I Read That Movie: Coraline by Neil Gaiman

I  read that movie is a feature where we compare movies or TV series, and the books they're based on.

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Title: Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks

Publishing Date: August 4th, 2002

Pages: 162 

Length of Audio: 3 Hours and 36 Minutes

Genre: Children's Fantasy

Series:  Standalone

Source: Audio

  

The day after they moved in, Coraline went exploring....

In Coraline's family's new flat are twenty-one windows and fourteen doors. Thirteen of the doors open and close.

The fourteenth is locked, and on the other side is only a brick wall, until the day Coraline unlocks the door to find a passage to another flat in another house just like her own.

Only it's different.

At first, things seem marvelous in the other flat. The food is better. The toy box is filled with wind-up angels that flutter around the bedroom, books whose pictures writhe and crawl and shimmer, little dinosaur skulls that chatter their teeth. But there's another mother, and another father, and they want Coraline to stay with them and be their little girl. They want to change her and never let her go.

Other children are trapped there as well, lost souls behind the mirrors. Coraline is their only hope of rescue. She will have to fight with all her wits and all the tools she can find if she is to save the lost children, her ordinary life, and herself.

Mini review:

What made me read this book: 

I wanted to do an I read that movie on it, because it was a short book and I waited until the last minute to do it, as usual.

What did I like the most: 

This book was genuinely very creepy. The audio was even worse than reading it I think. They played music, and had creepy voices. It was all very... creepy.

The story itself is really interesting and I think well written. We don't see many books like this, especially children's books. 

I didn't really feel much for the book except at parts it did cause anxiety because of the music and the voices, so this is going to be a short review.

What didn't I like: 

There wasn't really much character development. Of course, when the parents get taken Coraline is upset and she does what she can to save them. So she grows a little bit, but not really. 

It's a children's book, there isn't much depth.

Release Date: February 6th, 2009

Cast: Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, Jennifer Saunders

Series: Standalone 

An adventurous 11-year-old girl finds another world that is a strangely idealized version of her frustrating home, but it has sinister secrets.

Mini Review:
This movie has always creeped me out. The button eyes are a whole big bunch of nope. Finn loves it though, so we watch it quite often.

Let's compare:

Did I see the movie or read the book first?
I watched the movie first. I saw it years ago.

Like the movie or the book better?
I can't really say I liked one or the other better. They were both incredibly creepy in different ways. I highly suggest listening to the audio as opposed to reading the book though.

How does it compare?
For the most part it's pretty close to the book. Some of the lines from the movie are straight from the book. But there are a couple big differences. Overall I think they did a great job matching the movie to the book.

Do the actors match the characters in the book?
We really don't get the description of the characters from the book. I doubt Coraline has blue hair. 

The biggest part was the button eyes. I think that was a big part and it would have been pretty bad if they didn't keep that.

Major differences?
In the movie there is a boy, Wybie, who gives Coraline a doll that looks just like her. Supposedly it's from his grandma. 

In the book there is no Wybie, and there is no doll that looks just like Coraline. In the movie that was a really big creep factor.

Everything in the book happens so much faster than in the movie too. In the movie she goes back and forth a couple times, in the book there's only the once. 

There are a few other subtle differences, but I feel like the no Wybie was a big one, because in the movie he helps her so much.

Fun Facts?
When Coraline first has dinner at her Other Mother's house and she suggests to play Hide & Seek in the rain, a lightning bolt strikes through the window in the shape of The Bedlam's true hand form. A little while later, when Coraline first goes to the actresses downstairs, they read her tea leaves and see the hand once again, where Miss Spink states the hand means 'danger'.