Coraline

Coraline (2009) is adapted from Neil Gaiman's novella and is one of the most frightening animated films ever disguised as a children's film. Coraline moves into an old house. Her parents work constantly and have no time for her. She finds a small door in the wall, and through it the same house, except that here the mother is attentive, the food is good and everything is as Coraline would want it. The only difference is the eyes: everyone in this world has buttons for eyes. The Other Mother's offer sits at the centre: you can stay here, provided you let us sew buttons over your eyes. It is one of the coldest bargains ever put in a children's story. It is Laika's first feature and it is entirely stop motion. Coraline's facial expressions were produced on a 3D printer, with the number of usable expressions running into the hundreds of thousands, and a face piece swapped for every frame. One thing is often confused: the director is Henry Selick, who also directed The Nightmare Before Christmas. That film is usually attributed to Tim Burton, who supplied the story and the designs, but Selick directed it. It runs 100 minutes and was shown in 3D. Good for: stop motion, dark fairy tales, and Gaiman. Less good for: it is genuinely frightening for small children, with button eyes, spider imagery and a mother figure turning into a monster.