History WesternAnimation / Coraline

[[quoteright:250: Trust me, sometimes LightIsNotGood when you go down the rabbit hole.]]

* JacobMarleyWarning: The three ghost children give this to Coraline when she first sees them behind the mirror.

->''She wants something to love, I think. Something that isn't her... Or maybe she'd just love something to eat.''

->''Evil witch! I'm not scared!''

* ParallelPornTitles: The posters for the burlesque versions of {{Shakespeare}} plays in the actresses' apartment: ''Julius '''Sees-Her''' '', ''King '''LEER''''', etc.

** Funnily enough, Coraline herself embodies both onis in different mediums: British book!Coraline is more stoic, mature and cerebral while American Movie!Coraline is more belligerent and snarky.

* VillainousBreakdown: The Other Mother's GlamourFailure happens gradually throughout the whole film, but she completely loses it when [spoilers: Coraline sees through her tricks and gets the cat to claw out the Other Mother's eyes,]] complete with a heaping helping of {{Hypocrisy}}.

* VillainousBreakdown: The Other Mother's GlamourFailure happens gradually throughout the whole film, but she completely loses it when [spoiler: Coraline sees through her tricks and gets the cat to claw out the Other Mother's eyes,]] complete with a heaping helping of {{Hypocrisy.}}

* CrazyEnoughToWork: No one would be crazy enough to work with an unheard-of small studio to make a stop-motion adaptation of a moderately popular children's book and releasing it at the time of the year where most people are anticipating lots of [[Film/{{Avatar}} big-budget]] [[Film/StarTrek blockbusters]] backed by [[Film/{{Up}} big-name studios]] and [[InglouriousBasterds directors]], right?

* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''TheNightmareBeforeChristmas''. As well as Henry Selick's previous ''JamesAndTheGiantPeach'' adaptation. And ''MirrorMask''.

Coraline Jones moves from Pontiac, Michigan with her mother and father to the Pink Palace Apartments in Ashland, Oregon: an old house subdivided into three residences. With her parents frantically working on a gardening catalog in order to make ends meet and paying little attention to her, Coraline begins to feel neglected. While exploring the house, she discovers a small door with a brick wall behind it. That night, she is awoken by a mouse in her room, which she chases to the small door. She opens it, but instead of a brick wall, she finds a long, glowing passage, leading to another world.

At the other end, Coraline finds herself in the "Other World", which is inhabited by her "Other Mother" and "Other Father", who are perfect, idealized doubles of her real parents, except with black buttons in place of their eyes, and they pay close attention to Coraline. After enjoying a home-cooked meal made by the Other Mother, she spends the night in the Other World and awakens back in her bed in the real world.

Coraline continues to go to the Other World at night and is entertained by the various delights present, including idealized versions of her neighbors, a garden built in her image, and delicious food. Coraline begins to prefer the Other World to her real one, finding that she is receiving the love and attention from her other parents she is lacking at home. Eventually, the Other Mother offers to let Coraline stay in their world forever, on one condition:

* CatsAreSuperior: Bingo, black cat. Snarky, deadpan, aloof, insulting, arrogant - but willing to help in Coraline's time of need and vital to her confrontation with the Other Mother.

* FanDisservice:

** Not to mention the veeery subtle split-second sign of the Other Father's stitches coming loose in the piano scene.

* HeroicSacrifice:

** Coraline's mother.

** Thrown for a violent loop with the final fate of [[spoiler:the poor, sweet Other Wybie]].

* {{Leitmotif}}:
** Arguably "Dreaming" for the Other world in general. The Other Mother even hums it.

** Coraline is as thin as a rod, but many other characters, like her father and Ms. Spink, are short and squat.

* NonHumanSidekick:

* ShoutOut:

* TrailersAlwaysSpoil:

*** It's just a passing gag, but how many people are going to get "[[RichardIII My kingdom for a horse!]]"

*** [[YourMIleageMayVary Though some may consider]] the Other Wybie to be the TokenGoodTeammate.

* RedOniBlueOni: Coraline is obviously associated with [[YouGottaHaveBlueHair blue]], while the Other Mother is detailed in [[BlackWidow red and black]], much like [[Literature/AliceInWonderland Alice and the Red Queen]], however the corresponding temperaments are [[YourMileageMayVary debatable]].

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: The movie was originally planned as a musical with 10 songs written by TheyMightBeGiants, but this idea was discarded in favor of a more conventional movie, although one of their songs (the Other Father's number) does remain in the film, and the band has said they will release the other songs written for the movie on other projects ("Careful What You Pack", for example, wound up on their 2007 album ''The Else'').

It's been well received by critics and moviegoers alike, and - despite being a source of HighOctaneNightmareFuel - is still okay for the braver kids. It's been hailed as a throwback to [[TheEighties 1980s]] fantasy films like ''ReturnToOz'', ''TheDarkCrystal'', and ''Film/{{Labyrinth}}'', and quite a few have called it the best 3-D movie they've seen. It also may be one of the few instances, if not the only one, where people claim the movie is better than the book it's based upon.

The movie is intentionally less WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids than the book, although YourMileageMayVary.

Is it premature to assign it classic status?

* ChekhovsGun: [[spoiler:The eyes of the three ghost children]] and arguably [[spoiler:the piano's hands.]]

** Don't forget about the green stone near the end.
** And the Other Mother's chicken oven mitt, which was repurposed by [[spoiler:the other Wybie to hide his disfigured GlasgowSmile.]]

** Almost certainly that misleading was done on purpose, in an effort to get Burton fans to come see it.
*** [[TropesAreNotBad And it worked]].

* CreepyChild: [[spoiler:The Ghost Children. Especially the one with her mouth frozen open in an expression of perpetual horror. Although they're actually quite nice.]]

* EyeScream: "Black is traditional... But if you'd prefer pink... or vermilion... or chartreuse... Though you might make me jealous!"
** The fact that there's a ''needle'' next to the buttons makes it that much worse...

* FanDisservice: The beginning half of the other Spink and Forcible's stage play... ugh. Both of the old women are practically naked, with only their nipples and crotch covered up. No amount of BrainBleach will ever clear that out of your mind.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: The words in the Other Father's song become much more sinister and foreboding once you find out [[spoiler:they want to put buttons in her eyes.]]

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Combined with the FanDisservice and GagBoobs above. Apparently, it's okay to show a naked old lady as long as there's paint to cover her up.
** And how the heck did they allow a friggin' ''tits vs. ass argument, [[BawdySong in song]], in a PG film?!''

*** RefugeInAudacity
*** Did anyone forget the "our mother's golden... chicken breast!" or "I have a writer's rash, right on my... ''([[CurseCutShort mother clears throat to stop father from talking]])''" or the [[GroinAttack near-castration]] of Mr. Bobinsky, etc. etc. etc...

* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:The Other Father.]]

* HotMom: Coraline's mother. The Other Mother as well [[spoiler:at least until her transformation.]]

* InfantImmortality: Thrown for a violent loop with the final fate of [[spoiler:the poor, sweet Other Wybie]]. Implied aversion with the [[spoiler:ghost children.]]

-->Coraline suddenly gets grabbed by the Other Spink and Forcible monster.\\
A more mild one when Coraline is approaching the real world Spink and Forcible's apartment and the dogs jump up suddenly, complete with their "infernal yapping."

* {{Leitmotif}}: Arguably "Dreaming" for the Other world in general. The Other Mother even hums it. Also, Coraline has one in the form of "Exploration", and Wybie has two.
* LethalChef: Although he never poisons anyone, Coraline's father's cooking is AWFUL.

* LittleMissSnarker: Guess who? [[spoiler:Coraline]].

* MysteriousAnimalSenses: The Cat was able to talk to Other Wybie, even though he couldn't speak. He even told Coraline that cats have far superior senses than humans. At which the GenreSavvy Coraline immediately rolled her eyes. There's also his ability to get between worlds on his own, which is pretty impressive.
* MyNameIsNotDurwood: In the real world, all the neighbors call the titular girl "Caroline", which she hates. One of the more slight diferences of the Other World is that everybody spells her name correctly.

* NoodleIncident: Coraline's mother mentions a car accident that caused the family to move.
* NoodlePeople: Coraline is as thin as a rod, but many other characters, like her father and Ms. Spink, are short and squat. Mr. Bobinsky is a borderline example - he's round and rotund, but with spidery legs.

* NonHumanSidekick: The Other Wybie.
** [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman Arguably]].
** The cat fills this role as well, especially after Other Wybie [[spoiler:meets his sad fate.]]

* OhCrap: ''"Black is traditional."''

* ParallelPornTitles: Or if not porn, some kind of erotic {{Shakespeare}} knockoffs: The posters in the actresses' apartment show ''Julius '''Sees-Her''' ''and ''King '''LEER'''''.
** They were most likely burlesque theater performers (themed exotic dancer) in their younger days. So those old posters were from their old acts.

* PunchClockVillain: [[spoiler:Great part of The Other Mother's minions like The Other Wybie and the Other Father.]]

** What's even more incredible is that many of those people are ''parents''. ParentalFavoritism, much?
*** Probably they were just comparing it to the book, where Coraline is a loner, softspoken, thoughtful type, and perhaps most significantly, younger.

* RuleOfThree: Coraline goes to the other world several times, and [[spoiler:it is on her ''third'' trip that other mother's full intentions are revealed.]]

*** "One... two... '''''THREEEEE!'''''".
*** Spink and Forcible have three live dogs, and their stuffed dogs are in rows of three.

* ShoutOut: To ''TheNightmareBeforeChristmas'': The pumpkins in the other mother's garden look like the Mayor of Halloweentown, and the tallest of the three Ghost Children resembles Shock. Similarly, when Wybie has his facemask/helmet on, he bears a strong resemblance to Barrel. There also might be one to {{Pixar}}, as one of the Shakespeare players has a baby in a backpack that looks a lot like [[TheIncredibles Jack-Jack]].
** And the ball that the rats were playing with was the one from [[PixarShorts Luxo Jr.]]

* TookALevelInKindness: movie!Coraline. Facing down an [[EyeScream eye-mutilating]] witch tends to do that.

* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: One TV spot for the film shows the other mother giving Coraline [[spoiler:the gift box with the buttons meant for her]]. Another TV spot had [[spoiler:the other father being held up by the evil mantis thing and swiping at Coraline, and had the other Wybie's stitched smile]]. A third featured [[spoiler:Bobinski's rat-clothes slithering around.]]

-->''Evil witch! I'm not scared!''

*** Which then becomes FridgeBrilliance when you realize [[spoiler:his "death" ended with him being pulled back into the pumpkin patch.]]

** When [[spoiler: the other world starts to collapse, for the first time the cat looks genuinely terrified]].

** The Fairy Ring of mushrooms around the abandoned well is a huge ChekhovsGun to anyone who knows the appropriate folklore; to everyone else its just added scenery. ** The stone that Spink and Forcible give Coraline? It's an [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adder_stone adder stone]].

* OneWingedAngel: [[spoiler:Over the course of the movie the Other Mother progressively gets more monstrous. She starts as a copy of Coraline's real mother, then gets [[LeanAndMean thinner, spindlier and overall wicked-looking. By the end of the movie she reveals her true form - a spindly spider-human hybrid with [[CreepyDoll cracked porcelain skin]], metal legs and hands with claws made of sewing needles.]]

* OneWingedAngel

* SleeperHit: When the film came out, stop-motion animation was considered dead and the film was expected to die a quick death at the box office against ''PinkPanther 2'' and the ''MyBloodyValentine'' remake. After a better than expected opening, the film kept on going until finally becoming the highest-grossing stop-motion animated film of all-time.

* CerebusCallBack: Mr Bobinski's circus is one of the things that wows Coraline on her second visit and is the sight of some amusing moments. [[spoiler: When she looks for the second ghost child's eyes she ends up getting attacked by everything in the circus.]] And the cute jumping mice [[spoiler: turn out to be rats in disguise]].

* CloudCuckooLander: Wybie.
** Bobinsky

* FridgeBrilliance: With The Other Mother. Towards the end it's revealed that she's actually a spider, which makes sense in how she lures children to her with food like some real spiders do.

** A possible one, depending on how you take it, is the Other Mother telling Coraline [[spoiler: "It's all made up"]] on her first visit. Yeah, [[spoiler: the Other World certainly seems to be.]]