Trailer Tuesday: Coraline

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Coraline, based on Neil Gaiman's best-selling children's book, has been a long time coming. I remember getting all excited about it back in late 2002 when it was prematurely announced that my favourite actress, Michelle Pfeiffer would be playing the Other Mother.

As it turns out, that casting never happened - instead, that most annoying of Desperate Housewives Teri Hatcher voices the film's villain while Dakota Fanning is the film's heroine and title character.

Still, I've been tracking Coraline for quite a while now, especially since it comes from Henry Selick, the animator-writer-director responsible for The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach. And, like Nightmare and James, Coraline is traditional stop-motion (not CGI!), one of my favourite old school animation sub-genres.


I personally haven't read Neil Gaiman's novel, but I have read a lot about it, and basically Coraline is an Alice In Wonderland-esque tale about a young girl who feels neglected by her parents when they move into a remote sub-divided house. Bored and frustrated, Coraline stumbles upon a secret door that transports her to a magical alternate dimension where her "other" parents shower her with love and attention. But, of course, there is a downside to this perfect world - Coraline's button-eyed Other Mother wants her daughter to stay with her forever... whether Coraline wants to or not.

Screening in both 3D and normal format, Coraline opened in North America this last weekend, debuting at No. 3 at the box office - which isn't at all surprising given its dark, distinctly un-Disney nature (check out the much much creepier alternate trailer here). Judging the film by this second trailer, I'd say that Coraline is definitely NOT suitable for very young, or easily frightened children.

All this said, Coraline scored an outstanding 87% Fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes, and you have to wonder, given its release so early in the year, if it will maintain enough momentum to garner an Academy Award nomination early in 2010 in the Best Animated Film category.


Alas, I have no clue when Coraline is set for release in South Africa. I'm hoping its not too far down the line though. It's been a very long time since Monster House, the last "frightening" animated film, and 2005's gothic Corpse Bride was a dull disappointment.

Comments

Vanessa said…
I have sent a mail to both NuMetro and Ster Kinekor asking about the release date of Coraline. This was over a week ago, and I have had no response yet. Will let you know if/when I do hear anything :)
7:33 AM
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