15 Years Later, the Adventure of Making ‘Coraline’ Continues (2024)

“Coraline,” the masterful stop-motion debut from Oregon-based Laika, turns 15 this year. It’s currently being honored with a 3D remaster in theaters (also screening in 2D through Fathom). In addition, there’s a bevy of merch, including a new Mondo vinyl soundtrack by Bruno Coulais, a Converse collection, and a partnership with Portland’s Stumptown Coffee.

Which is why “Coraline” director Henry Selick was recently in London promoting the 3D remaster and appearing at the launch of the “Laika: Frame x Frame” exhibition at BFISouthbank. He spoke to IndieWire via Zoom about ushering in the digital stop-motion revolution at Laika in 2009 and creating the iconic rebel with blue hair and yellow raincoat.

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“I had incredible support from Laika and Travis Knight [the studio’s president and artist-turned-director] to pursue exactly what I wanted,” Selick said. “Not that every moment of the film was dictated by myself, but I was able to make the choices and used a lot of ideas from a multitude of people. But when we needed to build a substantial [Orchard] set, we got to build it. When I wanted to do the jumping circus as stop-motion replacement puppets, just like George Pal might’ve done, I got support.”

Selick’s adaptation of the popular Neil Gaiman novel is a cross between “The Wizard of Oz” and “Alice in Wonderland.” It concerns the 11-year-old eponymous social misfit (voiced by Dakota Fanning), who discovers an alternate reality to her dull new home in Oregon behind a secret door that turns into a nightmare.

15 Years Later, the Adventure of Making ‘Coraline’ Continues (3)

“It was the right time for me and for the type of film that it was,” he continued. “It really broke a lot of rules. It was scarier than most animated films, maybe a little more imaginative, or at least more original. So that made a splash.

Released during the digital boom, “Coraline” was both a critical and commercial success (earning Laika the first of five Best Animated Feature Oscar nominations). The movie elevated the tactile, hand-made artistry of the craft, combining stop-motion techniques with digital design and VFX. It offered greater scope and immersion, and benefited from being the first stop-motion feature shot in 3D.

“It was new technology that I was willing to embrace,” said Selick. “Shooting digitally, we were able to store the entire shot, and it was mainly an advantage, although I had to encourage them to keep moving forward and stop looking at what they’ve already done.

“Shooting in 3D was a bit of a challenge,” he continued, “but our director of photography, Pete Kozachik, came up with a brilliant solution using one camera and a little model mover that was very precise. So it would take one frame of the left eye, one frame of the right eye that would shift back and the animator would move to the next iteration of a pose. We used 3D as part of the story, and we used it very carefully.”

Selick was impressed with the remastered 3D in 4K, which offers greater detail and will be a revelation to viewers. “So it’s about putting information back and filling in things that were missing,” he said, “particularly in blown-out whites and muddied-up black areas. So you end up with a more refined version of the film.”

15 Years Later, the Adventure of Making ‘Coraline’ Continues (4)

A new generation of viewers will also be able to better appreciate how the Laika artists pushed the boundaries of cinematic storytelling by scaling up the crafts of puppet making, set building, cinematography, and animation. For example, the traditional puppets crafted from clay, metal armatures, and foam latex were set apart by the creative use of found objects. They were also enhanced by the introduction of rapid prototype 3D printing for easier face replacement and more expressive performance. This innovation earned Laika the Academy’s Sci-Tech Award in 2016.

“I remember seeing a 3D printer for the first time with MartinMeunier, our creature supervisor, while prepping ‘The Life Aquatic’in our San Francisco office,” Selick said. “Martin and I both thought there’s a way to use that to replace the arduous task of hand-sculpting every in-between phase of key expressions on our characters. And, ultimately, when we went to Laika [where Meunier became facial animation supervisor], this very talented young man, Brian McLean, was brought in to work with us, who ended up heading that division. We were able to use it for a lot of the key characters. And I do feel that Coraline became more expressive, but we didn’t keep it in the computer. I worked with 2D animators for all the expressions ’cause I love what a 2D animator will do way more than what a computer rig can do.”

To further honor the film’s 15th anniversary, Laika made the first stop-motion digital magazine cover with Empire Magazine as a link between Coraline and Prue, star of the studio’s sixth stop-motion feature, “Wildwood” (2025). Based on the YA fantasy by Colin Meloy of The Decemberists, “Wildwood” is directed by Knight and is the first Laika film set in its hometown of Portland. It concerns 13-year-old Prue (voiced by Peyton Elizabeth Lee) on a quest to find her younger brother in the eponymous forest. A teaser for “Wildwood” is playing before the remastered 3D “Coraline.”

During the making of “Wildwood,” a team of Laika artists, armed with a new Coraline puppet and upgraded costumes and sets, recreated the doorway and tunnel from “Coraline” as a bridge to “Wildwood” and our first glimpse of Prue. “With ‘Coraline’ reaching this significant milestone, it felt natural for her to symbolically pass the torch to Prue, another trailblazer in the Laika canon,” David Burke, Laika’s chief marketing & operations officer, told IndieWire.

Yet Selick has the satisfaction of bringing “Coraline” to the screen and watching the character’s popularity grow. “She’s a pretty ordinary kid who’s clever, who’s very brave, who has her own sense of style,” he said. “Early on, when the film was first released, even then I would travel around the world and I met kids of every race who had dyed their hair blue. They identified with her even if she wasn’t exactly like them in other ways. I’d like to think that that’s from a good beginning and has only grown with more blue-haired girls and yellow raincoats.”

“Coraline” returns to theaters for a limited engagement beginning August 15.

15 Years Later, the Adventure of Making ‘Coraline’ Continues (2024)

FAQs

What does Henry Selick say about Coraline? ›

It's some ancient magic. It's the first magic of filmmaking: it's so old it doesn't get old,” he said. “As long as you avoid too many topical bits of humor, too many gizmos of the moment that don't date well, the best stop-motion will continue to have this timeless quality.”

How many years did it take to make Coraline? ›

Completing the film involved more than 500 people over four years. Principal photography alone took 18 months. The Fantastic Garden was the most complex set created for the film, featuring hundreds of handcrafted flowers, most of which had their own individual light sources.

Is Coraline made out of clay? ›

But why is that? First, the movie Coraline isn't a regular animation. It's stop motion animation and is made from clay. With this being such a time-consuming and tedious process, Coraline took four years to make.

Is Coraline a stop-motion? ›

Coraline is the first stop-motion film to integrate visual effects and 3D-printing rapid prototype technology into traditional stop-motion production. Coraline is the first-ever stop-motion animated feature to be conceived and photographed in Stereoscopic 3D.

What is Coraline diagnosed with? ›

As these are critical parts of the plot, it is best to formulate Coraline's behavior along a psychotic-dissociative spectrum. At this stage in our formulation, it is best to arbitrarily choose Schizophrenia as a provisional diagnosis.

What is the hidden message in Coraline? ›

“Coraline” explores themes of deception, illusion, and the dangers of succumbing to appearances, reminding audiences to question what lies beneath the surface and to trust their instincts when something seems too good to be true.

Is the pink palace from Coraline real? ›

The star of LAIKA's "Coraline" lives in the fictional Pink Palace Apartments, a partitioned mansion built during the Victorian era, around the time when Queen Victoria reigned from 1837 and 1901.

What age is Coraline meant for? ›

Unaccompanied children of any age may watch. A PG film should not disturb a child aged around eight or older. However, parents are advised to consider whether the content may upset younger or more sensitive children.

Was Coraline adopted? ›

As the story progresses, Coraline runs away more and more to this "better world" and gets to know her new mother, who most likely adopted her after calling CPS on Coraline's parents.

How old is Coraline? ›

Coraline is an 11-year-old girl (see image here) who lives with her loving but inattentive parents. Similar to the children in C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia or L.

What is Coraline based off? ›

“Coraline,” released in February 2009 by LAIKA Studios, is a film many claim as a classic and a staple to play during the Halloween season. What many don't know, however, is that the critically acclaimed movie is actually based off of a book written in 2002 by popular horror novelist Neil Gaiman.

Is Coraline LGBTQ? ›

Eska and Desna are, respectively, bi and gay. Julien is a pansexual trans man. Coraline is a lesbian because one writer noticed how Miss Spink and Miss Forcible got more attractive in the Other World while Mr. Bobinski and Wybie didn't.

Why was Coraline banned? ›

Coraline is, however, a “challenged” book: challenged because of its scarier themes and because some consider it inappropriate for the age group it's intended for (the age of its title heroine, Coraline, which is never clearly stated in the book but seems to be between 10 and 13, if we can judge by the movie at all).

Why is Coraline so disturbing? ›

The villain's appearance can be incredibly frightening to all audiences and anyone with pediophobia and arachnophobia will easily be frightened since the villain resembles a doll and slowly starts to morph into a spider more and more throughout the climax of the film. One of the scariest animated movies ever made.

What is the author's message in Coraline? ›

The lesson of Coraline is to teach children that they can do brave things. In a small aside, the father tells Coraline a story of dropping his glasses after he stepped on a hornet's next.

What is an important quote from Coraline? ›

"When you're scared but you still do it anyway, that's brave." Coraline says this to the black cat after telling him a story about her dad saving her from being stung by wasps.

What does the ghost boy warn Coraline of? ›

During her final confrontation with the Other Mother, the Ghost Children assisted Coraline by helping to close the door between worlds. The now freed children thank Coraline in a dream, But they also warn her that there is only one key for the door and that the Other Mother still lived and wanted to steal it.

Why do people say Coraline is scary? ›

While distancing the reality of the film from the reality of the viewer serves its alignment with the fantasy genre and could, in theory, make the story less scary — in this case, the distance is subtle enough that it instead contributes to an inescapable and terrifying sense that nothing should be trusted.

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