Coraline (film)

Coraline
Coraline and her cat crawl over an open doorway with light coming from it. The film's tagline reads "Be careful what you wish for" which is written on the wall. On the film's logo, a button is used for the "O" and a cat with a tail sticking out as an "L", with another door with light coming out.
Theatrical release poster
Directed byHenry Selick
Screenplay byHenry Selick
Based onCoraline
by Neil Gaiman
Produced by
Starring
Cinematography
  • Pete Kozachik
Edited by
Music byBruno Coulais
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
Running time
100 minutes[2]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$60 million[3][4]
Box office$185.7 million[3]

Coraline is a 2009 American stop-motion animated dark fantasy horror film written for the screen and directed by Henry Selick, based on the 2002 novella of the same name by Neil Gaiman.[5] Produced by Laika, as the studio's first feature film,[6] it features the voices of Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French, Keith David, John Hodgman, Robert Bailey Jr., and Ian McShane. The film tells the story of its eponymous character discovering an idealized alternate universe behind a secret door in her new home, unaware that it contains something dark and sinister.

Just as Gaiman was finishing his novella, he met Selick and invited him to make a film adaptation, as Gaiman was a fan of Selick's other stop-motion works, The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) and James and the Giant Peach (1996). When Selick thought that a direct adaptation would lead to "maybe a 47-minute movie", the screenplay was expanded. Looking for a design different from that of most animation, Selick discovered the work of Japanese illustrator Tadahiro Uesugi and invited him to become the concept artist. His biggest influences were on the color palette, which was muted in the real world and more colorful in the Other World, as in The Wizard of Oz. To capture stereoscopy for the 3D release, the animators shot each frame from two slightly apart camera positions. Production of the stop-motion animation took place at a warehouse in Hillsboro, Oregon.[7]

Coraline premiered at the Portland International Film Festival on February 5, 2009,[8] and was released theatrically in the United States on February 6 by Focus Features. The film was met with widespread acclaim from critics and grossed $185.7 million worldwide, making it the third-highest-grossing stop-motion film of all time, following Chicken Run (2000) and Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005).[9] The film won Annie Awards for Best Music in an Animated Feature Production, Best Character Design in an Animated Feature Production, and Best Production Design in an Animated Feature Production, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and a Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film. It has developed a cult following in the years since its release and is considered one of the greatest animated films of all time.

  1. ^ Hudetz, Mary (February 8, 2009). "Made in Oregon: animated 'Coraline'". KVAL. Archived from the original on March 6, 2012. Retrieved August 17, 2014.
  2. ^ "Coraline rated PG by the BBFC". BBFC. January 29, 2009. Archived from the original on April 24, 2009. Retrieved April 5, 2009. Run Time 100m 19s
  3. ^ a b "Coraline (2009)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved September 24, 2024.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference numbers was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Savage, Annaliza (November 14, 2008). "Gaiman Calls Coraline the Strangest Stop-Motion Film Ever". Wired. Archived from the original on December 22, 2016. Retrieved August 18, 2011.
  6. ^ "Who We Are". Laika Studios. Retrieved October 20, 2023.
  7. ^ "Coraline". Laika Studios. Retrieved August 16, 2023.
  8. ^ Turnquist, Kristi (February 5, 2009). "'Coraline' premiere offers Portland some Hollywood glitter". The Oregonian. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
  9. ^ DiOrio, Carl (February 8, 2009). "Moviegoers into 'Into You'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 17, 2014.