'Coraline': Why You Should Be Excited ... and a Little Bit Scared 

By Martha Brockenbrough
MSN Cinemama

While all the bloopy and love-swoggled teens are getting attention for making "Twilight" the pop culture phenomenon of 2008, there's another dark tale on the horizon that could be an even bigger deal.

I'm talking about "Coraline," which is set to open in February.

Why's it a big deal? Let me count the ways.

First, it's based on the book by Neil Gaiman, who writes stories for intellectuals who haven't lost their sense of fun. The "Twilight" author, Stephenie Meyer, might have the louder fans, but Gaiman's are at least as devoted. "Coraline" is his first novel for kids, though he has another, "The Graveyard Book," due out in a few weeks (and which just got a smashing write-up by the influential Betsy Bird at her School Library Journal blog).

The movie is also a big deal because it's directed by Henry Selick, who directed "The Nightmare Before Christmas," the first feature-length stop-motion movie by a major studio (though Tim Burton tends to get credit for that because he inserted his name in the title).

What's more, "Coraline" is in 3-D. Take the coolness of stop-motion animation, enhance it with smart modern materials and techniques, and make it break the traditional barriers of the screen, and you have the makings of a thrilling movie experience.

It also has a strong cast. Dakota Fanning plays Coraline, the blue-haired heroine. Teri Hatcher plays her mother. And John Hodgman, a popular "Daily Show" personality, plays the father. Dakota Fanning alone makes the movie worth seeing; Hodgman is icing on the cake.

And finally, it's a big deal because it's easily one of the scariest children's books imaginable. The villain is a witch who wants to steal a child's soul and sew buttons in her eye sockets. This means parents face a decision: Do you take your 5-year-old to see a really amazing 3-D animated movie? Or do you get a baby sitter and just go yourself?

I recently visited the set of "Coraline," and I think I can help answer that question -- and give Gaiman fans new and old the coals they need to keep their fires burning until February finally rolls around.

What's the story about, and who's it for?

Gaiman, a hugely prolific writer who's won dozens of awards, might be most famous for "The Sandman," the first comic book series ever to win a literary award (the 1991 World Fantasy Award). Another of his books, "Stardust," appeared on the big screen last year, starring Michelle Pfeiffer as a youth-seeking (and eating) witch and Robert De Niro as a cross-dressing pirate. And in our house, the favorite Gaiman work is "The Wolves in the Walls," a picture book about a family driven out of their house by a pack of wolves. The ending has a smart and funny twist.

With "Coraline," he creates the sort of tale that could haunt a reader for life -- for better or for worse. When it begins, 12-year-old Coraline has moved into a new house. She's bored and lonely, her parents are far too busy to keep her company, and the upstairs neighbors are on the strange side. When she discovers a mysterious door that leads to nowhere -- until it doesn't -- she has no idea her life is about to change.

But we do, because we have read fantasies before, and whenever there's a door, a mysterious wardrobe, a rabbit hole or a locked garden gate, we know that whatever is on the other side is going to be fantastic.

Coraline's new world seems amazing -- at first. Her other parents pay attention to her. The house is more beautiful. The food tastes better. There's just one problem: People have black buttons instead of eyes. And if Coraline wants to stay, she has to swap her eyes, too.

Things get worse from there. Ultimately, though, Coraline learns that everyday life is more beautiful than she'd ever imagined, and that the life she'd dreamed of had some serious drawbacks.

I was talking recently with a second-grade teacher about the book. He confessed he'd made the mistake of reading it to his 7- and 8-year-old students. Apparently, there was weeping. And it wouldn't surprise me if some of those little kids wanted to switch from buttons to Velcro closures.

This is a really scary story, and it's not going to be less scary when the shiny black button eyes are 6 feet high. Even Neil Gaiman, in a promotional video, acknowledges the spooky aspect of it. The movie would give people nightmares if it weren't animated, he said. Even he got the creeps at times -- and he's the author. That, of course, was his intent.

"If people take away terror and joy in roughly equal doses," he said, "I will be happy."

So, before you take your kids, you might read the book with them, and see if they will find the terror and joy balance that would delight Gaiman. Really little children belong at home, away from the sewing kit.