In addition to being the first stop-motion animation film released in 3-D, Coraline has a lot going for it. I suppose I should admit up-front that I pretty much knew going in that there was no way I wasn’t going to love it.

You have a story by author Neil Gaiman; Nightmare Before Christmas director Henry Selick; comedian John Hodgman voicing the Father/Other Father; an original song by They Might Be Giants, and an impossibly intricate handmade set, featuring the world’s tiniest knitted sweater and gloves.

I read the book when it came out back in 2003, but had fortunately forgotten the plot, so the story seemed fresh, and the detail in the animation far too much to take in during just one viewing.

Some of the reviews warned that it might be too scary for children, but Tim Burton films are a staple in our house and Halloween is by far our favorite holiday, so our 9-year-old

test audience member enjoyed it as much as we suspected she would. The PG rating seemed sufficient to me–is having buttons sewn in place of your eyes really any worse than the threat of eating a poisoned apple or 100 puppies being turned into a fur coat by a Disney villain?

We also agreed that the added realism of seeing it in 3D was worth the additional travel-time (we went to Wytheville, since Christiansburg was only showing the 2D version). While I will still love this film when it’s released on DVD, there was something extra-magical about feeling as if you could step into this fantasy world.

For more fun and frolic, be sure to visit the film company’s website and the official site. Both allow the visitor to explore each room of the set, the former of which challenges you to collect hidden objects, and the latter has embedded downloads and games, like Button Your Eyes, where you can upload your own photo and select from a variety of button styles.

And this won’t be the last you hear of Coraline. Rumor has it that the band Magnetic Fields are working on a musical stage production of it. Long live Coraline!

Taryn Chase has always loved creepy stuff. She is shacked up with New River Voice Editor Tim Jackson, after all.