In this Russell is an artistic equivalent of David Lynch, bringing out a seething world of terror just beneath the surface. Craig Russell scrupulously attempts to include as much of the original dialogue as possible, but the visual imagination of where Coraline leads enables him to create a wealth of disturbing imagery from the everyday. It’s funny and further underlines the sense of adults referencing matters a child won’t know.Īs has been the case with his other adaptations, P. “Don’t wear green in your dressing room,” she’s told, “Or mention the Scottish play,” is the additional advice. “They’re good for general, but not for specifics.” “What should I do then?”, she asks. “Tea leaves aren’t reliable for that kind of thing”, Coraline is informed. A continuing foreboding is introduced early with a door that’s been bricked-up, messages from mice, and a fortune read in the tea leaves.
Beyond a loneliness, Neil Gaiman loads Coraline with petty annoyances, such as none of her neighbours able to take on board that her name isn’t Caroline.Ĭoraline is Gaiman channelling the spooky children’s novels he read during his youth (with some modern equivalents referenced on page eight) to turn out what begins as a clever pastiche before moving into altogether more disturbing and original territory.
She’s observant, curious and imaginative. Coraline is the single daughter of two distanced parents, and in the best tradition of children’s stories she’s left to her own devices most of the time, resides in a strange gothic house shared with eccentric residents, and experience and exploration has assured a wisdom beyond her years.
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