Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Are You Scared Of Buttons?


We saw Coraline a week ago, and everybody liked it immensely. We are so used to CGI these days, that even when watching a stop action animated film, we had to keep reminding ourselves that everything that we saw on screen actually exists.

Last weekend, I got to spend a day in SF, and went to the Museum of Cartoon Art, which had an exhibit of Coraline drawings, props, puppets, etc. from the making of the movie. It was very interesting to see the puppets--Coraline was only about 7 inches tall; by contrast, the final version of Other Mother was probably twice that. There were actual figures of Coraline and both her Real family and the Other family, both the old and young Spink and Forcible, the Other Mr. Bobo and several of his circus mice, and even the mantis/garden machine/helicopter.

However the most eye opening items were the short videos, showing several artists who contributed to making the film. The most amazing one was the woman who actually knit tiny sweaters and gloves for Coraline. Her knitting needles were no larger than safety pins, and the tiny stitches are completely unbelievable even as you watch her make them.

The official movie website is one of the best I have come across, and the videos are accessible from there as well. The above picture is from the Other Mother's Workshop, where you can add buttons to pictures from your computer or webcam.

Maybe buttons are scary, but on the puppy, I think they are pretty darn adorable.

No comments: