth behind Other Mother's motives and must use her real wits in the fantasy world to save her loved ones.

Shaped by Selznick's directorial eye, Coraline the movie is stunningly beautiful, with constantly changing animated effects engaging the eye at every moment, especially in the scenes of the fantasy world. Yet even during the "normal" setting of the dilapidated house, there is a sense of wonder. At times I was reminded of The Wizard of Oz, only Toto is now a cat. Also, the characters are well-rendered. Teri Hatcher's voice acting for normal Mother to Other Mother was expertly nuanced, and Dakota Fanning's voice gave Coraline a plucky 'tude. But it was the unvoiced moments that stole the show for me, like the various expressions of the cat, but especially one particularly poignant moment when, right before falling asleep, Coraline pretends her parents are still with her.

Honestly, I'm not sure if one absolutely needs to see this movie in 3-D to truly enjoy the experience, as only a handful of action shots took advantage of this format--a needle being sewn in the beginning, Other Father's mechanical arms reaching out, and a particularly scary scene near the end with Other Mother. As we're having a mini-Clarion reunion in a couple of weeks, I'll probably have the chance to watch the movie again and compare.

Sufficiently creepy, Coraline is a beautifully rendered movie with gorgeous animation, a tight plot with lots of action and well-voiced characters that will tug at your heart strings.