Movie review: Take a trip to the dark side with 'Coraline'

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Inventive visuals and a serious scary streak permeate "Coraline," a ripping example of stop-motion animation that's overflowing in wild detail.

Director Henry Selick made his bones with "Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas" and "James and the Giant Peach." Now he adapts an author whose works are as creepy as either Burton's or Roald Dahl's -- British author Neil Gaiman -- and explores the classic "Alice in Wonderland"/"Wizard of Oz" little-girl-lost scenario in creative ways.

The girl here is Coraline Jones (voiced by Dakota Fanning), a blue-haired wanderer who's left to her own devices when her workaholic parents (voiced by Teri Hatcher and John "I'm a PC" Hodgman) write gardening manuals on their computers. Exploring the family's new digs in Ashland, Ore., Coraline uncovers a small door that leads to another house just like the one she's in -- except that where the real world is dingy and lonely, this other world is bright and bouncy.

And living in that other world is The Other Mother (also voiced by Hatcher), who's kind and attentive to Coraline. The Other Mother wants Coraline to be happy and gives the girl everything to make her content. All the Other Mother asks is for Coraline to vow to stay forever -- and to replace her eyes with buttons, like everyone else on the other side of the door.

Sure enough, Coraline discovers -- with the help of an observant cat (voiced by Keith David) who crosses freely from one side to the other -- that things aren't what they seem, and what looks like a dream really is a nightmare.

Selick -- who wrote the screenplay, directed and was the production designer -- follows the classic Walt Disney model, which says even fairy tales have some dark scares at their core. This is good for film lovers, but not so good for parents. This is one PG rating that should be taken quite seriously, and parents should think hard before taking anyone under 10 to see it.

Every scene reveals new wonders, from a mouse marching band to a shape-changing trapeze act. But Selick also smartly focuses on his plucky heroine, who must figure out the Other Mother's wicked game before she's trapped forever.

In some theaters, "Coraline" will be screened in 3-D. I'm usually no big fan of the stereo-optic gimmickry, but in this case it's worth the effort to seek out a 3-D theater. Selick uses the 3-D effects judiciously, and sometimes the results are truly astounding.

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