The best movie ever. I watched it 6 times on the day I got it. Tim Burton is a director to wait on till age ten because he is kind of spooky. great message. BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR!
Coraline
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Is it age appropriate?
About our ratings -
Is it any good?
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Common Sense says
Cool but creepy animated fantasy too scary for young kids.
Themes in this movie include: family relationships
Why We Rated This 
for Ages 9 and Up
The good stuff
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Role models:
What to watch out for
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Violence:
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Sex:
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Drinking, drugs, & smoking:
What Parents Need to Know
This review of Coraline was written by Sandie Angulo Chen
Parents need to know that this movie will scare young kids. Slightly less creepy than the book on which it was based, the movie is still quite dark, and the "other" world that Coraline discovers turns into a frightening, dangerous place where she could very well die (and other ghost children already have). Your young kids may be interested in seeing the movie thanks to the massive marketing campaign, but this isn't an age-appropriate pick for them. This movie deals with mature themes -- being careful what you wish for, thinking the grass is always greener, and being disappointed in your parents -- that are best suited for tweens and up. Language is mostly insults (like "jerkwad" and "idiot"), and sexuality is limited to two scantily dressed elderly actresses in one memorable scene.
Families Can Talk About
Talk to your kids about the media in their life. We have more tools and tips that can help
- Families can talk about the story's theme of wishing for a different, "better" life. Kids: Do you ever feel like Coraline? What about her parents made her initially prefer the Other Mother and Father?
- How do both Coraline and her parents change over the course of the movie?
- Do you think this movie is meant for little kids, or is it too scary?
Have you seen it? Review It!
More on Coraline
What’s the Story?
Coraline Jones (voiced by Dakota Fanning) is an only child who's unhappy about moving to a new house with her self-absorbed parents (Teri Hatcher and John Hodgman), who are too busy working to spend any time with her. The other inhabitants of their building are an eccentric crew: Russian mouse-circus ringmaster Mr. Bobinksy (Ian McShane) and bickering actresses Miss Spink and Miss Forcible (Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French), who are about six decades past their prime. When Coraline (never CARoline) opens a small hidden door in her apartment, she discovers a secret passageway to a parallel other world where everything -- her parents, her house, her neighbors, her magical garden -- seems way better ... or is it? Eventually, Coraline's dream world reveals itself to be a frightening, perilous place.
Is It Any Good?
In CORALINE, director Henry Selick, a stop-motion master best known for The Nightmare Before Christmas, creates a magical, colorful nether-world that's also dark and disturbing. At first, in addition to offering Coraline attentive "Other" parents, the alternate universe boasts a dazzling garden and a fantastic circus and theater acts, courtesy of the Other neighbors. Coraline, along with the audience, gets swept into the magic -- but there's an unnerving edge to all of the perfection. Everyone has buttons for eyes, except for Coraline and a mysterious talking cat (Keith David) that warns Coraline that her Other Mother isn't as warm and loving as she seems.
The 3-D effects (Coraline is Hollywood's first 3-D stop-motion film) are cool without being overwhelming, and the story is a two-pronged cautionary tale -- for parents and kids not to take each other for granted, and for people not to dwell on whether the grass is greener, because it could all be a huge, horrifying charade. Coraline ultimately learns that sometimes imperfect, messy lives aren't always as bad as they seem. Considering how formulaic so many family movies are , Coraline is a refreshing and inventive film. While too intense for some tots, it's a memorable treat for families with thrill-seeking tweens and up.
Movie Details
Studio: Focus Features, Director: Henry Selick
Run time: 100 minutes
Theatrical release: 2/6/2009, DVD release: 7/21/2009
MPAA Rating: PG for thematic elements, scary images, some language and suggestive humor
Run time: 100 minutes
Theatrical release: 2/6/2009, DVD release: 7/21/2009
MPAA Rating: PG for thematic elements, scary images, some language and suggestive humor
Our Members Say
See 248 member reviews
Most Recent Reviews
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I rate this title on for age 10 and give it
- My concerns are:
- Excessive violence
- My highlights are:
- Good role models
Awesome loved it!
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I rate this title iffy for age 9 and give it
I watched it since 9, now should be for jr hi+ but defintley not 8 (or 7).
HATER ERROR Dear just_keepin_it_real and Erika530, (You) just_keepin_it_real said: GREAT but just that one part! there is a part where the main person goes to a show-like thing where there are all these dogs and her buddy (whitey or whatever) and a elderly woman has sparkly sticker on her nipples! and thats it (u can see her b**bs just not the n*****s). OTHER THEN THAT ITS OK! U COULD JUST SKIP IT! but its not as bad as it sounds, its kinda funny! and its shown far away. other then that it is a wonderful movie, my little brother and 5 sisters loved it!; NO C WORD JUST CRAP! (like poo or poop or poo poo) wait whaaa??? the c word? OMG THE ONLY C WORD IN THAT PERFECTLY GOOD MOVIE IS CRAP! AND THERE IS NO DRINKING! MR. B IS ONLY ACTING GOOFY, but her mother does say (i'm telling you honey he's drunk!) but thats it! erika530 said: I hate this move I HATE the movie Coraline! It is VERY bad and a lady has huge b--bs! And on one part, she had only stickers on! She had only underware! And the other mother tries to kill all of the children! This movie IS NOT OK! The other mother also tries to sow buttons on her eyes! I am 8 and my little cuson is only 4! We both watched it and my little cousin dosn't think it's skary! I don't either. Coraline should of not of been a real movie! I will always try to tell the people that the movie Coraline, is THE WORST movie for children to watch. So if enybody has the people's phone number who made this, please tell me it! also, Jamie and James said: Something I would never recommend, way too scary, drinking, and swearing problems. When my family went over to my sister's house in Chicago for a visit, we all watched Coraline. Her 11-year-old twin sons loved it, however my kids did not. At the first scary part, my son went into the bathroom and didn't come out til' hours later, and my daugther sat on my lap and screamed and cried herself to sleep. It seemed like they were trembling for days, and my son started saying the "c" word. Now I have some problems with this movie. Now, CommonSense People is banned until: July 21, 2010 at 10:00 am
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I rate this title iffy for age 10 and give it
- My highlights are:
- Good role models
under 10 DON "T WATCH THIS MOVIE
I saw this when I was 9 and it FREAKED ME OUT! See only in the day time.
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I rate this title on for age 9 and give it
- My concerns are:
- Excessive violence
- Inappropriate sexual content
- Negative role models
- My highlights are:
- Good role models
this is an amazing movie but its also scary and very weird
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I rate this title iffy for age 9 and give it
- My concerns are:
- Excessive violence
Well done movie, just not approprate for some kids
this movie was really well done but quite creepy and i wouldn't recommend it for children under nine and some over 9.
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I rate this title on for age 7 and give it
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I rate this title on for age 9 and give it
- My concerns are:
- Excessive violence
perfect movie!!!!
great movie with scares, laughs, and more!.....
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I rate this title on for age 10 and give it
- My concerns are:
- Excessive violence
- Inappropriate language
- Negative role models
- My highlights are:
This was a very scary movie for me, but it still didn't give me nightmares. It had some graphic moments and it just wouldn't stop with the action but I found this to be a problem. Coraline beat her other mother about 5 times and she just wouldn't give up. But towards the end of the movie, I found this to be very graphic and scary. Watch with someone in the day.
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I rate this title on for age 12 and give it
- My concerns are:
- Inappropriate sexual content
- My highlights are:
- Good role models
I think it was the best movie ever, but it depends on the type of kid you are. If your the type of kid who can watch R movies and not get scared, than this movie might not be scary enough for you. but if you get scared easily (like me) this movie isnt for you. when it comes to movies im a total scaredy cat and i got a little microscopically creeped out by the movie. i like getting scared a teeny bit though so i liked it.
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I rate this title iffy for age 8 and give it
- My concerns are:
- Excessive violence
- Inappropriate sexual content
Horrible movie!
Junk! Who knew this movie would be so lame! I hated it! And there are alot of scary images too! Don't see this movie if (1): Your a sensitive person and get scared real easily or (2): because you get bored real easily.
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I rate this title on for age 7 and give it
- My highlights are:
- Good role models
Read the book. It's way better.
First off, read the book. The book is way better then the film. I read the book to my daughter before we saw the movie when she was 4. We both were disappointed by the film. Despite a wonderful cast, a song by They Might Be Giants, the movie was a big let down. My girl (Who had *JUST* turned 5) was very frightened of the ending. This was her first film in the theater and perhaps she would have liked it better when she was older. It really left us feeling that we would have rather reread the book.
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Kids ages: 6, 10
I rate this title off for age 10 and give it- My concerns are:
- Excessive violence
- Negative role models
Maybe okay for older kids but not for sensitive tweens.
Coraline made some really bad decisions. Very violent. Other world got very dark and scary. The victim children could give any child nightmares
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I rate this title iffy for age 10 and give it
- My concerns are:
- Inappropriate sexual content
Another Eerie Tim Burton Film
I'm not a huge fan of Tim Burton's movies; i.e Corpse Bride, Nightmare Before Christmas, but Coraline was a little better than his other films. I do like the message that sometimes, your imperfect life maybe more perfect than you think, however, I thought this movie was scary in a very eerie, dark, and gross way. Not a jump-out-of-your seat nightmare scary, but just very dark. I think if I were 9 years old or younger, I would have had nightmares about many of the scenes in Coraline. The man villain, the "Other Mother" turns out to be a skeletal-spider like-creature, and the buttons for eyes is a creepiness all by itself. There are other frightening scenes that may scare little ones, but any older pre-teen may be able to handle it. The one particular scene that really appalled me was the two women trapeze artists. One character (Mariam I think) had overly-exaggerated but gigantic breasts, and were at one point had two little starfishes barely covering them, leaving the rest very exposed. My mom had to cover my little sister's eyes at that point, and even I found myself a little embarrassed to even look. This is an okay movie, but to be honest, my parents had a hard time figuring out what the moral to the story was. I had to look it up for them. If you like Tim Burton's works, then this movie will definately be for you. If not, it's not really worth your time. You won't be missing much.
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I rate this title off for age 10 and give it
- My concerns are:
- Excessive violence
Naturally, its bad for kids. But its a really bad move 2.
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I rate this title on for age 17 and give it
- My concerns are:
- Inappropriate language
you cannot see that on the movie theaters, dont get a game, see it on the airplane because they are gross people saying. They Are Only Words That Said on Strong Language for PG (crap, a**, d*mn). Insulting Everyone, The Girl/Woman called another Woman/Girl (OH MAN) that would be l*sbian, well, the man said one "s--t",one "B*tch" and "F--k" Mild. That's All Lots of Dirty Name-Calling, Not Being Clean WARNING: DO NOT WATCH IT ON THE MOVIE THEATERS IF YOU ARE UNDER AGE 14, ITIS RATED TV-14 for a Reason.
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I rate this title iffy for age 8 and give it
- My concerns are:
- Excessive violence
- My highlights are:
- Good role models
score 6/10
not the best not the worst but very violent
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I rate this title on for age 9 and give it
- My concerns are:
- Excessive violence
Good over 9
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I rate this title on for age 12 and give it
- My concerns are:
- Inappropriate sexual content
Kid Love
At The End Of The Movie Coraline & Wybie Like Each Other
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I rate this title on for age 8 and give it
- My concerns are:
- Excessive violence
- My highlights are:
A Little Creepy, but Awesome!
This movie is really good if you like, weird, creepy, or scary stuff. It's not that scary though, unless your like a wimp like me, and don't like scary movies...but I'm like that and even for me it wasn't that scary! It is one of my favorite movies-along with Avatar and Twilight; New Moon! :)
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Kids ages: 7, 9
I rate this title iffy for age 12 and give it
- My concerns are:
- Inappropriate sexual content
Two scary for elementary school.
I was quite shocked at the scantily clad elderly women in one scene. I took two 9 year olds and a 7 year old. My seven year old doesn't ever want to see it again and thinks it's scary. Myself and the 9 year olds also felt we had survived something when it was over. We thought it would be cool, but not so much- try scary. The movie makes you wander who can the heroin trust? We felt paranoid that many of the characters were troubled. Best suited for tweens or teens- definately.
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Ratings at a Glance
| 36% | of parents say it's too violent |
| 26% | of parents say the sexual behavior isn't age appropriate |
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