Coraline Teaser
Here’s a nice Christmas present thanks to Neil, Henry, & Co.: A quick sneaky peek at Coraline, the stop-motion animated feature that’s currently in production at LAIKA Entertainment. (And, for the record, I work at LAIKA/house, the commerical division of the same company. In no way does this affect my writing for this post [insert wink here].) Written and directed by Henry Selick, based on the book by Neil Gaiman, Coraline will be the very first stop-motion feature to be shot stereoscopically with a dual digital camera rig for digital 3-D exhibition.
It’s not much, but there’s enough in the clip to get an idea of how intricate the animation is on Coraline herself. Oh, how I wish I could say more about this film (but can’t) — obviously, a short clip doesn’t do this film any justice — but soon they’ll have an official full trailer out sometime before next summer. (There was a 3-D teaser trailer that was shown only in front of 3-D showings of Beowulf.) The film’s slated to open in Feb. of 2009.
I’ve yet to be impressed by any movie with Neil Gaiman’s name attached to it, aside from Princess Mononoke which had the benefit of being a Studio Ghibli production (as well as terrificly bloody!).
Nice! “MirrorMask” is still my favorite Neil Gaiman film to date. So visually enjoyable.
I’ve been very impressed by the work coming out of LAIKA lately. This looks like it will be a hit.
I hate to say this, but I’m just not feeling excited about it. I’m sure I’ll enjoy it, but it will always be in the shadow of Dave McKean’s art. The book was genuinely scary, and this just looks too cartoony to get that same creepiness.
U guys are too harsh. The book translates very well to other mediums devoid of McKean’s gifts. In fact, McKean’s reserved B&W illos for the novella are hardly a deal breaker. Gaiman recorded a reading of Coraline, and it is one of my kids favorites — and these kids have been raised on the best — Jim Dale (Potter), and Tara Sands’ incredible readings of Ellen Potter’s “Olivia Kidney” series. Coraline sounds great in spoken word format, and should be just as incredible in stop motion animation. Between Gaiman’s novels, and Sandman, I think he is entitled to a few lame ducks — Coraline the book is a bright spot, the audio recording of it is delightful, and the movie should be an easy exercise.