Stop-Motion Go-Ahead

Coraline

This morning's announcement that Tim Burton's hotly anticipated Frankenweenie will make its world premiere as the the opening-night film at this September's Fantastic Fest got us thinking about the wonders of stop-motion animation. Then we noticed that Austinites needn't wait until fall for a solid dose of stop-motion: Coraline is in town.

Made by Henry Selick, who previously directed Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, 2009's Coraline is the first animated stop-motion feature to be created in 3-D. As in Nightmare Before Christmas, Selick's mastery of the story's phantasmagoria is a visual delight, and Coraline's plot – which Selick adapted from Neil Gaiman's prize-winning young-adult novel – shows the dark side of a young girl's wish fulfillment for a more attentive family. Marc Savlov's interview with Selick on the making of Coraline can be read at "The Slow Magic of Stop-Motion," and my reviews of Coraline and Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas are linked to here and here.

Coraline screens every morning for free, today through next Thursday, July 5, at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar as part of the local chain's childrens' series: Summer Kids' Camp. On July 6, Coraline moves to the Alamo Drafthouse Slaughter Lane for a weeklong run, followed by another weeklong run at the Alamo Village location beginning July 13, and concluding with another week's run at the Alamo Drafthouse Lake Creek July 27-August 2.