The Curious Case Involving Better Buttons

Coraline is the stuff only my most awesome nightmares could have conjured as a child--that is if I was creative enough to see the world through director Henry Selick's eyes and with Neil Gaiman's voice. In short, it's a fantastical creepy adventure that hit all the right chords of my macabre heart and perfect for my age bracket, thus making it a little too demented for the 9 and under crowd.

Gaiman's tale centers around young Coraline Jones (voiced by go-to moppet Dakota Fanning), who recently moved into an old complex known as the "Pink Palace" with her folks. As her parents while away at a gardening book they are hankering to complete, our blue-haired heroin finds herself with nothing to do. So she explores her new digs, only to discover a door to her own alternate reality, complete with new and improved parents (if you can ignore their button eyes). The movie's color palate paints a striking contrast between these two worlds; one drenched in drab greys for her actual home and the other popping in gorgeous primary colors. It's The Nightmare Before Christmas (Selick's other genius feature) meets Pan's Labrynth meets Pushing Daisies. Now picture that in 3D, as I had the good fortune to see it.

Of course, Coraline finds that her alternate world is all fun and games until someone loses an eye. Or a pair for said buttons. In other words, her "other mother" has big plans for her permanent stay that includes swapping her pupils for the coat fasteners. It's a cautionary yarn with a simplistic message--careful what you wish for--but it certainly takes the audience to a creepy center to get to that point. It's definitely sick and twisted animation made all the more enthralling with Gaiman's cool story. And Selick is the Michel Gondry of stop-motion animation. I can't think of a better selling point.

Check it out, especially in 3D. While we're still not quite talking "Captain Eo" quality (remember how AMAZING those high-kick Jackson moves were when they came off that screen!!), the gimmick has come a long way from those two-toned paper shades of yesteryear. But brace those younger kids for those darker scenes. I'm not sure I would have been able to handle it at a young age myself, but then again my favorite kid's movies are Popeye and E.T., which some have claimed scared the crap out of them as youngsters, so to each their own. But don't say you weren't warned!