Coraline

I did try to read Neil Gaiman's Anansi Boys, but soon realized that the novel wasn't for me. I was disappointed, because I really enjoyed Gaiman's and Prachett's novel, Good Omens. But there was something about Anansi Boys that didn't click with me. It might be because I couldn't develop a fast relationship with any of the characters like I had in Good Omens. Either way, I decided to let it go. A little lost as to where to go next, I chose to watch Coraline. It not only fit the theme of “fantasy in the real world”, but it's made so beautifully, I felt like a bad animator because I hadn't seen it yet. Stop motion in general is a little creepy, to me, but this was so smooth, it reminded me of Tim Burton's Corpse Bride. Coraline as a character was a little hard to love at first. She complained all the time, which, I guess, is not unlike myself. But the fact that she bugged me is what intrigued me. It wasn't like trying to read Anansi Boys, where I was completely neutral with the characters. Coraline had invoked an emotion from me, and that in itself got me hooked within the first five minutes.

The concept behind Coraline reminds me of a game I'd play as a kid, minus the creepiness of the button eyes and the scary mother. But the fact that you could escape in your own house and create your own perfect world is something that I think all of us did at some point, just by playing house. I loved the roles all the characters filled, including the scrawny old cat, and Mr. B. These characters weren't particularly eye candy, but that repulsiveness made them all the more lovable to me because I'm such a visual person. As far as the story goes, I wonder if the creators didn't get too wrapped up in the visual element. It was fairly predictable, to be critical, but at the same time, that made it easier to follow, and let me focus in on the art.