Coraline and Horror
Ask anyone what the scariest animated film they've seen is and they'll probably respond with Coraline.
With good reason.
Coraline is a 2002 novel written by Neil Gaiman, adapted into the 2009 animated film directed by Henry Selick. It's about a girl who recently moved into a new home, with busy parents, who finds a portal into another seemingly-perfect version of her world and family. But paradise has skeletons. He wrote this story initially for one daughter, but then finished it for another.
Both the book and movie are great and there's a lot to talk about (which I think is important when talking about quality of media). Coraline is a juxtaposition of fears; of the supernatural and of the more realistic, earthly case of predators. These two (in some way, opposite (in that one is natural and the other is supernatural, both serving as two distinct parts of a whole)) components fuse together to create that anxious unease that doesn't go away, even when the film ends. It's about appearances and deception and survival! The lone innocence of a child versus a world out to get her.
The prose is childish, in a manner completely acceptable for the story. (to clarify, childishness is not in itself bad, it's merely the context it's in that defines it.) Here's an example of a passage I really liked.
"Coraline went over to the window and watched the rain come down. It wasn't the kind of rain you could go out in, it was the other kind, the kind that threw itself down from the sky and splashed where it landed. It was rain that meant business, and currently its business was turning the garden into a muddy, wet soup."
Additionally, this childish narration creates a contrast/juxtaposition with the horrifying underbelly of the story; the very creepy environment Coraline is in.
Regarding the film, it's in stop-motion, which is uncommon for animated films. It's a distinct style. The character designs are also in a specific style. Like the Incredibles, the cast are designed and animated as stylized characters. The stylization also aids in the uncanny valley, these characters look different from your ordinary animated characters (Coraline's head is oval-shaped with doll-esque hair), but are nonetheless fluid and animated. The film uses these different camera angles and lovely scene transitions (like Coraline going to sleep in the other world and waking back up in the real world). (The Behind-the-Scenes is incredible.) This opening scene is majestic. The sets are also fantastic. It is animation, breathing life into the inanimate.
Regarding differences, the book has more abstract imagery, but it makes sense for the movie to be slightly different in that regard. The film adds elements to balance it out, like the aforementioned opening scene. Transferring stories across media does require sacrifice, after all. The movie has Coraline attracted by the false paradise at first, as opposed to the book where she is always skeptical; I think the former is more effective. It makes the twist more disturbing for her and, subsequently, more effective for the audience. Both Coraline and the audience associate comfort with the other world, only for that to be taken away from them.
With good reason.
Coraline is a 2002 novel written by Neil Gaiman, adapted into the 2009 animated film directed by Henry Selick. It's about a girl who recently moved into a new home, with busy parents, who finds a portal into another seemingly-perfect version of her world and family. But paradise has skeletons. He wrote this story initially for one daughter, but then finished it for another.
Both the book and movie are great and there's a lot to talk about (which I think is important when talking about quality of media). Coraline is a juxtaposition of fears; of the supernatural and of the more realistic, earthly case of predators. These two (in some way, opposite (in that one is natural and the other is supernatural, both serving as two distinct parts of a whole)) components fuse together to create that anxious unease that doesn't go away, even when the film ends. It's about appearances and deception and survival! The lone innocence of a child versus a world out to get her.
The prose is childish, in a manner completely acceptable for the story. (to clarify, childishness is not in itself bad, it's merely the context it's in that defines it.) Here's an example of a passage I really liked.
"Coraline went over to the window and watched the rain come down. It wasn't the kind of rain you could go out in, it was the other kind, the kind that threw itself down from the sky and splashed where it landed. It was rain that meant business, and currently its business was turning the garden into a muddy, wet soup."
Additionally, this childish narration creates a contrast/juxtaposition with the horrifying underbelly of the story; the very creepy environment Coraline is in.
Regarding the film, it's in stop-motion, which is uncommon for animated films. It's a distinct style. The character designs are also in a specific style. Like the Incredibles, the cast are designed and animated as stylized characters. The stylization also aids in the uncanny valley, these characters look different from your ordinary animated characters (Coraline's head is oval-shaped with doll-esque hair), but are nonetheless fluid and animated. The film uses these different camera angles and lovely scene transitions (like Coraline going to sleep in the other world and waking back up in the real world). (The Behind-the-Scenes is incredible.) This opening scene is majestic. The sets are also fantastic. It is animation, breathing life into the inanimate.
Regarding differences, the book has more abstract imagery, but it makes sense for the movie to be slightly different in that regard. The film adds elements to balance it out, like the aforementioned opening scene. Transferring stories across media does require sacrifice, after all. The movie has Coraline attracted by the false paradise at first, as opposed to the book where she is always skeptical; I think the former is more effective. It makes the twist more disturbing for her and, subsequently, more effective for the audience. Both Coraline and the audience associate comfort with the other world, only for that to be taken away from them.
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