Jeri Jacquin

Coming to Bluray, DVD, writer/director Henry Selick, Laika Studios and Shout! Factory is the return of the beloved story of a young girl named CORALINE.

Coraline Jones (voiced by Dakota Fanning) and her family mom Mel (Teri Hatcher) and dad Charlie (John Hodgman) have moved into an old mansion called the Pink Palace Apartments. Also in the mansion are Mister Bobinsky (Ian McShane) and Misses Spink (Jennifer Saunders) and Forcible (Dawn French). Her parents are attempting to write about gardening and sometimes they forget about Coraline.

She meets Wybie (Robert Bailey Jr.) and as a token of friendship, he gives her a button-eyed doll from his grandmother Lovat (Carolyn Crawford) that resembles Coraline. One night she is woken up by a mouse who takes her through a secret door into another world. There she meets her mother and father, but they have buttons for eyes. Looking past that they are fun, loving,

caring and pay attention to Coraline.

Called the Beldam’s, Coraline discovers that they have taken her real parents. Miss Spink helps her get back to the other world where she proposes to her ‘other’ parents a game, if she can find those missing, they get to go free. If not, Coraline accepts the button eyes and stays.

They do not expect young Coraline to be so smart and that is their first mistake!

Fanning as Coraline has given this beloved character a distinctive voice that will always be that of Coraline. I have been told so by my six-year-old granddaughter who has loved the film for years now. Bringing character and voice together is so amazing and having CORALINE return to the big screen and Bluray is a reminder of what Fanning has done for Coraline.

Hatcher as Mel is funny, quirky and when button-eyes a bit too good to be true. Hodgman as Charlie is equally as quirky and funny with or without his button-eyes. They are so delightful and creepy at the same time and these two actors using their voices and Laika giving them life is such a wonderful partnership.

Bailey Jr. as Wybie is everything we all want in a friend accepting Coraline for just who she is and I awe at their friendship. He also has Crawford as Grandma Lovat, which makes his family complete. I love McShane as the delightfully limber Mr. Bobinsky and Saunders and French are interesting neighbors to have.

Other cast include Aankha Neal as Sweet Ghost Girl, George Selick as Ghost Boy, Hannah Kaiser as Tall Ghost Girl, Emerson Tenney as Magic Dragonfly, and Jeremy Ryder as Toy.

SHOUT! Factory has grown into a tremendous multi-platform media company. Releasing new animated features such as the exquisite Long Way North, and the epic fantasy Beauty and The Beast. Also, their own original horror film, Fender Bender gives fans a good scare. For more of what SHOUT Factor has to offer please visit www.shoutfactory.com.

Laika is a stop-motion animation studio that is best known for such films as CORALINE, PARANORMAN, THE BOXTROLLS, KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS and MISSING LINK. Being nominated by BAFTA, Academy Awards and Golden Globe awards, and Annie Awards, Laika studios continues their amazing storytelling with the film MISSING LINK. For more of what they have to offer please visit www.laika.com.

The Special Features include: New Inside Laika-Discovering the Characters of CORALINE Featuring Never-Before-Seen Test Footage, New Inside Laika – Revisiting the Puppets with Laika’s Animation Team, New Foreword by Peter Debruge, Chief Film Critic for Variety, New Character, Concept Art and Behind-the-Scenes Photo Galleries, Audio Commentary with Director Henry Selick and Composer Bruo Coulais.

Also, The Making of CORALINE, Original Featurettes, Deleted Scenes and Feature Length Storyboards.

CORALINE was the first Laika film I saw and have been captivated by every movie they have made since. True their films are stop-motion, but their stories are love, friendship, being accepted for differences, mystery, belief and even laughter and fun.

Those are the type of films that bring families together in the theatre and also brings them together on the sofa with a tub of popcorn and cuddles. The story may be full of life lessons but, director Selick also gives us entertainment, giggles and everything we crave about films that become classics.

Having CORALINE in our home entertainment library sit happily next to other Laika films on the shelf. See it for the first time or revisit it again and again with CORALINE on Bluray and DVD.

In the end – she discovers who she truly is and who loves her!

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