Release Date
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October 11th, 2023
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Running Time
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27:29
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Previous Review
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Link
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Video
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(After the 2023 Nostalgiaween intro, the scene fades in to the inside of a dark, dark room. Only a sliver of light is coming from behind the ajar door. We see someone's hand grasp the doorknob and open the door. More light is let in until it completely obscures the screen. Nostalgia Critic walks through the open door, and he finds himself in the studio.)
NC: Oh, nice. (beat) Wait a minute.
(He takes a look inside the room where he usually does his reviews.)
NC: Why does everything seem a little different?
(NC suddenly turns around and finds himself face to face with Uncle Lies and Aunt Despair. For some reason, they have buttons for eyes.)
Other Aunt Despair: What do you think of the place?
(NC is shocked.)
Other Uncle Lies: It's the button eyes, isn't it?
NC: (softly) Yes, it's the button eyes.
Other Aunt Despair: We are your other Uncle Lies and Aunt Despair, and this is your other studio.
NC: What about the other...other studio?
Other Uncle Lies: Oh, we gave up on that months ago.
Other Aunt Despair: Yeah, I don't know if you're aware of this, but it takes money to fix those.
Other Uncle Lies: So we made a deal with the devil.
(In walks Satan.)
Satan: ’Sup?
NC: So why does everybody have button eyes, then?
Satan: Well, it's a long complicated story with many layers to it.
NC: It just looks cool?
Satan: It just looks cool. But everyone is here, like Other Zack Snyder.
(NC turns around. Out of nowhere, Zack Snyder pops up. He has button eyes as well.)
Other Zack Snyder: This place is great! Here, my cut of Justice League isn't the only good DC movie I got!
Satan: Other Chester and Doe.
(NC's attention turns once again. Chester A. Bum and Doe appear, and – wouldn't you know it – their eyes are buttons, too.)
Other Doe: Oh, Mr. The Critic! In this world, we're incredibly successful business owners!
Other Chester: Yes, we only dress this way because we're eccentric!
Satan: Other Chart Guys.
(NC's attention turns once again. The Analysts make their appearance as well. Like the others before them, their eyes are buttons.)
Other Chart Guy 2: The chart says we should think for ourselves!
Other Chart Guy 1: I think we should follow the charts!
Other Chart Guy 2: Agreed!
Other Chart Guy 1: Also, this place is great!
Satan: Other Jim.
(NC looks in the break room. Jim Jarosz is standing there, and his eyes are also buttons.)
Other Jim: I ain't doing that pop into frame shit. The eyes are enough. (He walks away.)
Satan: Even Other Meta Dog is here.
(Aiyanna Wade, with her dog puppet, makes her entrance as well, but she seems to be lacking the same eye buttons that the others sport.)
Other Meta Dog: I'm too Meta for the buttons.
NC: Oh, so you're a pain here, too.
Other Meta Dog: Actually, I looked at the script, and I think the analogy you've planned is pretty great.
NC: Oh. Well, thank you.
Other Meta Dog: Though I don't think I'm a popular enough character for a callback.
NC: Thanks, we're good.
Other Meta Dog: How many views did Grumpy Cat Christmas get again?
NC: (waves his fingers) You can go now.
Other Meta Dog: Sure, I'll just duck down. Pretend I vanished.
NC: Okay. Actually, things do seem a bit better here.
Other Aunt Despair: Yes! This is the perfect place to host Nostalgia-Ween.
NC: As well as the perfect spot to review Coraline.
Other Uncle Lies: What's Coraline?
NC: You know, this stop-motion movie from Laika Studios.
Other Uncle Lies: What the hell's Laika Studios?
Other Aunt Despair: Oh, he must be talking about Will Vinton Studios.
NC: Oh, shit. We're doing this?
Satan: Oh, yes. Will Vinton Studios is still very much alive here.
NC: Yeah, I don't know if I wanna go down this road.
Other Aunt Despair: Why? Did something happen between Will Vinton and Laika Studios in your world?
NC: No, they got along great. Don't look it up. In fact, we got this amazing film out of it!
(Clips from films made by Laika Studios are shown. Examples include ParaNorman, The Boxtrolls, Kubo and the Two Strings, and of course, Coraline.)
NC (vo): Okay. Whatever your thought are on the creation of this company, I'm not a businessman. I wasn't there. I don't know what went down. There's no doubt that Laika is one of the most impressive animation studios around. They combine artistically pleasing films with surprisingly mainstream success, making the weird, creepy, but likable movies people who love stop-motion want to see.
(We suddenly cut to NC in his chair.)
NC: And their first/arguably biggest step was with Coraline.
(The title card for Coraline comes up, and scenes from the film start to play.)
NC (vo): Released in 2009 and directed by an already iconic director when it comes to Halloween... (the poster for The Nightmare Before Christmas appears) ...Henry Selick, Coraline was based on (we are shown the cover of...) the Neil Gaiman novella, and is everything you would want a movie like this to be. It's dark, it's creative, it's visually stunning. It's got an aggressive edge to it, but also an amazing amount of charm. Its button eyes are about as iconic as Pinocchio's long nose. You immediately recognize it and connect it to freaky scenarios about as terrifying as Pinocchio, too. (The iconic scene where Lampwick transforms into a donkey is shown.) It's another one of those intense movies parents have no problem showing their kids because the accept it as the right way to scare kids. A way that's inventive, imaginative, and teaches some familiar but still relevant lessons. So why has this film grown more popular around Halloween and, thank God, hasn't gotten a sexy costume release? (A Photoshopped image of a cosplayer portraying Coraline is shown, along with a clip of a person giving a disgusted look.) Well, let's take a closer look.
NC: While I'm back at the studio that seems just as normal as before...
(Satan, Other Uncle Lies and Other Aunt Despair give NC a most disturbing look from around the corner.)
NC: (beat) Maybe even more normal. Let's take a look at Coraline.
(The film begins with Coraline's family moving into the Pink Palace Apartments in Oregon.)
NC (vo): We open in on the unintentional Wes Anderson Apartments, where movers who look too specifically designed not to be based on somebody...There you go.
(A bit of trivia appears, explaining that the movers are based off of Jerome and Joe Ranft.)
NC (vo): ...Are moving in the Jones family. There's the mother (Melanie), played by Teri Hatcher, the father (Charles), played by John Hodgman, and Coraline, played by Dakota Fanning.
Sergei Bobinsky: до свидания, Caroline.
Coraline: Coraline.
NC (vo): The name was actually a misspelling from Gaiman of "Caroline", but when he saw the "O" replace the "A", he said, "There has to be somebody with that name. I wonder what her story is." And immediately wrote this book.
(One of the movers is shown getting tipped.)
NC (vo): After the in-joke mover is given an in-joke tip...
(An arrow points to Henry Selick's picture on the dollar bill.)
NC (vo): ...Coraline quickly discovers there's nothing to do but be bored. (Coraline has picked up a stick to use as a dowsing rod to find an old well.) And be terrorized by (an image of...) one of those skeleton Bikers from Batman Returns.
(The spy removes his mask. It turns out he's only a kid in costume.)
Wyborne "Wybie" Lovat: Hoo! Let me guess, you're from Texas or Utah. Someplace dried out and barren, right?
NC (vo): This is Wybie – played by Robert Bailey Jr. – who was originally not in the book, but was created because they figured there was only so long Coraline could talk to herself.
(Wybie scratches a black cat behind the ears.)
Wybie: (referring to the cat) I do feed him every night. And sometimes he'll come in my window and bring me little dead things.
NC: Had he only been in the human world, I feel like he would've felt like an add-on, but...
(We then return to Coraline. We are shown the scene with Wybie's Other World counterpart.)
NC (vo): ...having another version of him in the Other World – even though it's technically not him – weirdly fleshes him out more. At the very least, we learn more about Coraline's thoughts about him when we see her reactions to what constantly happens to him.
NC: Fanning is also perfect in this role.
NC (vo): I'll be honest. As a child actress, I always found her a little off. (We are shown scenes of Fanning as Ray in Uptown Girls and as Fern in Charlotte's Web.) I can't say she's bad, but her performance has always felt a little more Hollywood than genuine. And for the roles she chose, sometimes that could be a little distracting. (We are shown a still from My Neighbor Totoro and the cover for Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch.) But I thought she had mad talent as a voice actress.
(We then return to Coraline.)
NC (vo): For whatever reason, her inflections really work well in the animated realm. She finds a believability and likability – even when she has to act very bratty.
(We go to the scene where Coraline is looking out from the kitchen window. She puts seed packets on the windowsill. Coraline tries talking to her mother, who is pounding away at her laptop and not even paying the slightest attention to her daughter.)
Coraline: I almost fell down a well yesterday, Mom.
Melanie: Uh huh.
Coraline: I would have died.
Melanie: That's nice.
NC: The stop-motion – big surprise – is also crazy impressive.
(Scenes from the trailer for the stop-motion film Wendell & Wild are shown.)
NC (vo): Selick has gotten so good, his stop-motion is almost as smooth as CGI.
(We then return to Coraline.)
NC (vo): But it is cool seeing this in-between realm of more grand in detail than Nightmare or James, but just a little choppy so you can still tell it's stop-motion.
NC: Also, in my opinion, this is the first Selick film that really gets creative with the shots.
(We are shown a few scenes from The Nightmare Before Christmas.)
NC (vo): Don't get me wrong. Nightmare looks great and was a game changer, but a lot of the camera angles were very standard and straightforward.
NC (vo): These angles will look amazing in animation or live action. It really feels like they could explore the camera placement as opposed to be limited by it.
(Coraline scratches an irritating rash that has broken out on her palm, since it turns out the stick she was using as a dowsing rod was poison oak.)
Coraline: You and Dad get paid to write about plants...and you hate dirt.
Melanie: (impatient) Coraline, I don't have time for you right now.
NC (vo): I'll admit, at first I was thrown off by how dismissive and even mean sometimes the parents could be, but...
NC: As I get older, I understand a bit more.
NC (vo): In most movies, they would be workaholics and they'd be the ones who'd have to change, but they're clearly at a busy time in their lives. If you pay attention to the little details, you notice they're moving while still having to work, nothing is unpacked, they've got circles under their eyes, they're recovering from an accident, and Coraline is being a typical little shit like any kid at that age would.
(Coraline makes the door squeak to get her father's attention away from his computer.)
Charles: Count all the doors and windows and write that down. List everything blue! (begging) Just...let me work.
NC (vo): All things considered, it's kind of amazing they're as put together as they are in this flick. They're just not the... (an image of Donna Lou Who from The Grinch pops up) ...overly put together parents we see in so many other animated movies... (an image of Maleficent and Mal from Descendants pops up) ...or overly bad. They've just got a lot going on.
NC: Also, I knew I was gonna love this character when she entered a room like this.
(Coraline is hanging on the door to her parents' bedroom as it swings open. She is also shown pounding down the stairs and putting a collection of snow globes on the mantel above the fireplace.)
NC (vo): That's such a little detail. They didn't need to animate her doing that, but they did. And it gets across so well how much energy she has pent up, but no proper outlet for it. Like I said, a good chunk of the storytelling is the little touches sprinkled throughout.
Melanie: Some kid left this on the front porch.
(Coraline unwraps a newspaper package her mother has handed to her. Inside is a doll that looks like Coraline, and there's also a note from Wybie saying he found the doll in his grandmother's trunk.)
NC (vo): After finding a doll version of herself, she discovers a Being John Malkovich door that leads to a different world.
(Though it isn't shown in the review, Coraline follows a kangaroo mouse to a small door she found earlier. Where at first there was a brick wall when the door was first unlocked, there is now a passageway behind it. Coraline crawls through the passageway, and finds herself in the Other World – a parallel pocket dimension which resembles her own world but is different from it. And the inhabitants of this realm have buttons for eyes.)
Coraline: Mom?
Other Mother: You're just in time for supper, dear! I'm your Other Mother, silly.
NC: The film is very clever at having the colors...
(We are shown the contrast between the colors of the Other World and those of the real world.)
NC (vo): ...muted in the real world, but in the Other World, they're bright and vibrant, trying to be more appealing to her. What's even more clever is as the world gets more nightmarish, the colors become even more vibrant – aggressively vibrant – to where it almost hurts your eyes to look at them. It would've been so easy to have everything go darker and gray as the world gets scarier, but sticking to this route is much more consistent with how it started out.
Coraline: My father can't play piano.
Other Father: No need to.
(The piano opens up, and a pair of gloves come out.)
NC (vo): This is Coraline's Other Mother and Other Father, who love giving her the perfect world and perfect family she always desired – in the way every kid imagines a perfect family: making everything about the kid.
Other Father: ♪ Making up a song about Coraline. ♪
NC: Random note: that's a They Might Be Giants song.
NC (vo): That's even John Linnell's voice singing it. Originally, the movie was going to be a musical like Selick's other films, but they decided they wanted this one to be a bit more aggressive, so they cut them out.
NC: I understand why they did it, but...I feel like this film would be pretty cool as a musical.
(The cover for the stage musical adaptation of Coraline pops up.)
NC (vo): I guess they did a stage musical down the line, but not with the They Might Be Giants songs. Come on. If Disney can remake everything under the sun with movies, why can't we remake stage shows? Or just this one? Or just make me happy? Just make me happy!
(Coraline is now asleep in bed.)
Other Mother and Other Father: See you soon...
NC (vo): Coraline returns home and finds the little door is all bricked up. Of course, her parents think she only dreamed the adventure, and they encourage her to go bug the neighbors – one of them being a Russian animal trainer named (Sergei) Bobinsky, played by Ian McShane.
Bobinsky: Here. Have beet. Make you strong.
NC: Weird fact: that Russian medal... (close up on Bobinsky's medal) ...is actually based on a real medal given to people who helped clean up during the Chernobyl power plant disaster. I guess that explains his weird complexion. Again, a lot of little details in this.
Bobinsky: Caroline! Подожди! Wait!
(Bobinsky leaps off the balcony.)
Coraline: (looking up) No!!!
(Coraline squats low to the ground, holding a pair of gardening shears. Bobinsky lands above her, the shears very close to his crotch.)
NC: Man, he almost went from Father Russia to Mother Russia there for a second!
Bobinsky: The mice...asked me to give you message. Do not go through little door.
NC (vo): I like the neighbors do help with some of the supernatural elements and aren't just comic relief – like when Coraline visits two actresses, played by Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders. They're called Miss (April) Spink and Miss (Miriam) Forcible. Christ, aren't those some names!
NC: Speaking of names, boy, this movie...
(We are shown framed posters of two of the ladies’ burlesque performances, entitled "Julius Sees-Her" and "King Leer".)
NC (vo): ...really wants to earn its PG rating, doesn't it?
(Coraline glances at a bookshelf. On the shelves are Scottish Terriers wearing halos and robes with golden angel wings.)
Coraline: (alarmed) Are those dogs...real?
Miss Spink: Couldn't bear to part with them...so we had them stuffed.
NC: (repulsed) I could never do that to my pets! Using their bones...
(An altered version of the Jurassic Park logo appears, with a cat skeleton in place of the Tyrannosaur skeleton and the text "STARRING CHAPLIN'S ADORABLE CORPSE" underneath.)
NC (vo): ...to mimic movie posters is more than enough.
(We briefly cut to Chaplin.)
Chaplin: (voiced by Doug) Oh, boy! Posthumous modeling!
(We then return to Coraline, where Miss Spink and Miss Forcible are using divination to foretell what lies ahead for Coraline. The tea leaves form a clawed hand.)
NC (vo): They (Miss Spink and Miss Forcible) read her future and see – what a shocker – she's in great danger, as one of them sees a hand that makes... (one scene shows the sinister hand formed from lightning) ...quite a few appearances in this, actually.
Miss Forcible: (holding the cup upside down) I see a giraffe.
Miss Spink: Giraffes don't just fall from the sky, Miriam.
NC (vo): This is a weird criticism, but I'm actually shocked they don't work in a giraffe falling from the sky in this.
NC: Tell me they can figure out a way to do it!
(In the Other World, Coraline is standing in a garden, where Other Father is riding a mechanical mantis and planting seeds that instantaneously blossom.)
NC (vo): Coraline goes back to the Other World, which is even more lovely than she remembered last time.
(It is shown that the flowers form a portrait of Coraline.)
Coraline: I can't believe you did this!
Other Father: Mother said you'd like it!
NC (vo): I hate to admit I never noticed that, in the real world, the garden is shaped like the Other Mother's face. Man, I thought...
(The information sign for the Arnold Schwarzenegger Museum in Thal, Austria is shown.)
NC (vo): ...the Schwarzenegger Museum was pushing it, trying to shape the town like his head!
(Other Mother opens the front door, and in walks Other Wybie. Unlike his real world counterpart, Other Wybie is much cleaner, has better posture, and is apparently mute.)
Other Mother: I thought you'd like him more if he spoke a little less. So I fixed him.
Coraline: I like it.
NC (vo): And boys can't talk in this world? All that's missing is... (images of the following are shown) ...a horse bringing a mini spa and a copy of the Barbie movie and this would be every girl's utopia! Also, am I crazy, or...
(The camera zooms in on three silhouetted pictures hanging on the wall.)
NC (vo): ...is that foreshadowing... (a picture of three ghostly children pops up) ...these three later?
(Though it isn't shown in the review, Coraline and Other Wybie enter Other Bobinsky's flat. Inside is a miniature circus tent, along with a ferris wheel featuring a mechanical chicken that makes popcorn, and two rows of cannons that shoot cotton candy. Coraline and Other Wybie crawl inside the big top.)
Other Bobinsky: (on loudspeaker) Jumping Mouse Circus!
(A little blue blimp circles around and takes a nosedive towards the center of the circus ring. It bursts open, and out jump kangaroo mice dressed in little red uniforms. The mice put on a most amazing performance, even spelling out Coraline's name.)
NC (vo): The neighbors seem better too, as Bobinsky's mice put on maybe the weirdest moving animation in the movie. And the actresses... (Other Miss Spink and Other Miss Forcible) ...are still pretty nightmare fuel-ish.
(Coraline enters what appears to be an enormous theater. Sitting in the many rows of seats are Scottish Terriers with button eyes. NC is creeped out.)
NC: So I'm not going to lie. I don't like... (a photo of a Scottish Terrier is shown) ...how these dogs look in real life. So the idea of... (the dog audience is shown again) ...an entire audience of them looking at me smiling is kind of like the Eyes Wide Shut ball... (the masked ballroom scene from Eyes Wide Shut is shown) ...all looking at me! It's eleven herbs and spices of uncomfortable!
(We then return to Coraline. Other Miss Spink and Other Miss Forcible are performing a seaside mermaid theatrical act on stage, with all the props being rigged by more Scottish Terriers.)
Other Miss Forcible: ♪ A big-bottomed sea witch... ♪
NC (vo): Okay, I take it back. This is all those things I said one sentence ago!
Other Miss Forcible: ♪ To present an alluring display. ♪
NC: (disturbed) I should point out this is one of the first stop-motion films to be shot in 3D.
NC (vo): And while a lot of it did look amazing in the theater, this was like a big screen version of... (a picture of Lorraine Massey pops up) that old lady from The Shining, but all you saw was... (the camera moves in on her breasts, which are censored by buttons) ...a close-up of her flabbergasters! ‘Twas unpleasant!
(It's not shown in the review, but Other Spink and Other Forcible are revealed to be wearing fat suits, which they unzip. They look much younger and prettier, and are dressed like acrobats. They perform a trapeze artistry, even roping Coraline into the act, and everyone in the audience – including Other Wybie, who is sitting in the front row – applauds. What is shown, though, is this scene...where Coraline meets the black cat in the Other World.)
Coraline: You must be the Other Cat.
Cat: I'm not the other anything. I'm me.
NC (vo): It looks like the cat that keeps looking at Coraline in the real world can talk in this world. And because this film would feel weird without Keith David in it – Keith David plays him.
Cat: (dryly) You're clearly the expert on these things. I'm just a big fat wuss puss.
(A clip of Other Miss Forcible is shown again.)
NC: No, that's what we saw a second ago.
NC (vo): He (the cat) tells her this place is dangerous, and that it's literally too good to be true.
Cat: You probably think this world is a dream come true. But you're wrong.
NC (vo): (as cat) Don't believe false promises! (An article about Jordan Peele pitching a film adaptation of Disney's TV series Gargoyles pops up.) Jordan Peele's been promising me this for years, and I never got a green light!
(We return to NC, where an image of Keith David as Otis Haywood Sr. in the 2022 film Nope pops up.)
NC: A cameo in Nope isn't enough, Peele!
(And so we go to a commercial break and the sponsor. Afterwards, we return...)
NC (vo): Back in the real world, Coraline has to go shopping for a school uniform when she finds a pair of colorful gloves. She shows them off to her mother, who instantly tells her to put them back.
Coraline: My Other Mother would get them.
Melanie: Maybe she should buy all your clothes.
NC: Actually, on that note. I have to keep reminding myself... (images of Melanie and the Beldam pop up) ...these two are voiced by the same actress.
NC (vo): I know it sounds obvious, as Hatcher doesn't change her voice at all. But the personalities are so different and go through so many radically different changes that I have no problem separating them as different people.
Melanie: Look, Coraline. (sighs) If things go well today, I promise I'll make it up.
The Beldam: (flatly) You know I love you. So...where are they?
NC (vo): With that said, it's time to have the button talk.
(Coraline is presented with a pair of buttons – which, as it turns out, are for sewing into her eyes in exchange for remaining in the Other World.)
Coraline: NO WAY! YOU'RE NOT SEWING BUTTONS IN MY EYES!
NC: Aw, c’mon! You haven't even heard our plans for sewing other parts of the body! (A picture of John Harvey Kellogg pops up.) Uncle Kellogg would be so proud.
NC (vo): We get, in my opinion, two of the creepiest parts of the movie. One is when a picture of her friends ask where her button eyes are.
(We go to a photo of Coraline's old friends – who now have buttons where their eyes had been once.)
Photo Friends: Hey!
Photo Friend 1: Where's yer buttons, yuper?
Photo Friend 2: You wanna stay, don'tcha?
(Coraline puts the photo in a toy chest.)
NC (vo): They try to sound so normal and so matter-of-fact about it, it's weirdly chilling. The other is when Coraline's (Other) Father starts falling apart and accidentally tells her the truth.
Other Father: Her strength is our strength.
(The piano opens up, and the gloves come out, shushing Other Father.)
NC: Those might be the scariest white gloves I've ever seen since Cat in the Hat movie!
(We then return to Coraline. Coraline is walking along with the cat, and as she does so, she literally ends up walking to the brink of nothingness.)
NC (vo): Coraline discovers the illusion only goes so far, as the world literally goes into a circle the more she tries to walk away from it. A good visual showing no matter how much she tries to dodge her problems, she'll always end up back to them.
Coraline: Why does she want me?
Cat: She wants something to love, I think. Something that isn't her.
NC: That's such a simple but also disturbing motivation.
NC (vo): Most villains want power or recognition or acceptance, but the idea of a villain wanting... (an image of Jessica Jones with Kevin "Kilgrave" Thompson pops up) ...to care for someone to the point of forcing that care is so unsettling. It's like keeping somebody sick so you can feel needed.
(We cut to the cat chasing after a kangaroo mouse wearing a red uniform.)
Coraline: Stop! He's one of the circus mice!
(The cat catches the mouse in his jaws and bites down hard, killing it. Coraline gasps.)
NC: On a funny note: When I saw this movie in the theater, I literally heard a kid go... (A whining sound effect is heard as the scene is played once more. The mouse in uniform suddenly changes into a big, ugly rat.) I love mean-spirited kids’ films.
(We then return to Coraline. The Beldam has finally revealed her true self – a figure much taller and skeletally thin.)
NC (vo): The Other Mother finally reveals her true form – which, if you've been watching closely, she sort of was already – and locks Coraline away (in the mirror) until she learns to love her. In the room, she's (Coraline) introduced to the other children she's (the Beldam) manipulated into handing over their eyes.
(Underneath the covers of a bed, Coraline finds three ghostly children with buttons for eyes. They tell the sad story of how they ended up in their current state.)
Tall Ghost Girl: So she lured us away with treasures...
Ghost Boy: And treats...
Sweet Ghost Girl: Yet, we still wanted more.
NC: These ghost effects are so good.
(The ghostly children move about in a dance macabre, like ghostly fish in water.)
NC (vo): It's such a simple trick, but it gets really trippy results and you really feel sorry for these literal poor souls.
Tall Ghost Girl: She locked us here.
Ghost Children: (in unison) And ate up our lives.
NC (vo): It's like if... (a picture of Lock, Shock and Barrel from The Nightmare Before Christmas pops up) ...Lock, Shock and Barrel were done by an A24 movie.
(Two hands reach through the mirror from behind Coraline and pull her out.)
NC (vo): But Other Wybie saves her and shows er the way out. When she gets back home, though, her parents are suddenly gone.
Coraline: Oh, Mom's groceries!
(The bag tips over, showing the food is rotten and has attracted fruit flies. Coraline is disgusted.)
NC: Well, somebody went to Whole Foods.
NC (vo): She tries to tell the real Wybie what's going on – who, of course, doesn't believe her – but something about his reaction seems funnier than other movies that have similar moments like this.
Coraline: Don't believe me? You can ask the cat! (Coraline throws one of her boots at Wybie to get his attention back.) You're not listening to me!
Wybie: That's ’cuz...you're crazy!
(Coraline throws her other boot at Wybie as he runs away.)
NC: Saying the insult getting ready to run away seems so specifically kiddish.
(Miss Spink and Miss Forcible show Coraline an adder stone they've hidden away in a bowl of old candy. She isn't sure how it'll be able to help.)
NC (vo): The actresses believe her, though, and give her a viewfinder that seems nonsensical in the real world but will eventually help her out in the Other World.
(Coraline is shown gazing through the adder stone. Everything appears in blurred shades of gray. An image of an alien from John Carpenter's They Live is Photoshopped in.)
NC (vo): We get both a really sad but also really funny scene where Coraline makes imitation parents so she doesn't feel alone.
Coraline: Good night, Mom. Good night, Dad.
(She kisses them both.)
NC: (as Coraline) Yet, somehow you still ignore me less than my real parents.
(Coraline discovers Melanie and Charles' reflections in the mirror. They're trapped inside one of the snowglobes, shivering from the coldness. Melanie even writes a message for help.)
NC (vo): She figures out they're in the Other World, though, so she finally decides to toughen up and save them.
(Coraline gathers her collecting bag, puts on her gear from the closet, and gathers a few essential items she might need. The scene is followed by one from Evil Dead II where Ash is shown having his chainsaw hand assembled before preparing for battle. Coraline and the cat enter the passageway to the Other World.)
NC (vo): (as Ash) Let's head into that wall-gina and carve ourselves a witch.
(Coraline has met up once again with the Beldam and is urging herself to be brave.)
NC (vo): But – second quest, Link – as the Other Mother loves playing games. And Coraline says if she can find her parents and the eyes of the ghost children, they can go free. If not, she'll hand herself over.
Beldam: In each of three wonders I've made just for you, a ghost's eye is lost in plain sight.
NC: So this is one of the few parts of the movie that does drag a touch.
(We are shown scenes of Coraline searing for the eyes of the ghost children – and the world and its button-eyed inhabitants taking on more unpleasant appearances.)
NC (vo): The scenes are well done, but because there's four locations to find the eyes and parents in, it kind of feels like there's four climaxes – which we know these two... (Other Miss Spink and Other Miss Forcible) ...wouldn't mind. We're already getting ready for the story to start wrapping up, and this feels a little drawn out.
NC: With that said, it does go quickly.
NC (vo): It takes about ten minutes to get to the final confrontation. We get a messed-up character death with Other Wybie literally being skinned, and it is fun going back and forth seeing how everything she enjoyed before is transformed. Though, I don't care if you turn those dogs into demon bats. It's still not as scary as an audience of them just smiling at you!
(We cut to the scene where Coraline is holding each of the objects containing the ghost eyes. One of the ghost children is communicating to her.)
Sweet Ghost Girl: Be clever, miss. Even if you win, she'll never let you go!
(The Beldam is now in her final form – a withered spider-like creature with cracked porcelain skin, sewing needles for hands, and four spindly metal arachnoid legs.)
NC (vo): Once she finds all the eyes and her parents, she realizes the Other Mother won't let her go. Most scenes like this require the main character to utilize some abstract thinking or a clever callback, but instead, she (Coraline) just randomly throws the cat at her (the Beldam).
(The cat attacks the Beldam with his claws and teeth, knocking off her button eyes in the process.)
NC: I love that something that basically takes no thought ultimately saves the day!
NC (vo): She's not out of the woods yet, though, as the world transforms into a giant web. Once again, the animation is so smooth here, it's hard to believe it's stop-motion. Also, this hallway edging closer and closer is pretty damn freaky.
(Coraline is shown scrambling down the tunnel as it grows shorter behind her. She just barely makes it out.)
Eric: (audio) Shut that door!
(Coraline locks the real world door.)
NC (vo): The parents are returned home, but have no memory of being abducted or having Little Caesar breadstick seasoning on their heads. But the mother (Melanie) buys her the gloves from the store. I guess that's a decent reward for saving your folks from a demon monster.
(Coraline has a dream in which she is met by the ghost children from before. They now resemble shimmering metallic angels.)
Sweet Ghost Girl: It's a fine, fine thing you did for us, miss.
NC (vo): The ghosts appear to her in a dream, though, saying even though their spirits are free, the danger isn't over.
Tall Ghost Girl: You're in terrible danger, girl!
Ghost Boy: It's the key, miss. There's only one, and the Beldam will find it.
(We return to NC. A still of Aidan from The Ring pops up.)
NC: (as Aidan) Don't you understand, Rachel? She never sleeps.
(The Beldam's dismembered hand manages to escape, and Coraline is unaware that the hand is stalking her as she goes to pry open the well from earlier.)
NC (vo): Yep, fake-out ending. She has to get rid of the key. And again, while this is pretty short...
NC: ...it's also pretty pointless.
(We are shown the struggle between Coraline and the dismembered hand as she tries to dispose of the black button key used to unlock the door to the Other World.)
NC (vo): I've seen this movie maybe a dozen times, and I always forget this ending is in here. Is there even that big a threat? I mean – what, is the hand actually going to drag her all the way from outside to the door? Nothing would get in the way during that walk.
(At that moment, Wybie comes speeding down on his bike.)
Wybie: YAHHHHH!!!!
NC (vo): Yeah, the only thing it does is give Wybie something to do – which, for a character that surprisingly wasn't feeling like an add-on, suddenly feels like an add-on here.
(Wybie smashes the crawling needle hand with a rock. It isn't shown in the review, but together, Wybie and Coraline wrap a blanket around the rock, tie it up with the key on the string, and drop it down the well.)
Wybie: I'm really sorry I didn't believe you about all this...evil stuff.
NC (vo): I guess it's good they (Wybie and Coraline) bond over something, as the last time we saw them, they were at their wits' end. But they also patch things up later when it's revealed that one of the ghost kids was actually his grandma's (Mrs. Lovat's) missing sister. So I don't know – I feel like that would've been enough. But whatever. Scary movie tropes, I guess. (A shot of the "Greater Good" scene from Hot Fuzz pops up.) And nobody goes against the tropes.
Miss Forcible: Oh, look, April. Pink Ladies!
NC (vo): I like as things start to calm down, more color slips its way into the real world, with everybody coming together to work in the garden. Again, it's not perfect, but you feel the effort.
Melanie: (skeptical) You were right, Coraline. I really hate dirt, but the tulips look nice.
NC: That's the closest to functional family you'll get in this movie. Which is... (the cover of the book "The Duggars: 20 and Counting" pops up next to NC) ...honestly closer than other families.
(Footage from the film plays as NC prepares to give his closing thoughts.)
NC (vo): And that was Coraline. I absolutely loved it back then, and I absolutely love it now. The stop-motion is still a marvel all these years later, the characters still feel genuine and real, and while it has clear callbacks to other dark and surreal kids’ stories, it still has enough originality to be its own thing. I really like we're getting more and more kids’ films that are legit trying to be more disturbing and intense, and several of them are coming from Laika Studios. I think Laika is becoming to Halloween in stop-motion... (a still of Hermey and Rudolph pops up) ...what Rankin-Bass has become to Christmas in stop-motion. I've always felt kids can handle more than we give them credit for, and if something looks too scary, they can usually pick up on it and know when to stop. Looking at the promotional material for this film, though... (the promotional poster for Coraline pops up) ...isn't this the movie you thought you would get as a kid? Something you could follow and understand, but would also be pretty dark and creepy? Coraline doesn't lie or water down what it is, and I think that's why both kids and adults love it so much. It gives you all that imaginative wonder, but doesn't skimp out on the harsh moments or smart writing. It's a perfect Halloween movie to give your kids nightmares, but they'll be the best nightmares they ever had.
NC: And you know what? This movie taught me a lesson, too.
(He gets up from his chair and walks out of the room. Satan, Other Uncle Lies and Other Aunt Despair are still there.)
NC: I shouldn't have to go to another realm to get another studio. I'm going back to the real world to wait for the real studio to be done there.
Other Aunt Despair: Well, have I got good news for you...
(Aunt Despair and Uncle Lies take off their button eyes.)
Aunt Despair: You're already there!
NC: (confused) What?
Uncle Lies: Yep, this is all the same place. We just convinced everyone you know to trick you.
Aunt Despair: We were bored.
NC: (to Satan) And you helped out with all this?
Satan: I haven't been in an episode in a while.
NC: Ya know what? Fine. At least you fixed the studio.
Aunt Despair: Well...
NC: Oh, now what?
(They see what looks like an unrealeased caramel apple from the Trash Pack toy line, which is constantly emitting a most annoying sound.)
NC: What the hell is that???
Aunt Despair: I don't know. Somehow it popped up when we fixed the place.
NC: (to Satan) Can't you do anything about it?
Satan: Me? I don't even know what it is.
(The Trash Pack reject continues to float and make odd noises.)
NC: Fine. We'll just put up with it for the time being.
(Satan and Aunt Despair leave.)
NC: Well, at least we'll be filming the rest of Nostalgia-Ween back at the studio.
(NC looks up again at the demented Trash Pack figure.)
NC: God, I miss my home.
Channel Awesome tagline: Cat: I'm just a big fat wuss puss.
(The credits roll.)