Story of Coraline

This is a story of a young girl named Coraline Jones with a boring life with two parents ignoring her attention until she finds a secret door taking her into another world that makes everything better until she realizes the Other World isn't a perfect world that she thought it would be. Her story was based on a 2002 novel by Neil Gaiman later adapted into a 2009 stop animation making it a cult hit and a fan favorite.

British author Neil Gaiman already published novels like the Good Omens, Stardust, and American Gods. Gaiman started writing Coraline in 1999. When he first wrote Coraline, it was in honor of his at the time five-year-old daughter that enjoyed scary stories. He published Coraline on July 2, 2002.

It was awarded the 2003 Hugo Award for Best Novella, the 2003 Nebula Award for Best Novel, and the 2002 Bram Stoker Award for Best Work for Young Readers. The Guardian ranked Coraline #82 in its list of 100 Best Books of the 21st Century.

The Story of Coraline

Eleven-year-old Coraline Jones and her parents: Butch and Mel move into an old house apartment filled with tenants: retired actresses Miss Spink and Miss Forcible and retired circus ringmaster Mr. Bobinksky who were living in the same apartment and a black stray cat who watches the house including Coraline. While living in the apartment, Coraline's parents were too busy to care for her or give any attention to her. While Coraline was wandering around the house bored, she discovered a secret door where it leads to nowhere just all bricks. That was until in the middle of the night the door would be open with no bricks leading to another world. Coraline meets her Other Parents who have buttons for eyes and give her the attention she deserves, her tenants became extravagant, and the Cat who watches Coraline enters the Other world can talk however warns Coraline about the Other world. The Other Mother offers Coraline a chance to stay in the Other World forever if Coraline will allow buttons to be sewn into her eyes. Coraline is horrified and refused to get sew on her eyes. It turns out she wasn't the only child who entered the "Other" world. Three Ghost Children from different decades tells Coraline that she has been tricked and the Other Mother (the Beldam) isn't trying to be her mother but trying to steal her soul. So Coraline was convinced by the three Ghost children and the Cat that she has to trick the Other Mother in to a game so she can be free and three ghost childrens soul free if she wins.

Graphic Novel

After the success of Coraline, a graphic novel adaptation by P. Craig Russell, lettered by Todd Klein and colored by Lovern Kindzierski, was published in 2008. The graphic novel shows a vision comic version of what Gaiman's novella would visulize.

Coraline (2009)

Just as Gaiman was finishing his novella, he met director Henry Selick and invited him to make a film adaptation. Gaiman was a fan of Selick's animation films.

The film features the voices of Dakota Fanning who voiced as Coraline, former Desperate Housewives Teri Hatcher as Coraline's mother/The Other Mother aka The Baldem, Jennifer Saunders as Miss Spink, Dawn French as Miss Forcible, Keith David as the Cat, John Hodgman, Robert Bailey Jr. as Wybie, and Ian McShane as Mr. Bobinksky. In the film, Coraline has blue hair with a dragonfly pin on her head dressed in a yellow raincoat and yellow rainboots which was different from the book. Plus, Wybie a featured character from the film was also not from the book. Coraline premiered at the Portland International Film Festival on February 5, 2009, and was released theatrically in the United States on February 6 by Focus Features. The film was met with widespread acclaim from critics and grossed $185.7 million worldwide, making it the third-highest-grossing stop-motion film of all time, following Chicken Run and Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. The film received awards and accolades including an Academy Award nomination.

15 Years later

15 years since Coraline has been a timeless chidhood classic. Fans would dress up Coraline for Halloween even at cosplay events. Most Coraline or the Beldam or other Coraline film characters. Fans have also recreated some scenes from the 2009 film. Months after the film's release, Coraline was adapted into a theatrical musical adaptation. The musical received mixed reviews. Another theatrical adaptation, a stage opera by Mark-Anthony Turnage based on the novella, made its world premiere at the Barbican Centre in London on March 27, 2018.

In 2024, it was announced that Coraline would be adapted for a theatrical musical adaptation for West End in 2025. The film has now returned to theaters after 15 years for the anniversary and now stearming free on Tubi and Plutotv for Halloween.

Source

Wikipedia

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