Synopsis
An adventurous girl walks through a secret door in her new home and discovers a strangely idealized version of her frustrating home, but it has sinister secrets.
Cast
Dakota Fanning…Coraline Jones
Teri Hatcher…Mel Jones / Other Mother / Beldam
Jennifer Saunders…Miss April Spink / Other Spink
Dawn French…Miss Miriam Forcible / Other Forcible
Keith David…The Cat
John Hodgman…Charlie Jones / Other Father
Robert Bailey Jr….Wyborne ‘Wybie’ Lovat
Ian McShane…Mr. Sergei Alexander Bobinsky / Other Bobinsky
Best Character
I love Other Wybie – he’s so cute. He probably doesn’t count as a main character because he doesn’t actually speak but I really love him.
The voice acting in this film is insane though and Dakota Fanning did an incredible job as Coraline. I love her character a lot but it feels too obvious to choose her.
Best Supporting/Obscure Character
The octopus-type toy that says “what’s shaking baby?” when Coraline enters her bedroom in the ‘other world’. I don’t know if that’s what it’s called, but that octopus is hilarious and also kind of creepy.
Favourite Scenes
The opening so iconic and is actually one of my favourites of the entire film. If you haven’t seen it before I will put it below. It’s just the right level of creepy for me and I love it.
The bit where Coraline starts swinging back and forth on the door in her dad’s office, it’s not really a proper scene. But I used to do the same thing when I was a kid. Yes, I was annoying.
Wybies little photoshoot with the slug is hilarious, I always forget about this scene. He’s very weird but I love him.
The jumping mice performance, again, is iconic. I will also include it below as it’s super cute and you need to actually watch it to understand.
Best Quotes/Lines
OTHER DAD: 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. Whoever 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.
This is a crossover with the best musical moment section. It was really hard to choose good quotes from this film as I often base my favourite lines on funny moments and there really aren’t many in this film. This little song is quite funny though.
MR BOBINSKY: My new songs go oompah, oompah, but the jumping mice play only toodle-toot, like that. Is nice but not so much amazing.
Toodle-toot – that’s all.
CORALINE: Ha! Your cat’s not wild. He’s a wuss puss.
WYBIE: What? He hates to get his feet wet. Jeez.
CORALINE: Wuss puss.
The cat is very relatable to be fair, poor little wuss puss.
CORALINE: Grossgusting.
Not a word, but I love it.
OTHER MOTHER/BELDAM: Gosh, I have no idea where your old parents are. Perhaps they’ve grown bored of you and run away to France.
The other mother is an absolute savage and I kind of love her for it. Obviously, she is evil and I am not condoning her actions in the slightest, but the delivery of this line is so funny.
Favourite Outfit
I mean it has to be the yellow raincoat, doesn’t it? It’s the outfit everyone pictures when you mention Coraline. It’s also on the graphic I designed because I love it so much. The little hat she also wears really completes the outfit.
Favourite Setting
I always forget just how gorgeous this film is. Even the parts that are in the normal world that are grey and should be boring are beautiful. I have a lot of love for stop-motion films and I actually think Coraline is my favourite.
The garden in the other world has to be one of the most stunning film settings ever. There’s movement everywhere and the colour palette is so beautiful. Also, the outside shots of the house in the other world are actually insane. Such a gorgeous aesthetic.
Best Musical Moment
I could make a joke and talk about the performance in the theatre, but the score for this film is too beautiful to dishonour it in such a way. My reading playlist is full of TV show and film scores so I definitely need to add the Coraline soundtrack.
Thoughts/Opinions That Don’t Fit Into A Specific Category
The stuffed dogs will always be weird but also somewhat funny. Also speaking of the dogs I love how the theatre audience is just packed with dogs and then later in the film they are bat dogs. Honestly, the dogs are the secret best obscure characters.
The garden at the end looking like Beldam was such a perfect way to end the film. It’s quite a subtle touch, but those are my favourite. I feel really clever when I notice them.
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