Hey guys! This week's movie commentary/reaction is the animated film CORALINE. ♥ Nici SOCIALS TWITTER | / nicsandnacs INSTAGRAM | / nicsandnacs LETTERBOXD | letterboxd.com/... #Coraline #CoralineReaction #CoralineCommentary
Fun fact about the creation of Coraline: when Neil Gaiman showed it to his editor, she asked “Don’t you think this story is too scary for children?” Neil Gaiman said “you have a young daughter, right? Read the story to her. If she says it’s too scary, I’ll change it.” After reading the story to their daughter, the editor told Neil that she wasn’t scared of the story and they were free to publish it. Years go by, the daughter of editor told Neil Gaiman “I was actually TERRIFIED of the story, I just didn’t want to admit I was scared!”
I was ten when I saw it in 3D in theaters with my big sister. To this day, seeing the other mother jumping into the web after Coraline in 3D is one of the few times I was so scared of a movie I actually covered my eyes!😂
Coralline is one of those movies that is creepy yet so beautiful. The opening is hands down the creepiest thing in the movie though*chills*. Then again, I don’t like dolls etc (gives me uncanny valley vibes).
i disagree about this not being a family film. i think it definitely is, and we need more films like this. it's essentially a children's horror film, and i love it for that. as much as we talk about being traumatized by certain movies, books and games as kids, i feel like that usually makes for some really good memories. everyone likes to be scared once in a while, that's why we watch horror films in the first place. kids deserve more age-appropriate horror to watch as well. also, great video, as always. always enjoy your reactions and commentary ❤
I watched this when I was child and I am literally still traumatized. For years I thought that the Beldam's hand was behind me and that the other mother would come for me and stuff, so I guess that it depends on the person 😂.
What I love about this movie is that it doesn't treat the kids watching it like they're babies, or that they can't get some of the darker and deeper concepts: it has a really interesting, complicated lesson with complicated characters and, anecdotally, I can say a lot of kids really appreciate that about the film (I myself did when I was younger, too). It's always cool to see a movie like this that both 1) doesn't take itself too seriously but also 2) lets the serious stuff sink in, even for the kids.
Not sure if you saw it, but Henry Selick, alongside James & the Giant Peach (which I also adore), also directed The Nightmare Before Christmas. He's only made 4 movies total and yet he's a stop-motion master. He has a new film coming out this year named "Wendell & Wild", which is an animated horror-comedy starring Key & Peele! I watched this last year for Halloween and yeah I adored it. Easily one of the most unsettling films I've ever seen, which is saying something.
I LOVED this movie when I was a kid , I learned each Line by heart and loved LOVED the concept let's say I was OBSESSED. My mom was so worried that this movie would fuck me up and hid the film from me cause I rewatched It so many times and repeated the lines over and over again , to this day this movie holds a special place in my heart . ( I'm not crazy I promise ! )
Haha don’t worry I know all the lines to Shrek and my family refuse to watch it with me because I just sit and quote it the whole time 😂 We all have those movies we’re obsessed with.
Me too id use to always eat popcorn in my bed while watching this movie and have other snacks but sadly I grew up an grew out of doing that but those were the good days
This movie is amazing because it has 2 completely different meanings for wildly different ages. For kids, it's a scary tale about getting too into a fantasy. For adults, it's a horrific tale about child abduction. This is one of those rare movies that I saw as a kid that got scarier with age because of the plot progression. Similarly to that of The Brave Little Toaster. These movies are just super creepy when you get older but you don't see the scariness as a kid until it reveals itself to you. And yes, the tunnel between Pink Palace and the Other World is supposed to resemble an esophagus.
I'd say that, for adults, it's more about grooming. In my opinion, that is so much more terrifying than simply abduction - because it's not something that suddenly happens in one decisive moment. Grooming disguises itself in places of comfort and (misplaced) trust, and, slowly but surely, it starts unveiling itself, creeping in those familiar moments of safety and joy between you and the perpetuator. As a child watching this in a theatre (and without any knowledge of the horror), like most other children, I could feel that something was off about the Other World from the beginning - but, at the same time, I was living vicariously through Coraline's fantasy world. Sure the Other Mother looked odd, but everything looked so bright, and colorful and fun - I didn't want the fantasy to end. When the shift happens, Coraline immediately changes her mind and wants to go back home - and while this sudden shift rarely happens in realistic grooming cases, portraying it like this is an important way to show kids how, no matter how good someone has shown us, one unacceptable behavior is enough. At the time, I'd always indulge in thinking of ways that Coraline could've enjoyed the Other World's fun and games while still escaping in time - which just goes to show how much I was clinging to the "nice things", and how easily manipulated I was. Slowly realizing this as I grew up rewatching the movie was terrifying.
When the Other Mother said she'll die without Coraline, she didn't mean in a twisted motherly way but she means that she needs her as a food source...!
In the book, the rat swarm Bobinsky whispers this very disturbing poem about how rats will see the end of civilization. If you are looking for a good horror movie, I cannot recommend Savageland and Horror in the High Desert enough! Love your appreciation for camera work and cinematography!
If I remember correctly, the book is even darker than the movie 😵 Speaking of dark btw..after many many recommendations from you, I started binging “Dark” on Netflix. So good! I’m on season two now 🔮
Oh I’m ready! The longer it goes, the more trippy it’s gets and I like it! I’m planning on watching your timeline explained and season 3 reaction afterwards too (haven’t yet due to spoilers). Have a great day ❤️
I LOVED this movie so much a kid. There's not enough of these types of movies for a little girl that loved horror like me. I literally know EVERY line in this movie. (I don't think I thought it was scary growing up with it. I think I was like 10 or 11 tho. I also was one of those kids that was allowed to watch everything horror. My favorite growing up was the entire chucky franchise.)
So dark but such a great movie!! The claymation is really great!! Also can we talk about how Jennifer Saunders who played fairy godmother in Shrek 2 is in this movie!? I grew up watching Coraline
This is technically not "claymation," but is stop-motion animation using what amounts to puppets. The costumes are real. There's a DVD featurette about the lady who knits all of Coraline's sweaters. By hand, and to scale. Amazing stuff. Also, not only does Jennifer Saunders play Miss April Spink, her long-time friend and co-comedienne Dawn French plays Miss Miriam Forcible. The parts were written for the two of them, except when they came in to read for them it just didn't work. So the director suggested they switch parts. They did, and rest is history. (Their show _French and Saunders_ was ground breaking, and the both went on to do other great work.)
The turn this movie took is still unsettling. I was well past childhood like 14yrs old when it came out, mind you I’ve seen the movie 9 and that was dark from start to finish.
I was 13 when Coraline came out, so I wasn't terrifed of it, although a couple of scenes did creep me out back then. I love this movie with my whole heart, it's such a masterpiece imo. The production, the art style, the design, the music - everything is so satisfying. Honestly, everything Laika Studio does comes out great. You should definetily check out more of their creations.
YES! So happy you watched this. For readers out there the Coraline book is amazing, and if you like that, Neil Gaiman wrote another in a similar vein; The Ocean at the End of the Lane. One of my favorite books in recent memory!
I watched this as a kid and loved it and watch it all over again. It was scary, yes, but it's like watching a horror movie as an adult and feel the tension remain even when you get home. But we still watch them because we love to be scared sometimes. I think it's okay for kids to be a little scared, of course with stories that suit their age. Maybe with a kid protagonist, with witches, monsters under the bed, vampires... Scary stories next to the campfire.
Nahhh, parents should definitely show this to their kids! This is a perfect gateway horror film for kids interested in the genre. Like, perfect for 10 year olds and up.
I was already an adult when this came out, but I went to see it in 3-D in the theater. It genuinely creeped me out, and I remember there were children crying and parents taking them out of the theater. I appreciate how the creators of this movie didn't dumb it down. Why not make a scary movie for kids? As a lifelong horror fan, I would have LOVED this movie if I saw it as a kid! Love all your videos, keep up the good work!
I was 6 when this came out. My family hated the movie. I loved it. I asked my dad to get the 3D DVD version of it. I would have that movie playing 24/7. I even forced my brothers to watch it with me.
this is one of my all time favorite movies it’s a masterpiece! it never really scared me. i mean this movie came out when i was like 5 and i’ve been watching it since then. but maybe that’s because i loved creepy/tim burton type stuff since i was little like it’s what i grew up on.
The soundtrack for this movie changed my life. I adore it!! This movie scared me as a child but at the same time I was fascinated, I love when art makes me feel that way!! :D
Fun facts: Ian McShane (Bobinsky) is English, and he had to do a Russian accent. In the book, Coraline is English. And the ghost children’s faces r frozen in certain ways. The tall girl’s face is pain, (she was suffering behind the mirror before she died so she used her last breath to scream. It was in a story I read) the boy’s face is shame and grandma’s twin’s face is betrayal.
I freaking loved this movie as a kid. It was some creepy stuff but man was it a thrill ride. Matter of fact, I loved this film so much that I collected a line of dolls that looked similar to the doll Coraline owned :D
Coraline is a "kids' movie" in the sense of what would be considered a fable in the olden days. Like the fable of the "Three little piggies", this movie's moral is "Not everything that glitters is gold" and "If it's too good to be true it probably is." The tiny door, disguised as a hidden treasure that opens just for you, is actually a venous fly trap, and you are the fly. Perfect allegory, and metaphors, incredibly well sowed into the story! For older people, the moral "Watch out for manipulators/dangerous people, narcissists/sociopaths/abusers...." They might seem sweet at first, but there will come a time that they will ask you to do something that completely crosses your boundaries, and before being with them, just the thought of such a suggestion would appeal to you, but now you find yourself seriously debating the idea. I mean, after all, they've done for you? All they've offered so generously? And last, but not least, and not limited to- "Beware of the well" the well (and the tiny door) being a representation of (BUT not limited to) "escapism" where one is found to indulge in forms of escapism in moderation, but go in too deep and you might just fall in, addiction is a long and painful way down. "The more time you spend in there, the harder it'll be getting back out."
I've done both stop motion and CGI animation and stop motion is faster, in stop motion when you take a frame it's done, but in CGI you can keep going back and tweaking frames forever, which means you end up spending way more time on animation.
My 9 year old LOVES this film! Granted, her former favourite film was Nightmare Before Christmas, since she was 3, and Halloween is her favourite holiday 😅
Glad you finally got to watch 'Coraline' and post this! I love the film to bits! As someone who doesn't stomach horror films, I actually quite like the creepiness of it all. The stop-motion animation is simply beautiful, and the story remains one of the strongest by the studio to date, in my opinion. Well, it helps that it's an adaptation of a book written by Neil Gaiman too, I admit. (You should still definitely try out the other films they produced after this one!) All in all, easily one of my favourite films to date! To understand why you could see it as a dark fairytale or even a 'family film', I think you should keep in mind the epigraph Gaiman put on the front of the book: “Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.” (misattributed to G.K. Chesterton, even if it does capture the spirit of something he did really say.) I may not necessarily recommend it to very young children, but I can understand why this could be used to introduce to *some* darker things when they're a wee bit older (hopefully without scarring them for life in the process). Also, bless you for worrying so much about everyone's, erm, back and posture problems!
This is one of my favorite movies of all time (although I was in my 20s when it first came out). I really wish I could see it in 3d at the theaters again, it was the best use of that technology I've ever seen.
I'm realizing that the reason I didn't remember much about this movie from when I watched it as a child.....was because it was definitely a source of trauma for me. The horror I felt about the button eyes will never leave me.
This was one of my all-time favorites as a kid, don't know why. But the other mother or the Beldam has to feed on the youth of the children, with more food more power and a bigger world and more "wonders" to create. Based off the children's age and timeline they were probably from, she fed once a generation. But after Wybie's great aunt, she hasn't fed in over 3 generations making her starve and impatient showing the little details such as the hand movement and all of a sudden drop of "Hey can I sew buttons in your eyes?". She also doesn't know how parents treat their kids now with so much more information than we had back then like now we have Self-Defense classes, and intruder drills and stranger danger. Also I noticed how the people like the other father and other Wybie and the making of their unique dialogue and lack of control unlike Mr. B or the Ms. Spink and Inforcible another reason why the world started falling apart sooner. After the last "wonder" was shown her dress and outfit changes from Coraline's mom to more the Beldam's style. And after each eye was taken a major part of the world started to decay and lose its color showing how much power she really drew from the children for so long.
has anyone mentioned how much creepier the book is? When its described what its like for Coraline coming back through the portal is terrifying. Its like aliving breathing thing itself.
The other father's song is actually a warning, and you can tell from the lyrics like she's a peach, she's a doll. You eat peaches and the doll is what the other mother uses to spy. she's as cute as a button in the eyes of everyone who ever layed their eyes on Coraline. She almost gets buttons sewn into her eyes and if she stays the only people who will ever be looking at her are people with button eyes.
I don't want to sound sniffy, but this is 100% a kids movie as it should be, the best kids movies and often very profound, as you and pretty much everyone are no doubt aware, however they realise this too and getting a horror movie directed at kids thats smart enough not to talk down to children is fantastic, just like what paddington did and what fantastic Mr fox didn't.
Personal Easter Egg: A dear friend of mine works at Laika. If you pause at the right moment, her name is spelled out in the reflection on the carapace of the mother when she turns around.
If you like this I highly recommend ParaNorman if you haven't seen it. It's also stop motion and from the same studio. It still has horror elements but it has a more comedic tone and isn't nearly as disturbing.
as a kid i’d have loved Coraline - i used to sneak out of bed to watch Elvira hosting horror b movies late at night. kids are fascinated with stuff like that. To paraphrase Neil Gaiman’s good friend Sir Terry Pratchett, it’s important for kids to have stories about scary monsters so they can learn that the REAL monsters of the world can be defeated.
I saw this movie in my late teens/early 20s when it was released in 3d. I was also on magic mushrooms, and was annoyed by all the young children in the theater. Thankfully, most of them went into terrified hysterics pretty early on, and their parents walked out of the movie with their crying children. I thought it was hilarious. This is one of my favorite movies of all time, and it bums me out I'll never get to see it in proper 3d again, which was the only 3d experience I would describe as truly incredible.
I was born mid-80's so films like this did not scare me. Lol, 80's babies had terrifying children movies, so of course this was one of my favorites. Plus, I grew up with a horror loving mother who allowed me to watch horror since I also loved it. Until I saw Candyman at like 7 years old, that one got me. It didn't help that my grandma came into the bathroom and started chanting Candyman, while I cried on the shitter. Good times, looking back :)
I’ve watched this movie so many times and I never noticed those three pictures of the kids on the wall before she finds them in the room, that really foreshadows what she’s done
I think this is a really good introduction to horror for maybe young teens. Its not the obsessive gore that alot of horror falls too but instead uses cinematography and soundtrack to an amazing degree. Its horror in a way that is unsettling but not overboard.
According to Internet, " Coraline " is a black tale. About the others Mrs Spink and Forcible, they used real painting as background during their show : " Ulysse and the mermaids " for one and " Venus' birth " for the other. Also, the other mother made their actual bodies as a disguise and when they're thinner it's their appearance of when they were young
I saw this with my nana when I was twelve. I loved it. I wanted to go see it again immediately. Nana was not that big a fan. Outside of the Nightmare Before Christmas, this was my first exposure to stop motion and good creepy kid movies that I can recall.
I absolutely love this movie. Even when I was a child apparently I would just keep re-watching this movie over and over again. It got to the point where my siblings didn’t even want to watch it anymore or put it on. this was also the same for the movie “monster house”. I feel like Coraline was the first movie that I really got obsessed with but yeah even as a child it never really scared me.
Neil Gaiman is my all time favourite author! The Coraline book is amazing but rather different, as are most of his adaptions (Stardust, American Gods, Good Omens,etc.) But basically all his work is amazing and with Henry Selick (actual director of The Nightmare Before Christmas)... This is honestly one of my top favourite movies.
Right? She's a hero in the finest sense of the word. One of the authors of _Captain Marvel_ from the early aughts once quipped "Captain America gets up after he's been knocked down because it's the right thing to do. Carol Danvers gets up because fück you." That's the same kinda vibe I get from Coraline.
AHHHHHHHHH Finally! I've watched SO many reactors and you're the 1st person to catch on with the dutch angles!!! Thats also why the characters are having neck problems bcuz they're also looking at stuff in dutch
I actually owned the movie at the age of 5 and watched it in 3D, my sister was scared of it as she was 2 years younger than me. I loved the movie and have the script memorized to where I can watch it in my head during class. My favorite scene is the opening, I’ve always found it satisfying how she makes the doll and I found the music soothing like a music box even though the lyrics are just gibberish.
I love good reaction channels and it's so nice to hear an Australian one...cause it just feel like home. Like I am home...but it's nice to hear a reaction like 'yeh nah it's just..its just fucked'. I also LOVE your colour palette. They are also my favourite colours. And I love roses which I noticed were in your background. Anyway. Awesomeness
Another Aussie, yt reaction vid addict and new sub here. Gday from WA . Cool reactions mate Also coralline is one of my favourite movies and I’m a 41 yr old dude. Finally, could u react to Pans labyrinth if I haven’t already. 🤙🇦🇺❤️
Hello, hi, Happy New year 🎉🎉 So good to see you! I hope you're doing well and staying safe. Coraline is NOT A kids movie! Lol! It does have some serious dark elements and some funny moments.
What’s creepier about Coraline, is how open ended the ending is. On RU-vid and the film itself, it’s suggested that the other mother is still alive, and she has the keys, and that the other mother isn’t the worst evil entity in Coraline’s world.
YES YES YES, i would love to see you rewatch james and the giant peach for us. And why not the other stop motion Roald Dahl masterpiece "Fantastic Mr Fox". Loved this reaction. Happy new year all
idk but I was obsessed with Coraline as a kid............ I am still, the beauty of the animation and music always has captivated me, as a child as well as an adult. I don't understand why are people so terrified of watching it. Well but yes, Coraline cannot be totally said as a 'kids' movie because when I saw the fate of the ghost children, being separated from their true mother and trapped, I almost felt depressed, as a kid, I never felt a sadness of that kind before.
It’s my favourite movie but i think that’s because i watched it as a kid very first time and it really got me that time. Since then i watched it like literally 25 more times and everytime i watched it i figured out and learned something more about it, there are a lot of details and backstories. Such a masterpiece.
22:34 its actually a theory i think that the well is another entrance to the other world bc of when wybie says you'd see a sky full of stars in the middle of the day and it's always night in the other world
The lady in the theater isn't supposed to be Ariel. She is supposed to be one of the mermaids from the painting behind her. I've seen that painting before in a book about Greek mythology in the page about mermaids/sirens. (I think it might be the painting "Ulysses and the sirens" but I'm not sure) And the other lady is supposed to be Venus/Aphrodite from the painting "birth of Venus".
I saw this movie at 7 years old when it came out, and this is literally the only way I can stomach it. It scarred watching it as a child like I was in tears when the credits rolled, this movie is so fucking creepy it’s unreal
This movie actually didn't scare me as a kid. My Grandma had taken me to the movie theater when this movie first came out in the movie theaters and I absolutely adored it. When it came out on DVD my Mom had gotten it for me. Movies such as Coraline, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Corpse Bride didn't scare me as a kid when I watched them at like 4 or 5 years of age.
“Coraline” was beloved movie of my daughter, so many joined memories. I recommend for everybody all other stop motion movies from Laika Studio, all of them are charming, exciting and top quality 🖤
Coraline is my favorite stop motion movie. And no, it is NOT a kids movie. Maybe for bigger kids, but I would NOT show it to smaller kids. Not unless I wanted to scare the crap out of them, and ensure they get nightmares. LOL!
