Coraline – Blu Ray Review

The Film:

I can only hope Henry Selick continues to make stop-motion animated films for the rest of his career. In a time where everything is or perhaps has to be CG, seeing something like this adds something to the overall film. Characters are three-dimensional; a real treat outside of 3-D modeling in the CG animated fare. Hand-crafted pieces of fine art, each character is beautifully designed and structured. Yes, I’m gushing, because I’m happy that there’s something outside of the short film world that is fully stop-motion animated. But truth be told, it doesn’t matter the medium necessarily because no matter how you use the medium of choice, it all comes down to story. Coraline is a great film, shades below a timeless masterpiece that Nightmare Before Christmas is, but I’ll take that over anything, any day of the week.

The story is a clever mixing of the fantastical and the real, as Caroline is a frustrated little girl, who her parents ignore her for their work, so naturally her imagination runs wild. Being displaced from her friends in Michigan, for a big empty house in a drab, dreary Oregon, there is little she can actually do. With a new, annoying friend for her, he hands her a doll his grandma has that is strikingly similar to her. The doll is the bait and hook for Caroline to enter this other world that has better cooking, better parents, and is more colorful.

It doesn’t sound like much, but the juxtaposition between the two worlds is fun and as inventive as any animated film this side of Pixar. Selick is going to be a master at this medium; each of the sets are so vivid in detail, so well-constructed, they feel used and homely. This sense of location is important to Coraline as it adds the comfortable and the uncomfortable feelings for her and us, and that plays with our conceptions of what we felt. Based off a novel by Neil Gaiman, I cannot say if it follows closely or not, but the film’s only flaw is its rather conventional, rushed climax and ending. While gorgeously animated, it wraps up too easily, and feels like an instructional video to beat the “bosses” in the tie-in video game.

Regardless, Coraline is a beautiful film, dark enough to scare kids, but nothing too adult, and adult enough for us to enjoy, without being kiddie. A rare animated treat from a medium that isn’t computer orchestrated, so for that, it’s an easy recommendation. Coraline is a mature kid’s tale, full of great characters, and has the joy that we rarely have outside of cracking open a Grimm fairytale. It also has a sense of wonder, we rarely get whisk away into.

The Blu Ray:

Audio/Video: Universal has delivered a near-perfect presentation for this high def disc. What a kick the audio is. Each effect is fully utilized with deep bass, active surrounds, and clear center speaker action, making it easy to get swept up into the film’s visuals. Speaking of that, we are allowed two viewing options for the film. The traditional experience, 2-D, is perfect. Each color is vivid, each black ink-level deep, it’s a fine demo material here.

The other option is the 3-D. We get 4 glasses, with that new anaglyph presentation as seen in My Bloody Valentine Blu Ray. The process wows theatrically, but on disc, it washes out colors-a key component in Coraline-but the 3-D is pretty good, if not as good as in MBV. If you have a really good LCD TV, north of 37″, and sit in front of the screen as much as possible, you’ll maximize the effects. It’s pretty good, and kudos to Universal for keeping this feature on the Blu Ray.

Overall, the audio is impressive and the 2-D or 3-D video is equally as such.

Besides including the 3-D glasses, you’ll get the DVD and a digital copy of the film in this 3-disc set.

Commentary: Selick and his composer sit for a great chat on all things this film. They discuss the original novella, the hard work in animating everything, and rarely repeat information seen in the all extras. This is a great, soft listen, full of wonderful tidbits.

P-i-P: Here we have 3 picture-in-picture tracks that follow the voice cast, as we see video of them recording, animatics of the film running next to the finished film, and standard behind-the-scenes material. Decent stuff covered here.

All extras are in HD.

Making of Coraline: Watch it in parts or in a full documentary form, running 36 minutes, this will cover every aspect in full detail, no fluff. This is a must watch.

Creepy Coraline: Neil Gaiman is interviewed here for about 6 minutes, giving us some little insights into his book. It’s okay, but he looks bored and I wanted a more discussion about the film’s translation of his novella.

Voicing the Characters: About 11 minutes of the cast talking about the film. Short and sweet.

Deleted Scenes: These are actual finished scenes, not animatics, with Selik giving an introduction on why they were deleted.

Conclusion: A fantastic fairy tale film, filled with joy, awe, and terror is a must watch. Universal delivers a home run here for the Blu Ray. A must own.

The Film: Rating:

The Blu Ray: Rating:

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