Is Coraline a Kids' Movie?

Despite its PG rating, the 2009 stop-motion animation film Coraline has something of a universal place in the minds of those who watched it as children. To put it simply, it scared the bajeezus out of us. And can we really be blamed? A big spider eldritch imposter mum from hell, Ian McShane voicing a blue and bizarrely proportioned circus performer, and let’s not overlook the horrific implications and visuals of the button eyes. So, it’s easy to ask, is Coraline actually a movie for kids?

Well, yes. And this isn’t a bad thing.

Despite the alarming and deeply distressing plot and concepts that the young protagonist (played expertly by a young Dakota Fanning) deals with, the film is unmistakably made for children. The fear is painted in a myriad of iridescent colours that appeal to wide-eyed and wonderous minds, and before the Other world descends into nightmarish territory, it brightly plays into the innate selfishness we all have as children: what if there was a world that revolved entirely around me?

The film toys with the childish desire to be adored completely and to get everything one wants. Whilst adults may understand this, it is children who feel it. Imagination is the life force of Coraline, and children have it in abundance. The characters are physically caricatured by their personalities, mirroring common fairy tale tropes and helping us comprehend how a child would understand the confusing world around them; Coraline’s ‘real’ family are clad in earthy, muted tones that suggest dullness, but also a sense of comfort that may be easily missed at first glance.

The horror elements emanate from a recognition that the world is not what it seems: an integral part of growing up. Coraline Jones is handed this wonderful adventure on a silver platter, which quickly rusts right before her eyes. As we grow up, we come to understand that things that are beautiful on the surface may have an ugly secret and that getting everything you wished for is not only unrealistic but possibly dangerous.

That isn’t to say that the film delivers a foreboding message of doom and the horrors of growing up. Granted, it is something of a cautionary tale (more so than other stories like it, such as Alice in Wonderland), but it is equally thrilling and entertaining. Coraline and her companion Wybie have the adventure of a lifetime, and they both grow from it whilst losing none of the excitement that comes with such an experience. Plus, the film is genuinely funny. It is filled with childish sarcasm and Coraline’s bemused reactions to the behaviour of the adults around her – things that may seem normal and sensible to grown ups but are utterly nonsensical, silly or strange to children.

And then there’s the cat. Arguably, most of us dreamed of having a talking animal friend at some point during our childhood. And while the cat may not be all that he seems at first (we might wonder, where did he go at the end of the film?), he acts as a guide and friend to Coraline who teaches her to be more appreciative of what she has. In a way, the cat makes up for the lack of support Coraline feels from her parents.

Coraline herself is just a kid after all. Her main goal at the beginning of the movie is to go and play in the rain and have fun. I’m sure we can all relate to that in some way, the yearning for adventure in the everyday. Coraline is an embodiment of so many different childhood traits: naivety, optimism, hope and independence. To some extent, Coraline represents all of us as kids.

It is a dark and frightening film (it’s got nothing on the supposed kids' movie ‘9’, however – that film is pure evil), but it nonetheless accurately depicts the world as seen through the eyes of a child. The world around Coraline is tall and strange, with the possibility of adventure lurking around every corner. Adults may remember this feeling fondly, but it is children who are most tightly held in the spidery grip of Coraline.