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February 9, 2009 by Travis Jonker

Critics Weigh In: Coraline Movie

February 9, 2009 by Travis Jonker   2 comments

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Unlike some other recent children’s lit film adaptations (*cough* City of Ember *cough*), Coraline has actually been on the radar of film viewers for a bit now. Maybe it’s due to the Nightmare Before Christmas-style animation, maybe it’s the popularity of the book – either way, Neil Gaiman’s recent Newbery win could not have provided anything but a nice publicity boost.

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I’m planning on seeing and reviewing the film soon, but here are what the critics are saying. My favorite is the NPR quote:

“This thrilling stop-motion animated adventure is a high point in Selick’s career of creating handcrafted wonderlands of beauty blended with deep, disconcerting creepiness.”
– Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly

“The results are nothing short of magical.”
– Tasha Robinson, The Onion (A.V. Club)

“Coraline lingers in an atmosphere that is creepy, wonderfully strange and full of feeling.”
– A.O. Scott, The New York Times

“Selick puts his real faith not in the gimmickry that Coraline’s audiences will think they’ve shown up for, but in the stronger virtues that they’d likely view as old-fashioned: character, and story, and handmade figures, handmade milkshakes, handmade blades of grass, each one moving utterly persuasively as he and his animators tweak it, frame by frame.”
– Bob Mondello, NPR

“For all its visual delights, however, Coraline remains more an engaging spectacle than a connective drama. That is chiefly because of the writing. Director-writer Henry Selick doesn’t reach for the kind of universality that would enrich the movie.”
– Desson Thomson, Washington Post

Read more reviews at MetaCritic.com.

Watch the Coraline trailer:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO3n67BQvh0]

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About Travis Jonker

Travis Jonker is an elementary school librarian in Michigan. He writes reviews (and the occasional article or two) for School Library Journal and is a member of the 2014 Caldecott committee. You can email Travis at scopenotes@gmail.com, or follow him on Twitter: @100scopenotes.

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Comments

  1. Charlotte says

    February 9, 2009 at 8:47 pm

    Universality???? Me, I like the particular. And what does he mean by “the kind of universality? Is what is universal different depending on circumstance?

  2. Scope Notes says

    February 9, 2009 at 8:55 pm

    That is a bit of a head-scratcher, isn’t it? While most of the reviews I read were very positive, I added that one to show the other side. Apparently, the other side isn’t very clear.

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