Coraline, the Oscar nominated animated feature, tells the story of a precocious young girl who has moved to the isolated wilderness with her neglectful, writer parents. While missing her friends at home, the curious Coraline finds a door that leads to an alternate universe. In this "other world" things are seemingly perfect, though things are not always as they seem of course. Coraline is a visual delight, with many imaginative creations for the eyes to feast upon. Additionally, it is further evidence of the superior state of animation. However, like Up, a film which I admired but did not love, I wonder if superior animation and creative visuals have consumed the animators, while plot and dialogue have been placed on the backburner. This may be missing the point, but the aforementioned neglected aspects are filmmaking elements that should not be overlooked.
**1/2
