In 'Coraline,' threat looms large in psychological outing

The things that seem most innocent and lovely about 11-year-old Coraline Jones’ life are actually ominous.

Maybe even dangerous.

Based on Neil Gaiman’s novel, “Coraline” is a kind of psychological “Twilight Zone” outing that is likely to be embraced more by adults  than children. No matter your age, it isn’t a movie with characters that you’re going to be anxious to hug.

This is not at all to warn against letting your children go – just, maybe, not the smallest ones. The essence of drama is threat. All the original Disney classics had it, and those audiences are grandparents now – with no great apparent harm done (although, some of us have never gotten over the death of Bambi’s mother). 

“Coraline,” though, does get at some of the more existential fears of childhood – the fear of parents leaving, the fear of being lonely and friendless, the fear of adults’ rule. It is a subversive movie that knows its Freud as well as its Kierkegaard – and toys with both.

Directed and written by Henry Selick in the painstaking stop-motion technique, it is the most original new movie in the still-young 2009. Selick directed “The Nightmare Before Christmas” (1993) for Tim Burton, which gives you an idea of both the stop-motion look and the potential darkness involved.

Coraline’s family has moved her from Michigan to an old Victorian house in Oregon where ghosts may live. She has blue hair and stick legs, but still she finds it difficult being an individual. Her parents, who work constantly at writing a gardening catalog, largely ignore her.

When she goes through a secret door, passable only at night, she reaches a parallel world identical to her real world –  only seemingly perfect. Her “Other Mother” cooks delicious meals, unlike her real mother, who doesn’t cook at all. (The real father does the cooking, and it’s awful.)

But Other Mother has buttons sewn over her eyes. So, in fact, does Other Father. When Coraline refuses to put buttons over her own eyes, the mother coos, “That’s all right. Soon you’ll see things our way.”

The contrast between perceived wholesomeness and an ominous reality check have not been so well-captured in a movie since “Pleasantville.”

Be afraid.

Be very afraid.

“Coraline” is much better at doing what the overrated “Pan’s Labyrinth” tried to do – contrast the openness and innocence of childhood  versus its complexity. 

Dakota Fanning, arguably the best child actress in movie history, is the voice of Coraline, but it’s the visuals that really count.

You’re on your own when it comes to knowing how tolerant your children are for a good scare. “ Coraline” is that rare movie that can be debated by psychiatrists as avidly as it is by third-graders.

Mal Vincent, (757) 446-2347, mal.vincent@pilotonline.com