Filmmaker reacts to Coraline (2009) for the FIRST TIME!

Hope you enjoy my filmmaker reaction to Coraline. :D
Full length reactions & Patreon only polls: / jamesvscinema
Original Movie: Caroline (2009)
Ending Song: / charleycoin
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[@JamesVSCinema]

Shout to Wybie, all I'm gonna say.

[@HotDogTimeMachine385]

Neil Gaiman's Coraline almost wasn't published. His editor called it too scary for kids, but the editor's daughter liked it. It turns out she WAS scared but wanted to know what happens in the story. Good scary stories are healthy.

[@kennieminski7080]

Realizing that the other mother was not what was causing the tunnel to breath is a great bit of cosmic horror.

[@l.i.t.f.4353]

Aye I miss this movie so much, it is a timeless classic that is just perfect, they nailed the storytelling and the atmosphere

[@wratched]

It's interesting that you should mention cosmic horror; there's a line in the book that didn't make it into the movie: "She knew that if she fell in that corridor she might never get up again. Whatever that corridor was was older by far than the other mother. It was deep, and slow, and it knew that she was there."

[@alponte_]

It’s Coraline, not Caroline.

[@bbkd3b]

If you're looking for a videogame with this style, check out "Little Nightmares" and its sequel. Feels very much in line with this art direction. Henry Selik is even apparently making a pilot for a series based on those game.

[@sonnercampbell1702]

This movie made me realize that Terri Hatcher is a very underrated actor; her performance as Mother/Other Mother is so good, the desperation in her voice when she’s pounding on the door saying “don’t leave I’ll die without you” makes that scene even more terrifying

[@mycroft16]

Coraline's interactions with Wyborn initially feel to me like that NPC in a game that you run into after a few action scenes who gives you just a little more, etc. It's cleverly done.

[@Andrew_-nr7zt]

The book Neil Gaiman did for this was amazing and would recommend reading it but overall this movie is amazing and I really enjoyed your reaction to it

[@ravenlockhart0925]

I like that the lightning strike earlier on and the clouds at the end resemble claws. What you said about the tunnel being colorful and inviting made me think of the predatorial flora and fauna in nature that uses things like color to lure its prey; the other mother being the predator in this case

[@josh1235]

This is done by a studio called Laika. Everything they do is pretty great visually. This is probably my favorite thing they made, but Kubo and the Two Strings would probably be what I would check out next since you dug this so much. Paranorman is a good one to go with from them for Halloween though.

[@c-puff]

I attended an animation panel on how this movie was made and there are so many things they did purely in stop motion that made me go "Why would you make it so hard on yourselves???"

[@MsMelyjean]

The doll at the beginning is the doll that the grandmother's sister had before she was taken by the Beldam ("...she spied our lives, through the little doll's eyes"). Notice the cornrows? The Beldam was 'recycling' in the opening sequence to make the doll look like Coraline instead.

[@jblitz1556]

The Nightmare Before Christmas vibes you were talking about is exactly right. Welcome to the world of Henry Selick, the only filmmaker working in animation that (consistently) does horror! Perfect timing too because his new film since Coraline, Wendell & Wild, a collaboration with Key & Peele (who co-wrote the film), comes out in a couple weeks and looks fantastic!!

[@themothermarkos]

When I was in Year 6, my teacher read this to the class. I will always remember when she wrote the parent's message when they were in the snowglobe onto the whiteboard. Since then, I have always adored Neil Gaiman and his wonderfully twisted and human work. He is a genius. He and Terry Pratchett worked together on the Good Omens book and it was one of Terry's final wishes for Neil to turn Good Omens into a show before he passed - and it's a wonderful show.

[@PeterHill-br7sv]

I will never get over how amazing the door coming closer is. Literally sent chills up my spine.

[@parallelearthstudio8385]

I’ve watched this movie with my two daughters ever since it came out. It’s now one of their most favorite childhood movies. It’s a work of genius.

[@dmanimousprime3858]

Laika Studios is the real deal! Love everything they do, but Kubo and the Two Strings is just on another level of awesome! Should have won Best Animated Feature that year. James would totally appreciate Kubo. Very technical and the story is so so good!

[@scaf5363]

Actually I think the closest thing to a "game" in the style of animation similar to Coraline's I can think of is Little Nightmares. Horror game and the protagonist even wears a yellow rain coat too lmao