Coraline

Coraline (2009) is a stop-motion animated feature from LAIKA studio — watch it online on iFILM. Director Henry Selick adapted Neil Gaiman's 2002 novella, with Dakota Fanning voicing the title character and Teri Hatcher as both the real and the Other Mother.

Eleven-year-old Coraline moves to a drafty old house in a new town and finds it thoroughly dull. Her parents are distracted writers who barely notice her. Behind a small locked door she discovers a parallel world: same house, same layout, but the Other Parents actually pay attention, cook incredible food, and have buttons for eyes. That last detail should be a warning. It isn't, until it is. The Other Mother wants Coraline to stay — permanently.

LAIKA built the film entirely in physical stop-motion, with no CGI characters. The crew hand-crafted over 200,000 replacement faces for the puppets using 3D printing — a genuine technical first at the time. Every second of the 100-minute runtime represents roughly a day of shooting. Keith David voices a sardonic black cat who knows more than he lets on, and Ian McShane plays the acrobatic Mr. Bobinsky upstairs. Stream Coraline (2009) online on iFILM.