Jayson’s Reviews > Coraline > Status Update

Notes:
(1) Coraline has a dream, where she's visited by the three souls she saved.
- The first wears a frilly shirt, which I take to mean he's Georgian or Regency era.
- The second has a brown bonnet, which I take to mean she's Victorian.
- The third has butterfly-like wings, which I take to mean she's some kind of fairy.
- Possibly more evidence implying a shared universe.

Notes:
(1) "It was her only way home, she knew. But it all depended on the other mother needing to gloat, needing not only to win but to show that she had won."
- Ah, yes, Bond-villain logic: Tell me every detail of your fiendish plan, or else show me things I'm not meant to have. I'm dead anyway.
- Only the best villains gloat. They're the ones with things to gloat about.

Notes:
(1) "Beside the decapitated rat, a smug expression on its face, was the black cat."
- In the film, dead rat keeps its head.
(2) "Coraline realised ... she knew exactly where her parents were. If she had stopped to think, she might have known where they were all along."
- If a rifle hangs on a wall in Act I, by Act 3 it must be fired.
- Coraline's found Chekhov's Gun!

Notes:
(1) In the book, Coraline goes down a trap door and speaks with the monstrosity that was her other father. In the film that scene is removed.
- Odd, considering how much the film stretched the story to be feature-length.
- Though, there are two scenes with real and fake Wybie that fill that narrative purpose.
(2) To quote Austin Powers: "Who throws a shoe, honestly?"

Notes:
(1) '"There, my sweet Coraline," said her other mother.'
- Quite obviously, a Neil Diamond reference.
(2) '"Now, I think you're being silly, dear," said the other mother. "I love you. I will always love you."'
- Possibly a Whitney Houston reference.
(3) "She ate the breakfast, trying not to wolf it down. She was hungrier than she had thought."
- Duran Duran, perhaps?

Notes:
(1) I appreciate that they made Coraline's mirror-world outfit book-accurate – a grey sweater with stars. In the film, the Other Mother gifts it to her. In the book, she picks it from clothes in the other bedroom.
(2) If you're wondering why I've not mentioned Wybie yet, it's because he's not in the book, and only useful in the film as a thing to speak exposition to.

Notes:
(1) '"Coraline," said Miss Spink. "What's your name?"
"Coraline," said Coraline.
"And we don't know each other, do we?"'
- The first hint the Other Mother's puppeteering.
(2) "[Coraline] bought two large bottles of limeade, a chocolate cake, and a new bag of apples, and went back home and ate them for dinner."
- What stands out to me is she ate a whole bag of apples.

Notes:
(1) "There was something irritatingly self-centred about the cat ... As if it were, in its opinion, the only thing in any world or place that could possibly be of any importance."
- Such a thing could be said of cats generally.
(2) In the audiobook, the music is performed by indie band The Gothic Archies. In the film, it's Hungarian choir music.
- Either way strange.

Notes:
(1) "Outside, the view was the same one she saw from her own bedroom: trees, fields and, beyond them, on the horizon, distant purple hills."
- I can't be the only one who read "purple hills" and thought: Eminem.
(2) In the book, Coraline walks through a hallway to the other house. In the film, she crawls through a kind of paper lantern tunnel.
- Colors = less creepy.

Notes:
(1) In the book, Coraline visits the neighbors before going through the door. In the film, it's after her first trip.
- Probably to stretch its length, as going back and forth eats up time.
(2) In the film, Mr. Bobo's name is changed to Sergei Alexsander Bobinski.
- Probably to underscore his Russian-ness... and clarify what accent exactly Ian McShane was attempting.