Returning to theaters for the film's 15th Anniversary, I had much the same reaction to Coraline that I had the first time I saw it in a theater. The dark tale of a young girl (Dakota Fanning) discovering a secret world of "others" who resemble her family and friends but with buttons for eyes is a vivid and creative use of stop-motion. However, the first-half of the film of Coraline exploring the magical world, and comparing her drab reality to it, has always left me a bit cold. For me, the film only picks up when the more sinister elements of the "Other Mother" (Teri Hatcher) are exposed and Coraline goes into survival mode.
