I am participating in NaNoWrimo this November, in order to work on the second draft of my novel, TheMystery of the Body Thief. And if you want, you can check out my most recent post about my novel here, given that this post will be answering questions about it.
Also, thank you everyone for sending in and posting questions for the Q&A about my novel. I won't be able to answer all the questions in this post, but there will be a second part of the Q&A, so if you didn't post a question and want to, you still can. Or, if not all your questions got answered or none of your questions got answered they will be answered in the next part. Also, thank you for Fifty-six followers!
Synopsis-
Genre: Fantasy | Murder Mystery Series: The1st book in the Lady Annabelle Mystery Series.
Horatio wakes up from being in a coma, but he doesn't remember anything that happened before he fell into unconsciousness. All that he remembers is a name, "Annabelle!"
Also... Detective Inspector Time finds himself having to solve a case without Lady Annabelle. Murders have been happening throughout many different kingdoms, and no one knows who exactly is behind it all.
My Plans for NaNoWrimo This Year
I plan to continue world-building, editing, and rewriting my novel from where I left off. Originally when I was editing, I edited the story in its chronological order. But then I decided to rewrite it out of order, so I could spend some time on the scenes (and sections) I had skipped during the first draft.
I might add that when I was first drafting the story, I skipped some sections. Most of them were scenes I had trouble writing and/or didn't feel like writing at the moment. But in the second draft, I get to focus on those scenes and flesh them out.
I've also found that the scenes I skipped writing required me to have experiences that I didn't have at the time but have now. It wasn't until the second draft that I realized I was unconsciously writing about experiences from my own life, and why I had to process those experiences before getting them right....It's interesting how writing does that sometimes.
Also, in the second draft, I finally realized what message I wanted to communicate through my story. Neil Gaiman actually said something similar about this in his writing of The Graveyard Book: "It was then, only then, that I saw clearly what I was writing...." He "had set out to write a book about a childhood-- it was Bod's childhood, and it was in a graveyard, but still, it was a childhood like any other; I was now writing about being a parent..." (The Newberry acceptance speech, part five, the Graveyard book) I realize that I am doing a similar thing now, in my story, and that there are some elements I need to tweak in order to get the message through.
In terms of world-building, I have made some progress, and I understand the world better. And it has also helped me understand the characters. When I first started writing, I didn't know Ophelia was going to be a healer and a priestess. I first knew she was a healer, but over time I soon figured out what it meant to be a healer and priestess in her world and that some priestesses are healers. (Not all priestesses are healers, but a certain type of them are.)
So, during this NaNoWrimo, I plan to expand more on world-building and look back on the document where I wrote random ideas I had about the world during Camp NaNoWrimo. I want to see if I can expand on them and flesh them out.
Q & A
And now for the questions from you, the readers, about my novel, The Mystery of the Body Thief.
Question from Elizabeth Knight:
I'm intrigued about what the "body thief" could possibly be, but I have a different question in mind so as not to spoil the book for me: what, if any, kinds of magic are there in the book, and what form does it take?
Ophelia (left) and Vonivera (right), using their powers
There are three different types of magic in the world of The Lady Annabelle Mysteries Series: there is magic given at birth which is usually seen in fairies (though it is seen in other creatures too, like dragons), magic that can be learned (in this particular world you have to become a devotee to a god/goddess in order to learn it), and magical objects (which can be in mirrors, wands, etc.)
There are also very different uses for magic: some magic is used for healing in the world, other magic is used for harm (or to kill), and magic can also be used to solve cases by the detectives in the world.
In the religious beliefs of the elves, magic was given to the world by the gods. (Other magic came to the world through pure trickery.) I am also working on a post in my Look Into a World series on this blog, which I plan to post sometime soon. It talks more in depth about how the magic in this world came to be.
Hi Quinley, I was wondering about Horatio’s personality. Is he quiet and shy? Humble and Gentle, a bit prideful or outgoing? Or just friendly and creative?
Horatio is a bit timid (partly because he doesn't have many friends, and many servants in the castle do not like him), curious, and friendly, as well as being outgoing. If there is something dangerous or mysterious happening, he is willing to get involved in it. (However, he doesn't always know why he is so quick to do that: it seems almost like he does it instinctively or impulsively.)
Horatio also seems not to understand parts of himself, like how he behaves certain ways at certain times. This is partly due to the fact that he has amnesia and doesn't remember his past. So elements about himself seem strange to him that wouldn't otherwise be strange if he remembered his past.
Where’s the setting of your story?
(Image from Wiki Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Paul_Sandby_-_Bothwell_Castle,_from_the_South_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg)
The story is set in a Fantasy world. But most of the action in the first half takes place in Dragon's Province, in the castle of Lord Oberon, where Horatio is a servant.
But the setting also extends to the town in Dragon's Province, where events happen such as plays, festivals, and religious gatherings. At different points in the story, Horatio visits the town for different reasons. In particular, he visits the police department.
(Image from Wiki Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tavern_Scene-1658-David_Teniers_II.jpg)
And though this isn't exactly a single place, the characters do visit several taverns (and sometimes taverns that are also inns). I have felt like taverns are also part of the setting of the story. Taverns can be a dramatic setting in the story, since characters often fear being watched by others. Other characters either meet in a tavern (in some cases) or go there to talk when their work is done. (And I may have been also slightly influenced by D&D and Lord of the Rings with the taverns that show up in my story).
One thing I think I should add is that I've been listening to this particular complication of music whenever I write a tavern scene. Though it isn't exactly about the setting in my story, I thought by sharing it I could give you an idea of the atmosphere of the taverns in Annabelle's world.
Ooh my first question is- who is Annabelle? Kinda obvious I know lol, but she seems to be key.
Annabelle in her wedding dress.
Lady Annabelle is a half elf princess who worked as a detective before she (like Horatio) was in a coma. But unlike him, she hasn't awakened yet. She is also the main character in the series. (Though Horatio is taking the spotlight for a short time in this one book, the next book will go back to Annabelle.) She started working as a detective after a murder took place in the castle, and though her father is very against it (because he worries about her safety), she continues to solve cases anyway.
However, her connection to Horatio is unclear. Horatio isn't sure how she and him knew each other -- whether they were friends...or something else entirely -- but at the moment, he believes they were at least friends or acquaintances (given that he has memories of her). But I can't say anything else about that...because of spoilers.
So, I hope that answers your question. Also, I have created a profile for Annabelle on this blog, so if you want you can check out her character sheet here.
Inspector Time- I'm wondering if his name means anything (like time travel or something) or if that's just his name?
Naming wise, When I first created the character, his name was going to be Detective Inspector Thyme, but since I was pretty young when I named the character and had taken the name from the cozy murder mystery TV show, Rosemary and Thyme, I thought the name "Thyme" was Time not Thyme, so I ended up naming him Detective Inspector Time. But since it worked, I decided not to change it.
Character-wise, D.I. Time changed his last name, because he wanted to. His family had had a different last name, but since he wanted his name to be memorable he decided to change it to Time. (This may or may not have been after he got his magic). His extended family though is not very happy with the name change. (Especially because the name change was not done through marriage, and just was done..."on a whim" as they describe it).
When it comes to your question about whether he has powers (time travel related ones that is), the answer is not exactly. Since most detectives or officers in the police department do have powers (though people are not required to have them) he does have powers (and so does his adpoted daughter, Marigold). But they aren't exactly what you think they are. Upon touching an object, D.I. Time has the ability to know what it has gone through and who has touched it. But he can't tell the names of the people who touched it, only the texture of their hand, the way they hold the object, and other feelings like (warmth, cold) he gets from where the object was, how it was made, what it has been through.
The fact that murders are happening in multiple kingdoms is intriguing too. that makes me wonder if Time and Lady Annabelle are part of some far flung agency or detective group, or ?
So, there are several detective agencies working on solving the murders of royalty. This is partly because concerned royalty (who is worried they one of them could be next), would rather have more than one agency work on solving it than a single one. So agencies from all over different kingdoms are working to solve it. Admittedly, this rarely happens, since crime solving is usually limited to one kingdom, but since the life of different kings and queens is on the line, multiple detective agencies happened to get involved.
Annabelle is not a part of the detective agency though. Her father would never let her give up her position of princess to be a detective, though she has gotten herself involved in several different cases, I'd say in a very Sherlock Holmes-like fashion.
Is there any drama in this story? I would like a lot of drama in your story! I love drama!
While the story itself is not a melodrama, there are some social conflicts (drama) and internal psychological conflicts. Gossip often plays a negative role in the social drama, and since this is a murder mystery, there is of course the drama of murder itself and having to look for the killer or killers. There is also magical and supernatural drama throughout the series, as magic plays a role in causing and solving cases. Gods and goddesses often come to the mortals' world, and sometimes they cause a bit of drama whether they meant to or not.
Why are the murders happening in the story? Is it because of money or something else is going on?
That contains spoilers, so you will have to wait for my book to come out in order to figure out who the murderer or murderers are, and why the murders are happening. If I revealed it here, it would remove the mystery from The Mystery of the Body Thief.
...And that's the end of part one of the Q&A, if you would like to get a question or questions in for part two, you can ask them here or comment them down below.
“Nothing is more painful to the human mind than, after feelings have been worked up by a quick succession of events, the dead calmness of inaction and certainty which follows and deprives the soul of both hope and fear” — Mary Shelley, Frankenstein.
Hello everyone, so the reason why I have not been responding to comments or blogging, was due to the fact that I was in the middle of a tornado. Because of this I lost power and internet. The power came back after ten days but the internet was gone for three weeks. Everything and everyone was fine after the tornado, but it was still scary. I have been doing yoga and mediation so hopefully that will calm down the stress that I have been feeling and am still feeling. Yoga and mediation have been really helpful for me in that way many times before. So maybe in the midsts of all this chaos I will obtain inner peace.
If the fear of COVID-19 is making you stressed, or something else is, I recommend doing whatever calms you down. Also I have something included later in the post that might help.
My old camera before it broke
One of the things that happened during the tornado was that my camera got broken and the lens wouldn’t open. So I had to switch to a different camera (using the same memory card). The new camera has very odd dates. For example it labels new pictures as being from 1980, 1970, or 1979. (It doesn't know that it is 2020.) So, apparently it thinks this is the seventies or eighties. Maybe the camera reset to the start date for Epoch time, which is January 1st 1970 (equal to zero in Epoch time). Also it is a possibility that the camera will get to “negative dates” and I might be able to put it at a time longer ago than 1970. Since I am posting updates about the tornado, I had to mention it since I found it rather funny.
While dealing with no internet, I read some very neat books: Monkey, The Graveyard Book (graphic novel version, though I do intend to read the novel version soon), and the first book of the tetralogy The Journey to the West. This has been very inspiring for my own writing, given that the setting for the Silver Key has some asian influences.
(Image from GoodReads, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/100237.Monkey)
The main character of the abridged version of The Journey to the West, called Monkey, is Sun Wukong (The Monkey King). He is a really light hearted and happy character, who desires to live forever. (And cheats death to do so, along with eating and taking several other things that made him immortal even though he is already immortal). I felt like he was a character I needed at the moment. He is an optimistic trickster who can shape-shift and wants to live forever, and kind of caused a little havoc. And, I felt like the book in general was one that I had been looking for in the Fantasy genre, for some time. It completely fit all the things I had been looking for. (Also the series it is one book longer than Lord of the Rings which is a bonus). Anyway, Monkey is a bright, happy, mischievous, character to read about when times are rough and sometimes sad. So it was a very uplifting book to read during this stressful time.
(Image from Amazon, https://www.amazon.com/Graveyard-Book-Graphic-Novel/dp/0062194828)
As for The Graveyard Book, I loved that it focused on ghosts that were protecting the main character, and even I love that he had ghosts as adopted parents. It was a happy but sometimes bittersweet book. And I can’t wait to read the novel version of it, as the book was very comforting for a time like this. The novel will be fun to read, as I love Gaiman’s writing style.
I also should add that I missed making a post for my blog's anniversary, which was on March 9th. I really wanted to make one and now the date has passed. I do intend make one though, even though there is very little time left in March. I want to make two posts on both my blogs for their anniversaries, even if it is very belated or not even in the month of March.
In the future, hopefully after the epidemic of the coronavirus calms down, and when it would be sensible to visit a hospital, I hope to visit those who were harmed by the tornado in my area and the people who lost their belongings. I have a project going which is for those who were hit by natural disasters all over the world. I hope to give customized dolls to children (and maybe even teenagers) who lost their belongings due to the tornado. That’s why I am glad that I worked on the doll project and got dolls for it before the tornado. Because now once everything calms down I will be able to give dolls to people who really need them. If you want to know more about it, I am going to be posting updates on it onmy doll blog.
Though my house survived (even though it is a little damaged), it can be really sad to think about the people who lost their homes (and belongings) because of it. And even to think of the birds and squirrels who lost their trees, because several trees fell down during that time. Though I probably should mention on a happier note that two birds decided to make a nest in a grill that no longer works, which I find neat because now they are completely protected from rain and cats and other dangers. Because of the destruction it caused, I have a desire to help both people and animals who had their homes destroyed by the tornado whether it be through making things for them or even helping people emotionally through my creative work.
I was also stressed at different times, and instead of writing new posts I decided to edit and post things which had been written before COVID-19 became an issue and the tornado struck. Such as my post about editing my novel, and the new updated about page. (Also I just wanted to say, thank you to Kat for leaving such a sweet comment on the new about page, it really brightened my day).
For those who are feeling overwhelmed by COVID-19, or are dealing with COVID-19 and a natural disaster, I think mediation is good to do. I’ve suggested it to those around me and it’s helped (and I’d like to thank my yoga instructor for teaching it to me). Anyway, I thought why not put it out there, in case anyone needs it? Here it is:
Prema = Love, and you close your eyes and sit down somewhere and chant this out loud you can chant it about 3-10 times or more if needed.
Shanti = peace, and you can chant it as many times as the other one.
I feel like this is one of the most important ones as of right now, because the translation means “may all beings be happy and free, and may the thoughts, words and actions of my own life contribute in some way to happiness and freedom for all.” I feel like this is something very important and needed at the moment. If you want something to follow for chanting along, I recommend this video:
You can do it on your own or you can do it with someone else. If mediation helps you (it doesn’t always work for everyone), I recommend doing it. It might help you calm down. It’s helped me. It really doesn’t matter what religion you are, or if you have no religion. Yoga and mediation can sometimes be really useful. And I know that for some, mediation and yoga are not accessible, so that is why I am putting this out here so that those who need it can find it.
I did manage to do some writing while having no power or internet (writing short stories and even editing one that I had written before, and animating in between). But at some points I still found it hard to focus. When we got power I did also manage to film a Shakespeare soliloquy (I won’t say which one it is, but all I can say is that it is from Romeo and Juliet, and that I play Romeo in it). I still need to film one more thing for it, but I have the most important part already filmed, which is Romeo’s part. It felt so good to play him and it made me feel so much better. But given that there is broken glass where I filmed, it might take a little cleaning before I can finish filming the last thing I need, edit it, upload it to YouTube, and post it on my blog. Once there is no broken glass I hope to film a contemporary monologue or monologues as well, when I find the props I need. And maybe I will even act out two scenes from Doctor Who or Star Trek, once I memorize the lines. This will also give me a chance to learn more green screen skills such as playing more than one character.
(Image from wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Shelley#/media/File:RothwellMaryShelley.jpg)
What I try to keep in mind during this time is that Mary Shelley, the writer of Frankenstein didn’t give up or stop writing when the world felt like it was collapsing around her. She kept doing it, she kept on going. And if we can, I think we should all be a little like Mary Shelley and pour our sadness, fears, and anxieties into our creative work.
————————————————————————————— How about you? How are things going for you? Have you been reading any good books recently? If so then I would love to hear about it in the comments! :)
I saw Coraline a little while ago and felt that I should make a review for it. This is not the movie I said I would review in this post, and I do hope to post a review for those two movies soon (because I did enjoy those two movies.)
Anyway I felt I needed to warn Coraline book fans that the movie is nothing like the book:
Coraline (2009)
(image from Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coraline_(film)#/media/File:Coraline_poster.jpg)
Rated: PG
Spoiler free review: Be Careful What You Wish For, since this movie is sadly disappointing.
If you like the book Coraline, you may not like the movie Coraline. The movie does not follow the scenes in the book accurately, changed the pacing and puts events out of order. A lot was cut out and they even brought in a character that really wasn't needed at all, named Wyborn (nicknamed by Coraline "Why Were You Born?" and "Wybie" by his grandmother). I felt like he was an unnecessary part of the plot. The directors justified this character addition that created a back and forth dialogue rather internal monologue by saying that having Coraline talk to herself wouldn't have been as interesting.
I disagree, because in the book she doesn't always talk to herself, she talks to the cat and the neighbors. Plus I would have loved to see what the screen writers could come up with to create a vision of what was going on inside her head and see her internal monologue. Also, near the end of the movie, Wybie did something that Coraline was supposed to do, for some weird reason. To me it felt as if the directors were saying Coraline wasn't strong enough to do it on her own, which to me felt a little sexist.
By cutting a lot out of the book, unfortunately the movie became more like a folk tale as opposed to what I felt it had been before, which was more of a gothic story with little elements of horror in it. By explaining things that were left unexplained in the book, they remove the story from the gothic genre.
In addition Coraline's character felt a little off and not completely like herself to me, because the movie character was sarcastically bored and unimaginative. As for the other characters–Miss Spink, Miss Forcible, and Mr. Bobo (renamed Mr. Bobinsky in the movie)–they all felt a little off to me, sadly. They didn't seem as if they could be real people as they had been portrayed in the book. It felt as if the directors had made them cartoonish for the movie, which wasn't necessary. Also, in my opinion they made the character of the Other Mother too powerful.
Also If you are an sensitive parent or child. I should warn you that there is a nude scene, but the scene is portraying the two paintings The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelliand Ulysses and The Sirens by Herbert James Draper. However, you could argue that the directors could have chosen paintings with no nudity in them. I was okay with it, because they were portraying paintings of scenes from Greek Mythology.
Even if you don't like the movie, the soundtrack is really good, and I would recommend listening to it.
My rating:
The movie was not as scary as the book. The directors did not portray the book well. I also felt they didn't need to add in a boy character. I gave the movie two stars for the music and the animation, but in itself Coraline (the movie version) is a bad portrayal of a good story. I added 1/2 star for the Shakespearian and Greek Mythology elements of the movie.
Spoiler-full review:
My thoughts on things that were edited out of the movie and things that were added in:
Sadly, they cut the rats' song in Coraline's dream out of the movie. I had been listening to the beautifully eerie end-credits music, I assumed that the rats' song would in the movie. Unfortunately, I was very wrong. Thankfully I did find the Coraline broadway musical recording, which had a version of the song in it, which sounded suitably eerie:
The movie also replaced the evil rats, which were running around Coraline's house in both worlds in the book, with cute mice. The mice later turned out to be rats in disguise, but this confuses the story. The rats in the book were the initial clue that something was off with the other world, since the Other Mother treated them like pets.
(Image from wiki, https://coraline.fandom.com/wiki/Wyborn_Lovat?file=Wybie_Lovat.png)
The addition of Wybie created problems, because he added information which introduced gaping plot holes into the movie. For example, he said that his grandmother didn't rent out the Pink Castle to couples with children. So then why did she allow Coraline and her parents to live there?
Also I was annoyed about the whole Wybie "stalker" plot, which wasn't even part of the original story. Unlike the addition of Tauriel in The Hobbit, I felt that Wybie's addition to the story was unnecessary and annoying since he, as opposed to Coraline, defeated the Other Mother in the end (even if Coraline helped a little). It felt like the directors were saying the lead female character couldn't defeat the Other Mother on her own andneeded a male character's help to do so. In the book Coraline set up a doll tea party around the well, and caught the Other Mother's hand in the well. In the movie this scene was replaced with an action packed fight scene between Coraline, Wybie and the Other Mother's hand where Wybie does most of the work. Also, I did not like that the stalking narrative thread with Wybie was romanticizing stalking. In the movie Coraline said, "thank you for stalking me" after Wybie rescued her. This felt wrong to me for the directors to do that, since I don't want anyone to think stalking is a good thing, or that a stalker can rescue them from something dangerous, because a stalker is themselves dangerous.
(Image from Rotten Tomatoes, https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/coraline#&gid=1&pid=h-32137)
I was not particularly fond of Coraline's attitude in the movie or her blue hair. In the book she felt less like a rebelling teenager or troubled child, and more like a child who wanted her parents attention and was sad that she had lost it, because her parents were busy. The scene where Coraline walks around the new house is both in the book and the movie. I was annoyed and thought it could have portrayed a little better in the movie, though I did like when she accidentally pressed a light switch that said "don't push."
The directors also modified the scene where the ghost children got there souls back. They called them "eyes" for some reason in the movie, which doesn't make sense because if they are eyes why is there only one of them?
(Image from wiki, https://coraline.fandom.com/wiki/Wyborn_Lovat?file=EE024AAC-E8AF-4AFD-934D-67A177DAC44E.jpeg)
Despite this change, all of the ghost children are shown to be wearing halos and wings, instead of the picnic scene in the book where Coraline is eating with them. The book does not tell where exactly the ghost children are going, however, in the movie they make it clear that it is Heaven. I believe the book left this purposefully ambiguous, but you are supposed to assume it is the Afterlife (without specifying a religion). The book version, I feel is nicer for readers in general.
Creating doll spies in the movie, I felt was really unnecessary. In the book and the movie the Other Mother had the rats to spy on Coraline, so why does she need dolls? The"evil dolls" were never a part of the original. This is a significant change, because in the book Coraline used dolls to defeat the Other Mother with her doll tea party.
(Image from Rotten Tomatoes, https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/coraline#&gid=1&pid=h-25517)
In the movie Miss Spink and Miss Forcible are creepily flat. They felt like sweet old ladies in the book, and in the movie they didn't have much that was human about them. For example, adding the taxidermy dogs dressed in angel costumes was depressing and didn't have to happen in the movie. This change was taken a step further when one of the movie characters' still living dogs almost dies and they sew an angel costume for him in preparation. In the book the dog was simply injured by the Other Mother's hand and went to the vet for it. Miss Forcible and Miss Spink were worried about their dog, but were not saying "oh well, he might die" and planning to stuff him. To let readers and movie watchers know, the dogs in both versions survive.
(Image from Rotten Tomatoes, https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/coraline#&gid=1&pid=h-30699)
The movie also made "the old man upstairs" a little too cartoony in character. He was very flat and didn't feel as if he could be a real human. He was eccentric in the book, but in the movie they take it way too far, after all he was doing acrobats on the roof! And I don't think his cartoonish feel had to do with the animation, an animated character can be realistic, even if they are hand-drawn or made out of clay.
In the book Coraline crosses into the other world despite the warnings. In the movie Coraline is given the warnings way too late, since she had already gone through the door. Why warn her about not going through the door when she already had?
The Other Mother was given way too much power in the movie, since she could shape-shift into Coraline's mother without button eyes. In the book she could only turn into Coraline's mother with button eyes or mimic her voice. Because of this flaw, it would be hard to tell if Coraline on her own could have defeated the Other Mother in the movie version. Where as in the book, it's easy to tell that Coraline defeated her and due to the Other Mother's weaknesses, we, as the reader, have hope that Coraline can do it.
The movie also made the challenge of finding her parents much more complicated. Coraline's mantel (the real mantel, that is) in the book version did not have snow globes on it, only the Other Mother's house had a mantel with one single snow globe on it. By having many snow globes in the movie, it makes it less clear how Coraline would have been able to guess so easily where her parents were. And therefore, it adds to the difficulty for her to defeat the Other Mother on her own.
There's so much the movie got wrong, that it's really hard to include all of it in one single blog post. One significant detail that was changed, was the way in which Coraline's parents left the snow globe, which I think fundamentally changes the gothic feel of the story. In the book Coraline's parents suddenly reappear when she is asleep, there wasn't any snow on them and Coraline wakes up and begins to believe she had been dreaming. This leads the reader to suspect for a minute that Coraline's adventure could have all been a dream...but the Other Mother's hand showing up later in the book reveals that it was not. In the movie, her parents leave the snow globe immediately when Coraline is still awake, and she tells them there is still snow on them, which they don't seem to notice. This seemingly small plot change removes the mystery from the book.
My final comment on the movie's flaws, is about the ending "scene." It just didn't quite make sense. I thought at first the image was of the mice (aka rats) putting the Other Mother's hand back together implying that the directors would make a sequel or that the Other Mother was not fully defeated. As a reader of the book, who enjoyed the satisfying ending, that would make you feel rather depressed. But I wasn't really sure what the movie's intent was? Instead, I think it would have been nice to see the real mouse circus (that was in the book) as opposed to an ending scene that didn't make sense.
Things I liked:
One thing I liked was the soundtrack it was really beautifully eerie. I had listened to it before I watched the movie, which had made my expectations for it rather high. I was hoping that the movie story would match up with the soundtrack...but unfortunately it didn't.
I liked the animation. I was looking forward to watching it, but unfortunately they didn't use it to convey an eerie feeling of the book or the soundtrack.
I especially liked the animation and characteristics of the dogs. I wished they had focused on the dog characters (both the other world and real world dogs) more, without the whole "is the dog going to die?" portion of the movie that they made even more stressful than it was in the book. I wish they had made Miss Spink and Miss Forcible walk their dogs like they had in the book, and had Coraline talk to the dogs in the theatre in the other world more, as she did in the book. But I did like that the dog kept the angel costume in the end and was alright, it was kind of cute!
Another thing I liked was that there were a few Shakespearian elements to the movie, such as Miss Spink's and Miss Forcible's posters on their walls of the past plays they had done. There were also posters and other references to the local Shakespeare festival in Coraline's town. Even the boy in the uniform store shouted "...my kingdom for a horse!" (Quoted from a scene from Richard the Third.)
I actually liked the scene where reviewers warned there was nudity. I know there have been complaints about this scene. (I researched a little before watching the movie, you see.) But the reason I liked it was because they were mimicking two paintings the Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli and Ulysses and the Sirens by Herbert James Draper. The scenery they created for that scene reminded me a little of an opera in a way. However, I understand parents' concerns, since some parents don't want their children to see nude paintings or nude people.
I also liked the other world's garden scene actually. I felt that the animation in it was pretty cool (but perhaps a little too light hearted for the other world) and the fact that a portrait of Coraline showed up in the garden was pretty neat. And the real garden scene, where Coraline and her neighbors are planting flowers felt nice. It showed that her relationship changed with her parents and her neighbors. Coraline befriending her neighbors in the book happened in a more subtle way, but the movie's version was a good change.
And despite all the huge changes to the story, I felt as if the cat remained the same. Though some of the cat's lines were cut for some reason probably for time, I liked the cat's character.
*End of spoilers* I rate it:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Have you read the book Coraline, if so did you like the movie as well as the book? Do you think it portrayed the story well or not?
-Quinley P.S. Despite the fact that the fact that they didn't do Coraline accurately. There is one Neil Gaiman book that a different director did well:
