WE ARE BACK AT THE STUDIO!!! Thoughts on Coraline? Come see us at Grand Rapids Comic Con - www.grcomiccon.com/ Watch all the Nostalgia-Ween here - bit.ly/NostalgiaWeen Follow us on Twitch - www.twitch.tv/channelawesome
Fun Fact: Initially the film was going to be live action, and Dakota Fanning was actually going to physically portray Coraline. When it was decided instead to make a stop-motion animated film, Fanning was asked if she would still be interested in providing Coraline's voice. She said yes, as she thought it would be fun to do, and grew even more excited when she saw what Coraline was going to look like.
The morning after my family had watched this in theaters, I thought it would be hilarious if I woke up my little sister with black buttons over each of my eyelids. She kicked me in the face before scrambling out of bed and running down the stairs screaming. I couldn’t see the kick coming because of the buttons and suffered a bruised eye socket. My mom said I was lucky I didn’t have a button lodged in my eye. Worth it.
I actually didn’t realize until I saw Natalie Gold’s reaction to the movie that the reason Wybie’s grandmother doesn’t rent to families with children is because she doesn’t want anybody else to suffer the same fate her family did losing her sister as a child. Tragic and genius.
@chrisdaughen5257 exactly that actually, her sister was taken and consumed but she escaped. She must've figured that the beldam would seek another child soon and rented to a family with a child to protect him.
Wybie wasn't in the book. He was just added to the movie so Coraline had someone to talk to. Monologues are common in books but don't translate to film great. So they'll often give the character a pet or partner to talk at. @@chrisdaughen5257
Another fun fact about Bobinsky, the reason he’s so obsessed with beets is because they can help people recover from radiation and considering his situation he probably needs that
The Beldam is definitely the most terrifying children’s movie villain I’ve ever seen. Wanting to trap you in her world so she can consume your life and eat your body is freaking terrifying.
It's not her world. She uses it, but it's not actually *her* world. The Beldam is a creature that we can understand, and though she is terrible, knowledge can conquer fear. But the world in which she lives, and the tunnel to it -- something slow, and ancient, and warm, and breathing -- is something so much worse that even the Beldam fears it. What's so scary about that is that the movie can't even convey it, although it does somewhat hint at it in the way the tunnel is treated. I was actually pretty chilled when I picked up the book and brushed upon the actual nature of the thing Coraline was traveling though. Just there the entire time. Just *there*.
Fun fact: the house is actually a giant creature, and the beldam "mother" is a sort of parasite, and near the end of the movie the house was starting to stir, you could tell this by the tunnel being different, in fact , the book even describes the tunnel as being part of something alive.
@@Bookmite1 The book literally describes the house as alive, it detailed breathing, the tunnel being warm and fleshy, it was even stated that it felt like the house beginning to stir.
I’m glad you mentioned that the parents are just going through a rough patch, a lot of people who watch this movie dismiss them as being bad people but we’re just seeing a short, stressful snippet of their lives and they’re clearly usually much more involved parents or else Coraline wouldn’t expect as much from them
As a parent, I really appreciate it too! We sometimes feel like we're doing a poor job at being 100% there for our kids, but life is a rollercoaster and we are all doing our best!
Yeah. I mean, A) Coraline's mother is still recovering from an injury she suffered in a car accident, B) They are trying to put together and publish a gardening catalogue, likely on a rapidly- approaching deadline, and C) Obviously, they are moving to a new home. With all that hitting them at once, it's not surprising that there are some problems.
nah thats not an excuse at all they are in a new place they have took her away from all of her friends and such the least they can do is be there for her, yeah life can get stressful but thats no excuse for neglect and your just assuming normally they are better it could also be that like i put before now she has nobody else so is just noticing the existent of it i mean she literally said she almost fell in a well and died and they didn't react or were even paying attention to her, maybe its cause iv grown up in a rough area but parents like them often get there kids kidnapped due to there lack of interest and neglect everyone has problems but if you let that effect you raising your kid you are a bad parent that child didnt chose to be born
@@imalittletoxicjustalittle dude, we are seeing at most like three or four days of these people’s lives during which time they have to deal with moving house, finishing a literal mountain of work and have literally just been in a car accident. If the worst thing that comes from that is them not paying full attention to their hyperactive daughter while they’re stressed then they’re pretty good parents. We also know that they’re normally better because Coraline never implies otherwise and literally as soon as they’ve finished their work they go back to being happy and attentive parents.
Neil Gaiman himself implied in the Coraline novel that the Beldam wants to be a loving and caring mother, but she ends up killing the children by accident when she's "showing them love", and then keeps their souls so that they can't leave her. I also believe the cat's sly comment about her "wanting something to eat" was a metaphor for their life essence, so that she wouldn't be alone in her twisted dimension.
This movie is so good. A great introduction to horror for younger viewers, and still absolutely spine-chilling for adults. The stop motion is incredible, Dakota Fanning voices Coraline to perfection, and the Other Mother is perhaps the creepiest animated villain ever.
It's great because it gains depth as you age. As a child it's just a creepy monster lady trying to steal her freaking eyes. As an adult you can see the deeper sort of toxic relationship undertones of her character, and the disturbing nature of her trying to force Coraline to belong to her.
I like the foreshadowing at 20:38. When Coraline sees the vision of her parents, it shows them shivering and covered with snow, and you can also hear the sound of finger-writing on a frosty glass. This foreshadows the idea that they have been hidden in one of the snow globes on the mantel.
@@claytonrios1 she was actually quite sceptical at first, she only started trusting her because she thought it was a dream. And then when she realized it wasn’t, the positive impression stuck, until it didn’t.
This movie isn't just a be careful what you wish for tale but also a story about stanger danger and how bribing paretns are evil. I just love it more nad more.@@claytonrios1
@user-bi2wn4vn3b I feel ya. I remember seeing it and my wife and I walked out going "that was amazing, and I think we're not sleeping tonight." Film deserves every bit of praise it gets.
Fun fact: The publisher for the book thought it would be too scary for kids, so the author had their daughter read it and tell the publisher it wasn't too scary... Except the reason the daughter said it wasn't scary was because she was terrified of the book and wanted it to go away.
I heard it was because she said it wasn’t scary, because she wanted to know what happens next. I may be shitting myself in fear, but by god do I want to know what happens next
"You want it to go away? Tell Daddy's boss it isn't scary!" "You told me to never lie!" "I'll leave the book in your room then." "No! I'll lie to your boss!"
No, she didn't want it to go away. She lied and said that she wasn't scared because she was interested in seeing what would happen, so the book was greenlit.
Fun Fact: Coraline's wigs took so long to make, the woman who made them added her own hair to them to "be part of them". they talked about it in a behind the scenes interview only viewable if you went to see the movie in theatres on Laika studios' anniversary a few months back.
A Casting Fact: In the initial recording session, Dawn French played the role of Miss Spink and Jennifer Saunders played Miss Forcible. However, director Henry Selick wasn't satisfied with the result, so he had French and Saunders switch roles and re-record their parts. These second recordings were used in the film, which might explain why the characters resemble the actress who did NOT provide the voice
Honestly that makes it kinda funnier cause they’re essentially making fun of the other by portraying a weird looking caricature of their long time comedy partner
The Other Mother, or Belldam as her true name is, is genuinely one of my favorite movie monsters because of just how well everything about her was executed.
Something that I love about this movie is the amount of rewatch ability it has. The number of things that you notice on 2nd, 3rd, or however many times you watch it. You have the other mother slowly changing into her spider form, the other dad song being a warning of what's to come, as well as many other small details people have made discussing Coraline.
Fun Fact: When the author showed Coraline to his daughter, in order to see if it was too scary for kids. She said she wasn’t scared, so it got the green light. Later though, she admitted that it had scared the living shit out of her, but she didn’t want to disappoint her dad, so she said it was good.
@@teleportingpotatoe Neil Gaiman is the author. It wasn't him, it was his Literary Agent, Merrilee Heifetz. She told Gaiman that "you can't seriously expect this to be published as a children's book." So, he told her to try reading it to her daughters and see what happened. They seemed interested so she pushed the book, only to find out later they were TERRIFIED of the book! But, the story was so engaging that they still wanted to see what happened even if they were scared
I remember seeing this in theaters with my own mother. At first she was rolling her eyes thinking it was going to be another average kids movie until the middle when the other mother brought out the button eyes. Then she realized it was going to be creepy.
So, something I really love about NC is how he points out the little details, stuff I never noticed or knew about, even though I've watched this film several times, so thanks Critic for taking the time to review these movies, and really take the time to point out and appreciate every small detail! ❤
Only with movies that he likes or otherwise engage his interest. Though I usually find him entertaining, he's had some wildly erroneous takes in the past due to inattentiveness.
I always liked the idea of the button eyes because of the phrase "the eyes are the windows of the soul", so in the case of the Other Mother and her minions... there's nothing there. Just like her world. It's all a pretty show with nothing of depth, meant solely to please her target. Even the Other Father and Other Wybie are just surface-level. The Other Mother created them to be a doting, loving father and a great best friend, so that is exactly who and what they are.
Quint from Jaws: "Y'know the thing about a shark, he's got... lifeless eyes, black eyes, like a doll's eyes. When he comes at ya, doesn't seem to be livin'... until he bites ya. And those black eyes roll over white, and then... oh, then you hear that terrible high-pitch screamin', the ocean turns red, and spite of all the poundin' and the hollerin', they all come in and they... rip you to pieces."
This is my absolute favorite movie; every little detail in this movie is intentional because it was made stop-motion nothing is done accidentally, this is a movie that is worth rewatching to see each detail, like the wallpaper being beetles in the opening scene and also being the same wallpaper over the tiny door
Talking about the little details, one I always loved is the outfits Coraline and her family wear. Her parents are always wearing drab greyish colours, dull muted tones of brown, white, grey, etc... while Coraline has vibrant blue hair and a bright yellow raincoat. It's another great tiny way of showing that she doesn't quite fit with this drab, colourless REAL world that she's in, and why the new world is so appealing to her, because she VISUALLY fits in more there, so the audience almost WANTS her to stay there on a subconscious level. But by the ending scene of the film, Coraline's parents are wearing brighter coloured clothing (her dad wearing a green shirt and her mother wearing a sharp white jumper with a pink hairband), while Coraline herself is wearing more neutral, normal colours, and even her hair has gotten slightly darker, like they've both finally adapted to each other a little more and learned to value what the other brings to them.
These are very good points, I agree. If you look at a family portrait of them before the move you’ll notice Coraline is naturally brunette so chances are her parents let her dye her hair blue to match her mood when they had to leave their house in Michigan and go live in Oregon. It suits her because she’s frustrated with the dreary house and it’s bugs and brown water and lack of things to do and people to interact with. She also gets a blue sweater from the other Mother that has stars embroidered into it to represent her being the center of attention. So it’s interesting how the two shades of blue represent both her sadness and her excitement
22:02 some have criticized the movie for coraline not taking her chance to run but they kinda forgot she didn’t wanna leave without the cat. Especially when it’s mid combat
Missing Link in particular is underrated as it being more of a buddy comedy adventure was different enough to the horror and horror esque stuff the studio is known for that a lot of people skipped it myself included until somewhat recently.
The hand thing at the end was admittedly creepier in the book, said hand was described as being more pale and bone like and practically stalked Coraline for much longer after she got out of the door. Theres this description of her hearing scratching at the window, only to go to the window and see nothing is there but claw marks. So she naturally decides to drop the key down the well (under the guise she's having a dolls picnic over it) and the hand drops in after it, for her to cover the well so it never gets out again. I think the filmmakers toned this down a bit making it out of needles
This is my all time favorite stop motion animated film of all time. It captured me in a way that Nightmare before christmas didn't. It's dark and creepy in so many ways. But in a strange way. It's also a charm and innocence to it.
Another Fun Fact: The red lighthouse in one of the snow globes that Coraline places on the shelf was modeled after Big Red, the lighthouse at the Holland State Park in Holland, Michigan. and Many things were changed from the original book, including the rag doll that the Other Mother uses to spy on Coraline as well as the general look of the characters. One of these changes was the door that leads to the Other World. In the book, it was a large wooden door, but Henry Selick made it smaller and covered in wallpaper to seem less threatening and more inviting to a curious child. Also The Amazing Mr. Bobinsky is called Mr. Bo-Bo in the source novel, though, for most of the story, Coraline simply knows him as "the crazy man upstairs."
I would LOVE a freakshow cinema episode on the Boxtrolls. That film is so fascinating to me because the advertising shoved cutesy in your face and was clearly trying to cash in on the Minions craze at the time, but the actual film was wonderfully weird and dark af. The antagonist was willing to violently murder a child just to eat cheese with high society. Coraline may be Laika's creepiest film, but the Boxtrolls is absolutely their most bizarre.
And yet the weirdness is TONED DOWN from the book- for example in the book cheese is illegal because the guild in charge of it OVER HUNTED THEM amongst other horrible business practices.
Long time viewer and i must say doug and the crew have been a fond part of growing up with youtube. Im 20 yrs old now and have been watching since early middle school such a great channel to revisit and see new reviews. Especially around this time of year since my first video was the 90s IT review. I hope you guys never stop finding the passion to make such high quality and fun videos to watch. Much love keep up the great work guys.
@@ChannelAwesomehow do you doing I can't wait to watch nostalgia critic commercials next month I'm excited I wish you could come to steel city con I always want to meet Doug walker and I have health issues and Doug walker laugh through hard times that I had with my heath problems and I had 3 heart surgeries and thanks for the laughs and did you see the trailer yet for the wiggles documentary and my favorite nostalgia critic commercials is return of the commercials my favorite part is when Doug calls Mr Herbert from family guy lol
I didn't know until recently that this movie had a book, and even hints that the tunnel in the small door is like a throat of a beast of some kind. The implication being that the other mother could be like a parasite festering inside of a bigger monster is terrifying and makes me want to know more about this world that we just aren't privy to from Coraline's pov
And the creepy part is that that isn’t the beldams final form as she still resembles coralines mother she’s a shapeshifter so it’s unknown what she actually looks like
Neat little thing that goes unnoticed: Real mom says she locked the door because she saw some rat crap and wanted Coraline to feel safe. Next time she goes into the other world, she discovers the mice are actually rats.
I think one of the scariest parts is just the intro sequence. A gentle children’s choir that still telegraphs that something is terribly wrong, but for now you can rest… because the true nightmare is about to begin.
Another Insane Fact: The crew spent 800 hours painting 250,000 pieces of popcorn--pink on the outside, red on the kernel--to stand in as blossoms for the nearly 70 trees.
2 things. 1. I love the addition to the underserved genre I think of as "Horror for kids." There's a dearth of movies and TV shows that push the limits of child-friendly horror stories. 2. If you look at how the Other Mother operates and acts, then she's got some interesting parallels to depictions of medieval Fae. She's an otherwordly being running on a thought process that we can't hope to understand with phenomenal power that is nonetheless limited to her domain and can't resist playing games, even when she stands to lose far more than she'd gain. About the only thing that doesn't track with that is that she doesn't honor the terms of the wager she agreed to, and instead is just planning to go ahead with her desires regardless of the fact that Coraline beat her.
Well, she never actually officially "closed" on the wager. She dissapeared rather than shake Coraline's hand. Another example of the insane attention to detail.
What I love about the Father's song is that he basically gives away everything but is so subtle that I didn't even notice until someone pointed it out to me. "Let me sing you a song about Caroline, she's a peach, she's a doll, she's a pal of mine. She's as cute as a button in the eyes of everyone"
A peach (something to be eaten) A doll (a plaything for the other mother) A pal of mine (I want to help you) Other father always made me incredibly sad...
It's not the last time he looks out for her either. At several points he reaches out, to the point where he's not doing anything accidently, he's just not clever enough to hide his help from the Other Mother but not Coraline.
One thing I thought was really interesting was the fact that you get a sense of what you’re going to get in the movie from the very beginning. In the intro, where an old doll is slowly being disassembled, and then reassembled into the Coraline doll. The whole scene with the music gives a very unsettling, feel about the whole. Like you’re watching somebody make a voodoo doll.
Something about that Hallway that is mentioned in the book is that it’s somehow alive, and aware of Coraline moving through it. It’s older and more powerful even than the other mother, truly, a Lovecraftian nightmare hiding in plain sight!
8:54 the "home" part in the “welcome home” cake features a double loop on the O. According to Graphology, a double loop on a lower case O means that the person who wrote it is lying. There is only one double loop, meaning she is welcome but she is not home.
Honestly, Coraline is one of my favorite stop motion movies. I wish more animated studios dive into more dark fantasy stories just like Laika Studios. I think that what makes them stand from the rest. I can’t wait to check out Wildwood in 2025.
I adore all the subtle foreshadowing. The lightning that looks like a hand, the silhouette portraits of the three ghosts, Wybie's grandmother not renting to children, the other father's song, it's all fantastic. I was fortunate enough to go to the Seattle MoPOP to see the Laika exhibit and seeing the garden and Pink Palace in person was breathtaking
I think this film gets better and better as time goes on. It’s truly a work of art by Henry and his team. I’m still in so much awe of how much work they did and how much time and attention to detail is in every frame.
It would be fun that in a few future episodes, the oddly laughing head is faintly heard through the walls and critic is just "please ignore the floating demon" until everybody acknowledges that the demon head was exorcised from the studio
OMG OMG OMG I AM SO HAPPY YOU DID THIS!! coraline is my favorite film period! I love that people are still talking about it to this day, with new theories and ideas. It’s looks like a simple movie but it does delve into dark fairytale ideas. Thank you so much for this review 😊
I just watched the movie for the first time in a few years and I love it just as much as I used to. After I finished, I randomly wondered if NC ever did a review of this movie or not, then to MY COMPLETE SURPRISE, IT'S ONE OF HIS LATEST REVIEWS!! I was so freaking excited when I saw that, and the review was great. I said to myself before the review began, "He better have good things to say about this movie" lol
Another gem. One of my favourite movies ever since childhood. Beautiful stop motion, and was pretty creepy and creative. Idk why but that scene where Coraline and the cat walk to the edge of the other world and come back round, the way it looks, one of my favourites. 🖤
I think Ms. Spink and Ms. Forcible were both right in their tea visions and the stone. With the tea, everyone can get Ms. Spink's vision. But, Ms. Forcible talks about "a tall, handsome beast." She's describing the Beldam. She's abnormally tall, handsome (with a ridged face and figure), and a beast in her final form. The stone, according to the ladies, was helpful for "bad things" and "lost things". It came after Coraline's parents disappeared (sounds pretty bad). It helped her complete the task of getting her parents, which was finding the lost ghost eyes. They might be bickering the entire time, but they were both helpful during the movie. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
I grew up watching this film, and not only was it the first Halloween film I ever saw, but it was also the first film that scared the daylights out of me. Definitely one of the best things in the last 21st century.
Coraline was one of the first horror movies I saw as I child Did anyone else terrified of this movie as a child but now ADORES this movies cause that’s what happened to me!!
This is how I felt when I saw Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit when it came out. I was scared of the transformation scenes and all the horror elements but I still couldn't get enough of the film overall. Thankfully, it only got better with age, like a fine wine!
One of the things I did like about the movie is how it helps explain how the Other Mother knew about Coraline's problems and manipulate the children. This helps highlight just how cunning she is as an animated villain. To the film's credit, it mostly sticks to the book with a few changes. I'd recommend checking out Cinema Therapy with their Coraline Video. It talks about the themes of this film.
Yeah she uses the doll to spy on coraline while in the book she uses the rats the one part that stays the same is the rat/mouse giving the other mother the key One part that stayed the same for different reasons was the other mother coughing up the key in the movie she did it to open the door to show that Coralines parents weren’t there in the book she does it so coraline can unlock the empty apartment where she later finds the other father in the cellar
It is so nice to finally see you back in your studio reviewing any movies now and starting with one of my favorites. Motion animated films of all time ❤️🖤🎃
Stop Motion animation needs to make a come back into todays generations. I absolutely love the visual shots and texture they put into these characters. :)
This is one of my favorites to watch around Halloween for its atmosphere and the incredible stop-motion. I'm still in awe at the craft and I also love how you worked in getting back to the studio with the concept of the film. Also, it was nice to see everybody together again.
On the note of little things you only really apprecite later, I like the little moments that show Coraline's true character. For example, she's pretty mean to Wybie, and readily approves of Other Wybie being "fixed". But when they're walking to theater she kind of quickly asks him something like "hey she didn't...hurt you, did she?". Shows a certain level of maturity she didn't seem to have based on her bratty behavior, but just goes further to show what we're seeing are just a few stressful days for this family, not their whole lives. Which is something the Other Mother missed as well
You know, if I had a nickel for every time Keith David voiced a cool character in an animated movie that came out in 2009, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice, right?
Another amazing fact about this amazing film with great stop motion in it is: The band They Might Be Giants wrote 10 songs for the movie, but a change in tone from a musical to a darker production meant that all but two were cut: one, when Coraline's other father sings along with a piano, features John Linnell's voice; and the other is during the end credits. The band has said they will release the other songs created for the movie in other projects, including albums.
So I did a little search. Will Vinton Studios (owned by the Will Vinton, go figure) lost ownership because Phil and Travis Knight held a majority shareholder for said studios, and Will couldn't get the funds to keep his hold. Will was kicked out, and the studio later rebranded to now Laika Studios. Will retired in 2008 and passed in 2018.
Part of the reason I figured that the movie may feel like it has multiple climaxes at the end may be because Neil Gaiman was partially inspired by a lot of old dark fairytales, and a lot of those fairytales had some events being done in a rhythmic pattern. The Three Little Pigs is a good example, where things follow in a pattern of three (first, the wolf blows down the house of straw, and then the house of sticks, before everything ends at the house of bricks). The ending might feel off though, since these fairytale tropes are being executed on a movie medium instead of a book one.
Making up a song about Coraline She's a peach, she's a doll, she's a pal of mine She's as cute as a button In the eyes of everyone who ever laid their eyes on Coraline When she comes around exploring Mom and I will never ever make it boring Our eyes will be on Coraline
18:48 there's actually a psychological disorder called factitious disorder by proxy that is basically what he said. It's featured in the movie "Run" with Sara Paulson. It's also called munchausan syndrome by proxy I think
I really love both this movie and the book it's based on. The story is a perfect blend of creepy and charming. And if you can believe it, they actually toned down some of the creep factor for the movie by giving the Other Mother mechanical hands. In the book it was a flesh-and-bone hand. The bit at the end with the well is important because it puts the final nail in the Other Mother's coffin, so to speak. It ensures that she will wither away in the Other world and won't be able to lure in any more children in the future.
The ending with the well is a set up for a potential sequel. Remember what Wybie says about it: "They say that if you fell in and looked up, you'd see a sky full of stars during the day." Which is what we see at the start of the movie when the Beldam sends the Coraline Doll out the window. And they threw the Key down into that well along with her hand.
If you saw this movie in 3D, then you were in for a treat. This movie was a great introduction into the creepy film genre for older kids and young teens.
Coraline may be Laika's most popular film, but hot dang everything else they've done is absolutely awesome too! It's such a shame that no one seems to remember Paranorman, the Boxtrolls, Kubo and the Two Strings, or the Missing Link because each of those films is a beautiful piece of art! I'm STILL angry that Paranorman lost its Oscar award to Pixar's Brave! Screw Disney! Give Laika the love it deserves!
The fight with the hand at the end probably made more sense in the book. It was to represent that being brave isn’t a one-time thing. The metaphor was her father going back to get his glasses from the same place he had been attacked by a swarm of wasps the day before. It’s not just about getting away and never going back but reclaiming your confidence.
In all honesty, Coraline is one of the few stopmotion films that I like the other one being ParaNorman. I say this because I'm not really that big a fan of stopmotion stuff, I mean I don't hate it but I can certainly appreciate it because like all animation stopmotion is a form of art.
I remember watching this in theaters with my parents. At the end when the mom slips the little box containing the gloves Coraline (the box that is the same size a the "button box" from earlier, and would have made a horrific twist ending) We heard some little girl in the audience say out loud "And no buttons!"
18:13 I’m so thankful that I’m Your cat in the hat review you mention Coraline and I’m your Coraline review you mention cat in the hat. Comes full circle about a decade later.
10:51 Technically, we don’t see a giraffe fall from the sky in this movie, but we DO see a giraffe etched onto that candy jar that fell from the sky. 18:43 So, basically that old woman from Misery? (Don’t quote me on that; I haven’t actually watched the movie/read the book.) 20:42 “Groovy.”
I have been waiting for this!! Thank you for finally reviewing one of my favorite films! And if people think this film doesn’t count as a real horror classic, the author who made Chainsaw Man said this was one of his favorite films and he’s a HUGE cinema nerd so you can’t judge
The Other Mother terrified me for a long time after I first watched the film. She's definitely the most petrifying villain to have ever been created for a kids' movie.
In the book, which is super scary, the tunnel connecting the world together is apparently alive and older than the Beldam herself. Also, the Other Father in the book gets locked in the basement of the flat for not keeping his mouth shut, and Coraline ventures down there while looking for the ghost children's souls. She finds her Other Father, but he's become this large doughy mass of flesh and is fighting to stop himself from attacking her, because the Beldam is mentally ordering him to. It's one of the scariest moments in the book!
We watched this film endlessly with my family. Pretty decent watch. Like most of the films we watched over and over, I can remember almost every bit of dialogue off by heart, a decade later
I'm a very big fan of this movie. I love Keith David performance in this. I like the part when Mr. Bee was like, "Why don't you want to stay with us and Caroline was like, "You're not the real Mr." B, you're just a puppet, and Mr. Bee was like, not even that anymore.
And the tone of the voice just changes from whimsical, silly, and kinda mysterious Mr. B to this low, raspy voice. Then the rat shrieked from under the hat was another great scene. Love Keith David
What I found out about a minor detail is that Miss Spink and Miss Forcible are a couple, but the movie couldn't outright say it, so they were just very "close" roommates.
I feel like this is one of those rare 3D movies you don't need the glasses to enjoy it. They don't rely on the trope of pointing or throwing things at the camera (at least not too often) like Spy Kids 3D, Jaws 3D and Friday the 13th part 3 (in 3D) did
Short story time: My mom actually accidentally showed me this film while scrolling through channels on the tv and saw it was for kids in the animation style. She thought it was harmless at first cause growing up even today I loved stop-motion films and series. But as soon as the other mother started getting creepier looking and my mom heard me crying she turned it off. (I watched this when I was in elementary school) Back in middle school I saw the movie was about to start for the Halloween season and rewatched it again as a 12 year old and LOVED IT! Henry Selick, Tim Burton, and Guillermo Del Toro (with Pinocchio), never fail to always bring back that wonder and those emotional sometimes traumatizing dark moments. 💙💛
That's 4 out of 5 Selick movies reviewed. Now it's time for Wendell & Wild, both purely for Selick and Key & Peele Also, great to see this as the first review done back at the studio
Coraline is a very deep story and there's many TH-cam channels that go on hours long breakdowns of theories. Really well written story! I believe at the core it's about an abusive parent
WE ARE BACK AT THE STUDIO!!! Thoughts on Coraline?
Come see us at Grand Rapids Comic Con - www.grcomiccon.com/
Watch all the Nostalgia-Ween here - bit.ly/NostalgiaWeen
Follow us on Twitch - www.twitch.tv/channelawesome
Great movie, beautiful animation.
Awesome film!
One of the best animated films ever!
THE NIGHTMARES ARE COMING BACK !!!!
The scene where we saw Other Wybie’s skinned corpse hanging in the wind stuck with me to this day.
Fun Fact: Initially the film was going to be live action, and Dakota Fanning was actually going to physically portray Coraline. When it was decided instead to make a stop-motion animated film, Fanning was asked if she would still be interested in providing Coraline's voice. She said yes, as she thought it would be fun to do, and grew even more excited when she saw what Coraline was going to look like.
Awesome!!!
I wonder how would a live action would look like
Yeah yeah the stop motion it is better
But not gonna lie if done correctly it could be great right?
@@pablothecoffeelover2551honestly making it that the real world segments are live action and the Other World segments stop motion could have worked
@@mrcritical6751 So like James and the Giant Peach
At least they didn’t make it into a CGI monstrosity like Monster House.
The morning after my family had watched this in theaters, I thought it would be hilarious if I woke up my little sister with black buttons over each of my eyelids.
She kicked me in the face before scrambling out of bed and running down the stairs screaming. I couldn’t see the kick coming because of the buttons and suffered a bruised eye socket. My mom said I was lucky I didn’t have a button lodged in my eye.
Worth it.
😂😂
Sounds like my big sister.
Everything about that is hilarious.
I actually didn’t realize until I saw Natalie Gold’s reaction to the movie that the reason Wybie’s grandmother doesn’t rent to families with children is because she doesn’t want anybody else to suffer the same fate her family did losing her sister as a child. Tragic and genius.
Oh. I thought she let Coraline's family rent the place so the Other Mother would target Coraline and not Wybie.
@chrisdaughen5257 exactly that actually, her sister was taken and consumed but she escaped. She must've figured that the beldam would seek another child soon and rented to a family with a child to protect him.
Natalie overacts
Wybie wasn't in the book. He was just added to the movie so Coraline had someone to talk to. Monologues are common in books but don't translate to film great. So they'll often give the character a pet or partner to talk at. @@chrisdaughen5257
@@ninjanibba4259You’re overreacting
Another fun fact about Bobinsky, the reason he’s so obsessed with beets is because they can help people recover from radiation and considering his situation he probably needs that
He's also that shade of blue from using colloidal silver to try and treat the radiation poisoning as well.
The Beldam is definitely the most terrifying children’s movie villain I’ve ever seen. Wanting to trap you in her world so she can consume your life and eat your body is freaking terrifying.
Beldam*
@@noname-gh1vr fair enough.
She doesn't _want_ to consume or eat them. She wants them to love her. They just...Never do, and she's too twisted up and desperate to let that stand.
@@grabble7605That's the cat's opinion, which isn't really backed up by anything we see her do.
It's not her world. She uses it, but it's not actually *her* world.
The Beldam is a creature that we can understand, and though she is terrible, knowledge can conquer fear. But the world in which she lives, and the tunnel to it -- something slow, and ancient, and warm, and breathing -- is something so much worse that even the Beldam fears it.
What's so scary about that is that the movie can't even convey it, although it does somewhat hint at it in the way the tunnel is treated. I was actually pretty chilled when I picked up the book and brushed upon the actual nature of the thing Coraline was traveling though. Just there the entire time. Just *there*.
Fun fact: the house is actually a giant creature, and the beldam "mother" is a sort of parasite, and near the end of the movie the house was starting to stir, you could tell this by the tunnel being different, in fact , the book even describes the tunnel as being part of something alive.
it's the butthole, of course!
Wbich is terrifying in itself...since if the beldlam feeds off people...what does the house creature feed off of if it hasnt done anything innso long
@@trainman5675 The beldam is doing this because she lost her son, right? What do you think happened to the son.
You say fact, I say this was a Matpat theory. As much as I agree with it and it makes sense, it’s not a confirmed fact, just a theory.
@@Bookmite1 The book literally describes the house as alive, it detailed breathing, the tunnel being warm and fleshy, it was even stated that it felt like the house beginning to stir.
I’m glad you mentioned that the parents are just going through a rough patch, a lot of people who watch this movie dismiss them as being bad people but we’re just seeing a short, stressful snippet of their lives and they’re clearly usually much more involved parents or else Coraline wouldn’t expect as much from them
As a parent, I really appreciate it too! We sometimes feel like we're doing a poor job at being 100% there for our kids, but life is a rollercoaster and we are all doing our best!
oh wow, that makes sense! Never considered that before and I've seen this a million times haha!
Yeah.
I mean,
A) Coraline's mother is still recovering from an injury she suffered in a car accident, B) They are trying to put together and publish a gardening catalogue, likely on a rapidly- approaching deadline, and C) Obviously, they are moving to a new home.
With all that hitting them at once, it's not surprising that there are some problems.
nah thats not an excuse at all they are in a new place they have took her away from all of her friends and such the least they can do is be there for her, yeah life can get stressful but thats no excuse for neglect and your just assuming normally they are better it could also be that like i put before now she has nobody else so is just noticing the existent of it i mean she literally said she almost fell in a well and died and they didn't react or were even paying attention to her, maybe its cause iv grown up in a rough area but parents like them often get there kids kidnapped due to there lack of interest and neglect everyone has problems but if you let that effect you raising your kid you are a bad parent that child didnt chose to be born
@@imalittletoxicjustalittle dude, we are seeing at most like three or four days of these people’s lives during which time they have to deal with moving house, finishing a literal mountain of work and have literally just been in a car accident. If the worst thing that comes from that is them not paying full attention to their hyperactive daughter while they’re stressed then they’re pretty good parents.
We also know that they’re normally better because Coraline never implies otherwise and literally as soon as they’ve finished their work they go back to being happy and attentive parents.
Neil Gaiman himself implied in the Coraline novel that the Beldam wants to be a loving and caring mother, but she ends up killing the children by accident when she's "showing them love", and then keeps their souls so that they can't leave her. I also believe the cat's sly comment about her "wanting something to eat" was a metaphor for their life essence, so that she wouldn't be alone in her twisted dimension.
I more envisioned the other Mother as metaphorically eating the children through toxic parenthood
This movie is so good. A great introduction to horror for younger viewers, and still absolutely spine-chilling for adults. The stop motion is incredible, Dakota Fanning voices Coraline to perfection, and the Other Mother is perhaps the creepiest animated villain ever.
You've got all that right.
I agree.
Damn right
It's great because it gains depth as you age. As a child it's just a creepy monster lady trying to steal her freaking eyes. As an adult you can see the deeper sort of toxic relationship undertones of her character, and the disturbing nature of her trying to force Coraline to belong to her.
Other Mother is terrifying.
I like the foreshadowing at 20:38.
When Coraline sees the vision of her parents, it shows them shivering and covered with snow, and you can also hear the sound of finger-writing on a frosty glass. This foreshadows the idea that they have been hidden in one of the snow globes on the mantel.
Also the photo in the parents room foreshadows it as well as they were posing in the Detroit zoo where the snowglobe came from
The Other Mother might be one of my favorite animated movie villains. Especially given how spider-like she becomes during the climax.
To me she looks less like a Spider and more like a metallic robot, the spider aesthetic only becomes apparent once the “web” appears.
She demonstrates outwardly sweet but is manipulative just below the surface, perfectly.
@@robinkholmes7127 Yeah you can see little hints of that everywhere before Coraline gets it. But she's a kid so of course she'd fall for it at first.
@@claytonrios1 she was actually quite sceptical at first, she only started trusting her because she thought it was a dream. And then when she realized it wasn’t, the positive impression stuck, until it didn’t.
This movie isn't just a be careful what you wish for tale but also a story about stanger danger and how bribing paretns are evil. I just love it more nad more.@@claytonrios1
Laika deserves WAY more recognition. That studio is such a hidden gem.
Laika is The Pixar of stopmotion
They really do.
I watch Kubo probably two to three times a year. It's just so damn good.
@@LaBambaManI wish that movie got more love in the box office cause truly it’s a one of a kind kids movie
@user-bi2wn4vn3b I feel ya. I remember seeing it and my wife and I walked out going "that was amazing, and I think we're not sleeping tonight."
Film deserves every bit of praise it gets.
@@deafgwippsI watch it in theaters with my friend and it broke my heart when we noticed the theater was empty.
Fun fact: The publisher for the book thought it would be too scary for kids, so the author had their daughter read it and tell the publisher it wasn't too scary... Except the reason the daughter said it wasn't scary was because she was terrified of the book and wanted it to go away.
I heard it was because she said it wasn’t scary, because she wanted to know what happens next.
I may be shitting myself in fear, but by god do I want to know what happens next
@@degeneratemale5386Neil Gaiman's recollection resembles yours more. His Daughter was scared, but she wanted to know more.
"You want it to go away? Tell Daddy's boss it isn't scary!"
"You told me to never lie!"
"I'll leave the book in your room then."
"No! I'll lie to your boss!"
@@vincentmarcellino7183 wow...that sounds mean to the poor girl
No, she didn't want it to go away. She lied and said that she wasn't scared because she was interested in seeing what would happen, so the book was greenlit.
Fun Fact: Coraline's wigs took so long to make, the woman who made them added her own hair to them to "be part of them". they talked about it in a behind the scenes interview only viewable if you went to see the movie in theatres on Laika studios' anniversary a few months back.
A Casting Fact: In the initial recording session, Dawn French played the role of Miss Spink and Jennifer Saunders played Miss Forcible. However, director Henry Selick wasn't satisfied with the result, so he had French and Saunders switch roles and re-record their parts. These second recordings were used in the film, which might explain why the characters resemble the actress who did NOT provide the voice
Really? Cool!
Honestly that makes it kinda funnier cause they’re essentially making fun of the other by portraying a weird looking caricature of their long time comedy partner
22:27 - The return of "SHUT THAT DOOR!" absolutely killed me! 🤣🤣
He couldn’t have made a better reference.
YOU DARE TO DISOBEY YOUR MOTHER?!
Kick in the face
The Other Mother, or Belldam as her true name is, is genuinely one of my favorite movie monsters because of just how well everything about her was executed.
Something that I love about this movie is the amount of rewatch ability it has. The number of things that you notice on 2nd, 3rd, or however many times you watch it. You have the other mother slowly changing into her spider form, the other dad song being a warning of what's to come, as well as many other small details people have made discussing Coraline.
Fun Fact: When the author showed Coraline to his daughter, in order to see if it was too scary for kids. She said she wasn’t scared, so it got the green light. Later though, she admitted that it had scared the living shit out of her, but she didn’t want to disappoint her dad, so she said it was good.
she actually did think it was good tho. She was scared, but wanted to know the ending. So gailman finished it.
also not the director. The author of the book.
I thought she didn't say, because she HAD to find out how it ended.
@@teleportingpotatoe Neil Gaiman is the author. It wasn't him, it was his Literary Agent, Merrilee Heifetz. She told Gaiman that "you can't seriously expect this to be published as a children's book." So, he told her to try reading it to her daughters and see what happened. They seemed interested so she pushed the book, only to find out later they were TERRIFIED of the book! But, the story was so engaging that they still wanted to see what happened even if they were scared
9:01 Fun Fact: During this song, you can actually catch that he’s warning her about the Other Mother, via the lyrics.
True! It's all in the lyrics.
I remember seeing this in theaters with my own mother. At first she was rolling her eyes thinking it was going to be another average kids movie until the middle when the other mother brought out the button eyes. Then she realized it was going to be creepy.
She saw the opening scene with the doll being made and didn’t think it be creepy?
@@MushroomHatNope. She didn’t seem to care.
My mom absolutely hated how creepy it was. Meanwhile I was unbothered lol.
You know it's a party when somebody brings out the button eyes!
So, something I really love about NC is how he points out the little details, stuff I never noticed or knew about, even though I've watched this film several times, so thanks Critic for taking the time to review these movies, and really take the time to point out and appreciate every small detail! ❤
Thanks for leaving this nice comment and thanks for watching!!
Only with movies that he likes or otherwise engage his interest. Though I usually find him entertaining, he's had some wildly erroneous takes in the past due to inattentiveness.
@@robertbryant4669 But you can't deny he's gotten better in the last 2 years or so.
Just watched this film and I praise it for all the motion capture animation and colors!
I always liked the idea of the button eyes because of the phrase "the eyes are the windows of the soul", so in the case of the Other Mother and her minions... there's nothing there. Just like her world. It's all a pretty show with nothing of depth, meant solely to please her target. Even the Other Father and Other Wybie are just surface-level. The Other Mother created them to be a doting, loving father and a great best friend, so that is exactly who and what they are.
When i saw the ghosts of the victims with buttons on their eyes, that was really dark yet intriguing.
It also fits because the Other Mother sewed buttons in the childrens' eyes and therefore trapped their souls.
I also believe it was a metaphor for blinding yourself to the truth
@@AngelWingsYT Good one!
Quint from Jaws: "Y'know the thing about a shark, he's got... lifeless eyes, black eyes, like a doll's eyes. When he comes at ya, doesn't seem to be livin'... until he bites ya. And those black eyes roll over white, and then... oh, then you hear that terrible high-pitch screamin', the ocean turns red, and spite of all the poundin' and the hollerin', they all come in and they... rip you to pieces."
This is my absolute favorite movie; every little detail in this movie is intentional because it was made stop-motion nothing is done accidentally, this is a movie that is worth rewatching to see each detail, like the wallpaper being beetles in the opening scene and also being the same wallpaper over the tiny door
Talking about the little details, one I always loved is the outfits Coraline and her family wear. Her parents are always wearing drab greyish colours, dull muted tones of brown, white, grey, etc... while Coraline has vibrant blue hair and a bright yellow raincoat. It's another great tiny way of showing that she doesn't quite fit with this drab, colourless REAL world that she's in, and why the new world is so appealing to her, because she VISUALLY fits in more there, so the audience almost WANTS her to stay there on a subconscious level.
But by the ending scene of the film, Coraline's parents are wearing brighter coloured clothing (her dad wearing a green shirt and her mother wearing a sharp white jumper with a pink hairband), while Coraline herself is wearing more neutral, normal colours, and even her hair has gotten slightly darker, like they've both finally adapted to each other a little more and learned to value what the other brings to them.
These are very good points, I agree. If you look at a family portrait of them before the move you’ll notice Coraline is naturally brunette so chances are her parents let her dye her hair blue to match her mood when they had to leave their house in Michigan and go live in Oregon. It suits her because she’s frustrated with the dreary house and it’s bugs and brown water and lack of things to do and people to interact with. She also gets a blue sweater from the other Mother that has stars embroidered into it to represent her being the center of attention. So it’s interesting how the two shades of blue represent both her sadness and her excitement
22:02 some have criticized the movie for coraline not taking her chance to run but they kinda forgot she didn’t wanna leave without the cat. Especially when it’s mid combat
Laika is such an underrated studio. They make such great films, and this one is no exception. I can’t wait to see a new film from them
they're working on one right now! "Wildwood" is set to release in 2025
Have you watched "N9NE" ?
@@teleportingpotatoeYes that one's brilliant, though I think I like Kubo and the 2 strings more.
Missing Link in particular is underrated as it being more of a buddy comedy adventure was different enough to the horror and horror esque stuff the studio is known for that a lot of people skipped it myself included until somewhat recently.
@GodOfOrphans I'm always surprised how much I like their movies. I enjoyed missing link a lot.
The hand thing at the end was admittedly creepier in the book, said hand was described as being more pale and bone like and practically stalked Coraline for much longer after she got out of the door. Theres this description of her hearing scratching at the window, only to go to the window and see nothing is there but claw marks. So she naturally decides to drop the key down the well (under the guise she's having a dolls picnic over it) and the hand drops in after it, for her to cover the well so it never gets out again. I think the filmmakers toned this down a bit making it out of needles
This is my all time favorite stop motion animated film of all time. It captured me in a way that Nightmare before christmas didn't. It's dark and creepy in so many ways. But in a strange way. It's also a charm and innocence to it.
Me to. And I used to get scared easily as a kid but this movie didn't scare me.
It's amazing masterpiece made with care and passion. It's not like some cash grab, but work of art.
you are a fake disney fan then just a poser
I think Jack Skellington captures me pretty well
Jack and Coraline are just perfect to me.
Another Fun Fact: The red lighthouse in one of the snow globes that Coraline places on the shelf was modeled after Big Red, the lighthouse at the Holland State Park in Holland, Michigan. and Many things were changed from the original book, including the rag doll that the Other Mother uses to spy on Coraline as well as the general look of the characters. One of these changes was the door that leads to the Other World. In the book, it was a large wooden door, but Henry Selick made it smaller and covered in wallpaper to seem less threatening and more inviting to a curious child. Also The Amazing Mr. Bobinsky is called Mr. Bo-Bo in the source novel, though, for most of the story, Coraline simply knows him as "the crazy man upstairs."
One of the most frightening parts of the book was when Coraline had to go down in the cellar where the other father was trapped. Soooo creepy!
I live near Holland! I know which lighthouse you’re talking about. That’s actually so cool I didn’t know that!
I would LOVE a freakshow cinema episode on the Boxtrolls. That film is so fascinating to me because the advertising shoved cutesy in your face and was clearly trying to cash in on the Minions craze at the time, but the actual film was wonderfully weird and dark af. The antagonist was willing to violently murder a child just to eat cheese with high society. Coraline may be Laika's creepiest film, but the Boxtrolls is absolutely their most bizarre.
And yet the weirdness is TONED DOWN from the book- for example in the book cheese is illegal because the guild in charge of it OVER HUNTED THEM amongst other horrible business practices.
Long time viewer and i must say doug and the crew have been a fond part of growing up with youtube. Im 20 yrs old now and have been watching since early middle school such a great channel to revisit and see new reviews. Especially around this time of year since my first video was the 90s IT review. I hope you guys never stop finding the passion to make such high quality and fun videos to watch. Much love keep up the great work guys.
Thanks for the support and watching all of these years Garrett!
@@ChannelAwesomehow do you doing I can't wait to watch nostalgia critic commercials next month I'm excited I wish you could come to steel city con I always want to meet Doug walker and I have health issues and Doug walker laugh through hard times that I had with my heath problems and I had 3 heart surgeries and thanks for the laughs and did you see the trailer yet for the wiggles documentary and my favorite nostalgia critic commercials is return of the commercials my favorite part is when Doug calls Mr Herbert from family guy lol
I didn't know until recently that this movie had a book, and even hints that the tunnel in the small door is like a throat of a beast of some kind. The implication being that the other mother could be like a parasite festering inside of a bigger monster is terrifying and makes me want to know more about this world that we just aren't privy to from Coraline's pov
And the creepy part is that that isn’t the beldams final form as she still resembles coralines mother she’s a shapeshifter so it’s unknown what she actually looks like
Neat little thing that goes unnoticed:
Real mom says she locked the door because she saw some rat crap and wanted Coraline to feel safe.
Next time she goes into the other world, she discovers the mice are actually rats.
I think one of the scariest parts is just the intro sequence. A gentle children’s choir that still telegraphs that something is terribly wrong, but for now you can rest… because the true nightmare is about to begin.
one of the girls in the choir, her name is coraline! you can see in the credits at the end.
Another Insane Fact: The crew spent 800 hours painting 250,000 pieces of popcorn--pink on the outside, red on the kernel--to stand in as blossoms for the nearly 70 trees.
2 things.
1. I love the addition to the underserved genre I think of as "Horror for kids." There's a dearth of movies and TV shows that push the limits of child-friendly horror stories.
2. If you look at how the Other Mother operates and acts, then she's got some interesting parallels to depictions of medieval Fae. She's an otherwordly being running on a thought process that we can't hope to understand with phenomenal power that is nonetheless limited to her domain and can't resist playing games, even when she stands to lose far more than she'd gain. About the only thing that doesn't track with that is that she doesn't honor the terms of the wager she agreed to, and instead is just planning to go ahead with her desires regardless of the fact that Coraline beat her.
Well, she never actually officially "closed" on the wager. She dissapeared rather than shake Coraline's hand. Another example of the insane attention to detail.
@@LoZLttp13 a fair point.
I think the Beldam is a member of the "unseelie court" of the fae. Meaning they do not adhere to rules or laws.
What I love about the Father's song is that he basically gives away everything but is so subtle that I didn't even notice until someone pointed it out to me. "Let me sing you a song about Caroline, she's a peach, she's a doll, she's a pal of mine. She's as cute as a button in the eyes of everyone"
A peach (something to be eaten)
A doll (a plaything for the other mother)
A pal of mine (I want to help you)
Other father always made me incredibly sad...
It's not the last time he looks out for her either. At several points he reaches out, to the point where he's not doing anything accidently, he's just not clever enough to hide his help from the Other Mother but not Coraline.
One thing I thought was really interesting was the fact that you get a sense of what you’re going to get in the movie from the very beginning.
In the intro, where an old doll is slowly being disassembled, and then reassembled into the Coraline doll.
The whole scene with the music gives a very unsettling, feel about the whole.
Like you’re watching somebody make a voodoo doll.
Something about that Hallway that is mentioned in the book is that it’s somehow alive, and aware of Coraline moving through it. It’s older and more powerful even than the other mother, truly, a Lovecraftian nightmare hiding in plain sight!
Honestly more Neil Gaiman works deserve this respect, thought and creativeness
I'd love to see The Graveyard Book made into a film by this same studio.
Neil Gaiman is one of the most insufferably overrated creators out there.
*creativity
@@urbanblackbear9736 That, or Odd and the Frost Giants. I think both could work great.
@@Zazuzozu You misspelled "underrated"
The kids' voice acting is so good. Dakota Fanning's delivery of "WHY WERE YOU BORN!?" never fails to crack me up...😂also, it's mean.😁
Coraline! A real classic.
And it's great to have you all back in the studio again
8:54 the "home" part in the “welcome home” cake features a double loop on the O. According to Graphology, a double loop on a lower case O means that the person who wrote it is lying. There is only one double loop, meaning she is welcome but she is not home.
Cool! Never noticed that before
Honestly, Coraline is one of my favorite stop motion movies. I wish more animated studios dive into more dark fantasy stories just like Laika Studios. I think that what makes them stand from the rest. I can’t wait to check out Wildwood in 2025.
I adore all the subtle foreshadowing.
The lightning that looks like a hand, the silhouette portraits of the three ghosts, Wybie's grandmother not renting to children, the other father's song, it's all fantastic.
I was fortunate enough to go to the Seattle MoPOP to see the Laika exhibit and seeing the garden and Pink Palace in person was breathtaking
I always thought that the Other Mother’s dolls turned on her because they were powered by the souls of other lost children wanting to escape.
That would have been awesome to watch, a bunch of dolls coming out of the shadows for beldam.
I think this film gets better and better as time goes on. It’s truly a work of art by Henry and his team. I’m still in so much awe of how much work they did and how much time and attention to detail is in every frame.
It would be fun that in a few future episodes, the oddly laughing head is faintly heard through the walls and critic is just "please ignore the floating demon" until everybody acknowledges that the demon head was exorcised from the studio
From the point of native Russian it's so fun watching how Mr Bobinsky actor genuinely tries to pronounce russian words. And he almost does it right!
That's why we love Ian McShane. He doesn't always pronounce stuff right but the enthusiasm is there
OMG OMG OMG
I AM SO HAPPY YOU DID THIS!!
coraline is my favorite film period! I love that people are still talking about it to this day, with new theories and ideas. It’s looks like a simple movie but it does delve into dark fairytale ideas.
Thank you so much for this review 😊
Hope you enjoyed it!
I just watched the movie for the first time in a few years and I love it just as much as I used to. After I finished, I randomly wondered if NC ever did a review of this movie or not, then to MY COMPLETE SURPRISE, IT'S ONE OF HIS LATEST REVIEWS!! I was so freaking excited when I saw that, and the review was great. I said to myself before the review began, "He better have good things to say about this movie" lol
Honestly the imagery in this film is some of the most creative and most complex stuff i've ever seen in a film
bit overthe top lad
no it has hidden messages in the background and artistically everywhere.
Bug furniture.
1. So glad y'all are back at the studio!
2. I LOVE CORALINE!!! One of my all time favorites!
Another gem. One of my favourite movies ever since childhood. Beautiful stop motion, and was pretty creepy and creative. Idk why but that scene where Coraline and the cat walk to the edge of the other world and come back round, the way it looks, one of my favourites. 🖤
I think Ms. Spink and Ms. Forcible were both right in their tea visions and the stone.
With the tea, everyone can get Ms. Spink's vision. But, Ms. Forcible talks about "a tall, handsome beast." She's describing the Beldam. She's abnormally tall, handsome (with a ridged face and figure), and a beast in her final form.
The stone, according to the ladies, was helpful for "bad things" and "lost things". It came after Coraline's parents disappeared (sounds pretty bad). It helped her complete the task of getting her parents, which was finding the lost ghost eyes.
They might be bickering the entire time, but they were both helpful during the movie. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
Glad to see Doug getting to go back to the office after so long.
I grew up watching this film, and not only was it the first Halloween film I ever saw, but it was also the first film that scared the daylights out of me. Definitely one of the best things in the last 21st century.
Coraline was one of the first horror movies I saw as I child
Did anyone else terrified of this movie as a child but now ADORES this movies cause that’s what happened to me!!
This is how I felt when I saw Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit when it came out. I was scared of the transformation scenes and all the horror elements but I still couldn't get enough of the film overall.
Thankfully, it only got better with age, like a fine wine!
I wasn't scared of it, but i loved it.
The movie got great visuals and characters.
Same!
One of the things I did like about the movie is how it helps explain how the Other Mother knew about Coraline's problems and manipulate the children. This helps highlight just how cunning she is as an animated villain. To the film's credit, it mostly sticks to the book with a few changes. I'd recommend checking out Cinema Therapy with their Coraline Video. It talks about the themes of this film.
Yeah she uses the doll to spy on coraline while in the book she uses the rats the one part that stays the same is the rat/mouse giving the other mother the key
One part that stayed the same for different reasons was the other mother coughing up the key in the movie she did it to open the door to show that Coralines parents weren’t there in the book she does it so coraline can unlock the empty apartment where she later finds the other father in the cellar
It is so nice to finally see you back in your studio reviewing any movies now and starting with one of my favorites. Motion animated films of all time ❤️🖤🎃
Same, I'm happy he's back at his studio too
Stop Motion animation needs to make a come back into todays generations. I absolutely love the visual shots and texture they put into these characters. :)
They look crazy good on 4k Blu-ray.
This is one of my favorites to watch around Halloween for its atmosphere and the incredible stop-motion. I'm still in awe at the craft and I also love how you worked in getting back to the studio with the concept of the film. Also, it was nice to see everybody together again.
On the note of little things you only really apprecite later, I like the little moments that show Coraline's true character. For example, she's pretty mean to Wybie, and readily approves of Other Wybie being "fixed". But when they're walking to theater she kind of quickly asks him something like "hey she didn't...hurt you, did she?". Shows a certain level of maturity she didn't seem to have based on her bratty behavior, but just goes further to show what we're seeing are just a few stressful days for this family, not their whole lives. Which is something the Other Mother missed as well
You know, if I had a nickel for every time Keith David voiced a cool character in an animated movie that came out in 2009, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice, right?
lol
He’s got friends on the other side, but there’s no other him, he’s just him.
The meme will never die I swear! 😂😂😂
A Funny Fact: There are 248 Scottie Dogs in the audience with Coraline and Wybie watching the stage performance.
Another amazing fact about this amazing film with great stop motion in it is: The band They Might Be Giants wrote 10 songs for the movie, but a change in tone from a musical to a darker production meant that all but two were cut: one, when Coraline's other father sings along with a piano, features John Linnell's voice; and the other is during the end credits. The band has said they will release the other songs created for the movie in other projects, including albums.
Should have had Danny Elfman write the songs, he could get the tone right.
So I did a little search. Will Vinton Studios (owned by the Will Vinton, go figure) lost ownership because Phil and Travis Knight held a majority shareholder for said studios, and Will couldn't get the funds to keep his hold. Will was kicked out, and the studio later rebranded to now Laika Studios. Will retired in 2008 and passed in 2018.
I will always love this movie. Sure it’s not Nightmare Before Christmas or Corpse Bride but that’s why I like it. It has its own story.
It's its own story because its not a Tim Burton movie, it's a Henry Selick film based on a Neil Gaiman book
I didn't like Nightmare Before Christmas or Corpse Bride so I will gladly say its not like them.
I kind of liked Corpse Bride, it is inspired by an old Russian tale.
Still I think it would have elevated it to make it an Elfman operetta like the other two.
Part of the reason I figured that the movie may feel like it has multiple climaxes at the end may be because Neil Gaiman was partially inspired by a lot of old dark fairytales, and a lot of those fairytales had some events being done in a rhythmic pattern. The Three Little Pigs is a good example, where things follow in a pattern of three (first, the wolf blows down the house of straw, and then the house of sticks, before everything ends at the house of bricks).
The ending might feel off though, since these fairytale tropes are being executed on a movie medium instead of a book one.
Making up a song about Coraline
She's a peach, she's a doll, she's a pal of mine
She's as cute as a button
In the eyes of everyone who ever laid their eyes on Coraline
When she comes around exploring
Mom and I will never ever make it boring
Our eyes will be on Coraline
18:48 there's actually a psychological disorder called factitious disorder by proxy that is basically what he said. It's featured in the movie "Run" with Sara Paulson. It's also called munchausan syndrome by proxy I think
That is terrifying!
I really love both this movie and the book it's based on. The story is a perfect blend of creepy and charming. And if you can believe it, they actually toned down some of the creep factor for the movie by giving the Other Mother mechanical hands. In the book it was a flesh-and-bone hand.
The bit at the end with the well is important because it puts the final nail in the Other Mother's coffin, so to speak. It ensures that she will wither away in the Other world and won't be able to lure in any more children in the future.
Not even just mechanical hands, it's creepy knowing they're also literal sewing pins just put together to form the shape of a hand o_o.
@@amarikristopher8409also the tools the other mother had when making the coraline doll are tools usually used for embalming
@@GlitchyHalo damn 😭,, the details in this movie is just perfection 👏🏾
The ending with the well is a set up for a potential sequel. Remember what Wybie says about it:
"They say that if you fell in and looked up, you'd see a sky full of stars during the day."
Which is what we see at the start of the movie when the Beldam sends the Coraline Doll out the window.
And they threw the Key down into that well along with her hand.
If you saw this movie in 3D, then you were in for a treat. This movie was a great introduction into the creepy film genre for older kids and young teens.
It’s felt like forever since you were back in the studio. So happy to see your return!
We are super happy to be back!
Thank you for doing this movie! It’s one of my all time favorites! Hope all of you are doing good.
Coraline may be Laika's most popular film, but hot dang everything else they've done is absolutely awesome too! It's such a shame that no one seems to remember Paranorman, the Boxtrolls, Kubo and the Two Strings, or the Missing Link because each of those films is a beautiful piece of art! I'm STILL angry that Paranorman lost its Oscar award to Pixar's Brave! Screw Disney! Give Laika the love it deserves!
This is actually one of my all time favorite animated movies! It’s just so fantastic and incredible!
WOW, this movie was stop-motion, I honestly always thought it was CG in style of stop-motion. Truly amazing.
Neil Gaiman has had far better luck with adaptions of his work than a lot of authors.
The fight with the hand at the end probably made more sense in the book. It was to represent that being brave isn’t a one-time thing. The metaphor was her father going back to get his glasses from the same place he had been attacked by a swarm of wasps the day before. It’s not just about getting away and never going back but reclaiming your confidence.
I never noticed in the scene where Coraline hangs from the door frame that Other Mothers doll was already watching her. 7:58
Fun Fact: The Other Mother is known as "The Beldam", which is French for "Old Woman" or "Witch"
In all honesty, Coraline is one of the few stopmotion films that I like the other one being ParaNorman. I say this because I'm not really that big a fan of stopmotion stuff, I mean I don't hate it but I can certainly appreciate it because like all animation stopmotion is a form of art.
I remember watching this in theaters with my parents.
At the end when the mom slips the little box containing the gloves Coraline (the box that is the same size a the "button box" from earlier, and would have made a horrific twist ending)
We heard some little girl in the audience say out loud "And no buttons!"
18:13
I’m so thankful that I’m Your cat in the hat review you mention Coraline and I’m your Coraline review you mention cat in the hat.
Comes full circle about a decade later.
10:51 Technically, we don’t see a giraffe fall from the sky in this movie, but we DO see a giraffe etched onto that candy jar that fell from the sky.
18:43 So, basically that old woman from Misery? (Don’t quote me on that; I haven’t actually watched the movie/read the book.)
20:42 “Groovy.”
I have been waiting for this!! Thank you for finally reviewing one of my favorite films!
And if people think this film doesn’t count as a real horror classic, the author who made Chainsaw Man said this was one of his favorite films and he’s a HUGE cinema nerd so you can’t judge
I saw some of the movie sets in a museum. You can really get up close and admire all the little details they put in.
The Other Mother terrified me for a long time after I first watched the film. She's definitely the most petrifying villain to have ever been created for a kids' movie.
She’s absolutely TERRIFYING!
In the book, which is super scary, the tunnel connecting the world together is apparently alive and older than the Beldam herself.
Also, the Other Father in the book gets locked in the basement of the flat for not keeping his mouth shut, and Coraline ventures down there while looking for the ghost children's souls. She finds her Other Father, but he's become this large doughy mass of flesh and is fighting to stop himself from attacking her, because the Beldam is mentally ordering him to. It's one of the scariest moments in the book!
We watched this film endlessly with my family. Pretty decent watch. Like most of the films we watched over and over, I can remember almost every bit of dialogue off by heart, a decade later
This movie means so much to me. I saw it in theaters at age 12 and it has inspired my art ever since. It got me into horror too. I love this movie
I'm a very big fan of this movie. I love Keith David performance in this. I like the part when Mr. Bee was like, "Why don't you want to stay with us and Caroline was like, "You're not the real Mr." B, you're just a puppet, and Mr. Bee was like, not even that anymore.
And the tone of the voice just changes from whimsical, silly, and kinda mysterious Mr. B to this low, raspy voice. Then the rat shrieked from under the hat was another great scene. Love Keith David
What I found out about a minor detail is that Miss Spink and Miss Forcible are a couple, but the movie couldn't outright say it, so they were just very "close" roommates.
I feel like this is one of those rare 3D movies you don't need the glasses to enjoy it. They don't rely on the trope of pointing or throwing things at the camera (at least not too often) like Spy Kids 3D, Jaws 3D and Friday the 13th part 3 (in 3D) did
Short story time: My mom actually accidentally showed me this film while scrolling through channels on the tv and saw it was for kids in the animation style. She thought it was harmless at first cause growing up even today I loved stop-motion films and series. But as soon as the other mother started getting creepier looking and my mom heard me crying she turned it off. (I watched this when I was in elementary school)
Back in middle school I saw the movie was about to start for the Halloween season and rewatched it again as a 12 year old and LOVED IT! Henry Selick, Tim Burton, and Guillermo Del Toro (with Pinocchio), never fail to always bring back that wonder and those emotional sometimes traumatizing dark moments. 💙💛
That's 4 out of 5 Selick movies reviewed. Now it's time for Wendell & Wild, both purely for Selick and Key & Peele
Also, great to see this as the first review done back at the studio
Coraline is a very deep story and there's many TH-cam channels that go on hours long breakdowns of theories. Really well written story! I believe at the core it's about an abusive parent