15. Coraline

Movies: Coraline (2008)

First Appearance: Coraline, a novel by Neil Gaiman, 2002

Voiced by: Dakota Fanning

Neil Gaiman's dark-tinged children's tale combines perfectly with stop-motion genius Henry Selick's signature style, and Coraline herself pops off the screen even without the 3D glasses. She's a fully-realised kid, prone to annoying her parents and going off in a huff and being irritated by a neighbouring geek. But she's also smart, capable and ultimately fearless in seeing off the dark forces that threaten to tear her away from her family, showing that there's more to her than being a brat. She's also a masterpiece of stop-motion animation, with thousands of facial expressions and spot-on pre-adolescent body language.

Stroke of genius



It's the scene where Coraline hangs her hands around a doorknob and swings back and forth, pestering her father for attention while he's trying to work.

Fun fact

To weave the cloth and knit the jumpers used for the film's puppets, the team had to use needles as fine as human hair. Now that's what you call detail work.

10/10