Coraline: A Closer Look at Studio LAIKA’s Stop-Motion Witchcraft

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Dr. Mihaela Mihailova (San Francisco State University, USA) Chris Pallant (Canterbury Christ Church University UK)

Coraline

A Closer Look at Studio LAIKA’s Stop-Motion Witchcraft

Dr. Mihaela Mihailova (San Francisco State University, USA), Chris Pallant (Canterbury Christ Church University UK)

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English

Bloomsbury Academic USA
23 March 2023

Film theory & criticism; Animated movies & films; Television & film (Children's&YA)

Series: Animation: Key Films/Filmmakers

Coraline (Henry Selick, 2009) is stop-motion studio LAIKA's feature-length debut based on the popular children's novel by British author Neil Gaiman. Heralding a revival in global interest in stop-motion animation, the film is both an international cultural phenomenon and a breakthrough moment in the technological evolution of the craft. This open access collection brings together an international group of practitioners and scholars to examine Coraline’s place in animation history and culture, dissect its politics, and unpack its role in the technological and aesthetic development of its medium. More broadly, it celebrates stop motion as a unique and enduring artform while embracing its capacity to evolve in response to cultural, political, and technological changes, as well as shifting critical and audience demands.

Divided into three sections, this volume’s chapters situate Coraline within an interconnected network of historical, industrial, discursive, theoretical, and cultural contexts. They place the film in conversation with the medium’s aesthetic and technological history, broader global intellectual and political traditions, and questions of animation reception and spectatorship. In doing so, they invite recognition – and appreciation – of the fact that Coraline occupies many liminal spaces at once. It straddles the boundary between children’s entertainment and traditional ‘adult’ genres, such as horror and thriller. It complicates a seemingly straight(forward) depiction of normative family life with gestures of queer resistance. Finally, it marks a pivotal point in stop-motion animation’s digital turn. Following the film’s recent tenth anniversary, the time is right to revisit its production history, evaluate its cultural and industry impact, and celebrate its legacy as contemporary stop-motion cinema’s gifted child.

As the first book-length academic study of this contemporary animation classic, this volume serves as an authoritative introduction and a primary reference on the film for scholars, students, practitioners, and animation fans.

The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com.

Edited by: Dr. Mihaela Mihailova (San Francisco State University USA), Chris Pallant (Canterbury Christ Church University UK)
Imprint: Bloomsbury Academic USA
Country of Publication: United States
Edition: NIPPOD
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 25mm
Weight: 454g
ISBN: 9781501381430
ISBN 10: 1501381431
Series: Animation: Key Films/Filmmakers
Pages: 296
Publication Date: 23 March 2023
Audience: College/higher education , Primary
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Mihaela Mihailova is Assistant Professor in the School of Cinema at San Francisco State University. She has published in Journal of Cinema and Media Studies, [in]Transition,Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, Feminist Media Studies, animation: an interdisciplinary journal, Studies in Russian and Soviet Cinema, Flow, and Kino Kultura. She has also contributed chapters to Animating Film Theory (with John MacKay), Animated Landscapes: History, Form, and Function, The Animation Studies Reader, and Drawn from Life: Issues and Themes in Animated Documentary Cinema. Dr. Mihailova is the co-editor of Animation Studies and currently serves as Secretary of the Society for Animation Studies

Reviews for Coraline: A Closer Look at Studio LAIKA’s Stop-Motion Witchcraft

Coraline: A Closer Look at Studio LAIKA's Stop-Motion Witchcraft is an exciting collection and a much welcome contribution to animation studies. The essays address Coraline from a range of perspectives, collectively positioning it as a key LAIKA feature and a landmark in stop-motion history. A great read for all animation enthusiasts. --Filipa Antunes, Lecturer in Humanities, University of East Anglia, UK A book of insightful and thoughtful readings, Coraline: A Closer Look at Studio LAIKA's Stop-Motion Witchcraft is an impressive kind of assemblage, in and of its own mode of witchcraft. Its editor, Mihaela Mihailova, has structured a hall of mirrors for animation scholars and students to accompany Coraline as she travels through the tunnel to arrive on yet another, albeit different side; one that addresses the critical complexity of animation history as a mode of art and cultural reflection well beyond the Hollywood sign. This collection of scholarly writing is a significant contribution to the canon of literature in animation history with the publishing of the first critical book on this film. Bravo. --Janeann Dill, Doktor der Philosophie, MFA, USA