Coraline: A Visual Companion (Hardcover)

~ Stephen Jones (Author)
Key Phrases: visual companion, other mother, mouse circus, Henry Selick, Neil Gaiman, Other World (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Coraline: A Visual Companion is a stunning, colorful guide to the making of the movie Coraline, based on the award-winning New York Times bestselling novel by Neil Gaiman

Coraline Jones has just moved into a big old Victorian house with her inattentive parents, and like any eleven-year-old with an active imagination, she soon begins exploring her new home. One day, Coraline discovers a tiny door that leads to another house. Waiting for her there are her Other Mother and Other Father, who have big black buttons for eyes. At first this other world is marvelous and magical, but Coraline gradually comes to realize that her new parents want her to become their little girl and stay with them forever.

Written and directed by Henry Selick, the celebrated director of The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach, the film Coraline was created in stop-motion animation, drawing on the latest cutting-edge computer 3-D technology. It also showcases the remarkable vocal talents of Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, John Hodgman, Ian McShane, Jennifer Saunders, and Dawn French.

Featuring hundreds of rare and exclusive photographs and illustrations, production designs and concept drawings, and interviews with the cast and crew, Coraline: A Visual Companion takes readers on an in-depth tour behind the scenes of a movie that is destined to be a fantasy classic.

From the genesis of the original novel through the entire creative process of turning the book into a movie to the many other incarnations of Coraline around the world, this visual companion is a lavish guide that will appeal to Gaiman fans, cinema buffs, visual art enthusiasts, and all those who fall in love with the inquisitive young heroine of Henry Selick's extraordinary film.

About the Author

Stephen Jones is the winner of three World Fantasy Awards, three International Horror Guild Awards, four Horror Writers Association Bram Stoker Awards, and eighteen British Fantasy Awards, and has also been nominated for a Hugo Award. One of Britain's most acclaimed horror and dark fantasy writers and editors, he has nearly one hundred books to his credit, including Stardust: The Visual Companion, Creepshows: The Illustrated Stephen King Movie Guide, The Essential Monster Movie Guide, Clive Barker's A-Z of Horror, and the poetry volume Now We Are Sick: An Anthology of Nasty Verse, coedited with Neil Gaiman. Jones lives in London.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: It Books; Mti edition (January 6, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061704229
• ISBN-13: 978-0061704222
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 8.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #323,567 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Unpleasant, February 6, 2009

By	A. Kaszycki (Oakland, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

They had this book at the Art of Coraline Exhibit in SF. After viewing the astoundingly beautiful artwork in the show I was excited to crack this book open in hopes of finding even more gorgeous concept art, etc. from the film only to find barely any of it in the tome. Why would we want a book full of pictures from the film (which are poorly printed) when we can view them in all their glory (and animated) on the screen? We want a true Art of Coraline book (the publishers need to go look at some of Insight Editions books for "Open Season", "Kung Fu Panda" and "Madagascar" to find out what their book should have been). Don't waste your money on this book. If you want to read about how the film came about I suggest buying a cup of coffee in the bookstore and read it while you sip. Then you'll only have had to spend $2-3 to get the info.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars disappointing, January 29, 2009

By	David Jones "Dave Jones" (Vic, Australia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

It looks like the film will be completely amazing but the visual companion was pretty disappointing. The images are low resolution (72 dpi some of them). And the book only really features the artwork of one of the artists involved. There was an amazingly talented team working on this film and I would have liked to have a selection of artwork from all of them....and I would have liked to have seen that selection at a decent resolution, not pixelated screen grabs. Avoid this book....perhaps they'll re-release it down the track with better quality images (and a better representeation of the talent that was involved).

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A huge disappointment..., February 2, 2009

By	Damon Smith (Savannah, Georgia United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book looks like something your grandmother might print with her ten-year-old ink-jet printer. The photographs are dark, muddy, pixelized, and full of JPEG artifacts. William Morrow should be ashamed of themselves for publishing this. The talented artists who worked on this movie deserve much better, as do Neil Gaiman's dedicated fans.