Coraline * * *

Coraline is an eponymous named stop motion animated film about a young girl who is unhappy with her family life and finds a magic door that takes her to a "better" family in a more fun alternate reality. Needless to say, there is a catch, and parts of this movie have a horror film plot that would be too intense for younger children.

That isn't to say that older kids wouldn't appreciate the pretty good story with a moral message about not leaving your family, i.e.  "There is no place like home."  I am even more impressed with the quality of the stop motion animation, which is so smooth I mistook the movie for computer animated.  Although Coraline's world is pretty drab, the alternate world that she goes to is full of color and interesting visuals.