A 36-minute making-of documentary and two extras focused on the work of the Laika animation studio boast copious behind-the-scenes footage that represents a celebration of the arduous process of stop-motion animation. The caveat here is that while the alternate universe is quite fun and zany, there's a sinister and evil entity lurking in the shadows that causes Coraline to come to terms with her lot in life and make amends with her family.

Textures are so crisp that you can make out the fuzz at the end of individual strings of yarn used for Coraline’s hair and the cross-stitching on pieces of furniture. Another big factor is that the minimal banding that was present in the night sky on the Blu-ray is completely eradicated and this looks as good as I could possibly hope for. Coralineis a dark children’s fantasy that feels like it belongs in the 80s when kids’ movies actually had bite and grit to them.The boy’s name is short for “Wyborne” which is a pretty cruel name as even our protagonist quickly jokes. She doesn’t resist and goes right on through a tunnel and comes out in a polar opposite version of her new home. The commentary featuring Henry Selick and composer Bruno Coulais is a deep dive into every aspect of the production, from a detailed unpacking of Neil Gaiman’s novella and its adaptation to the crafting of the film’s world and the motivations for Coulais’s atmospheric, eerily childlike score. Laika and Shout Factory will bring to Blu-ray four acclaimed animated films: Coraline (2009), The Boxtrolls (2014), ParaNorman (2012), and Kubo and the Two Strings (2016). The kooky neighbors garner some mild interest, but she soon finds out that the house has a tiny door in the wall that has been wall papered over some years ago.

This new Dolby Atmos sound mix comes as an improvement over the original 2009 Blu-ray and even the Shout!While that may not be the most attractive aspect of the release, the new material is a pretty cool look inside the making of the movie and the arduous process of making these films. It comes as a two-disc set, the additional disc being a DVD of bonus features, which I have yet to delve into but I’m sure are great.

While there are some differences from the original story, Coraline is about as perfect as an adaptation can get. It has a “Certified Fresh” badge over at Rotten Tomatoes with (at the time of writing) a 90% rating. For the rest of the time Selick flies solo, and luckily so, as he fires of all amount of information somewhat like a Gatling gun – it comes thick and fast on everything about the production, story, design, meshing technical information with anecdotal stories – it's almost too much too quick.The character design and set design sets the film apart but on top of that the direction it takes in the last half definitely makes this a work of succinct originality and not a carbon copy of pop culture past.

CGI sheen for exhilarating textures and luscious artistry that can only emerge from this painstaking process. It tells the story of Coraline, a headstrong, but lonely young girl who discovers an alternative ‘other’ world populated by exact replicas of her own reality only better, where all her whims are met. I would have been pleased get a High-Def version of the movie, but much to my surprise, the movie is optionally playable in 3D as well!The fans are certainly going to enjoy this audio upgrade if they’re on a sound system capable of experiencing it. Coraline, as a film, all these years later holds up incredibly well and was the audience’s first example of what LAIKA Studios was capable of, which was a visually captivating stop-motion animation that makes for excellent escapism to those of all ages. Still, after more than a decade, this film is sweet, charming, and haunting and leaves some lasting visuals that will no doubt conjure up some nightmares. No other audio format options are included except for that new exclusive Dolby Atmos mix on the 4K disc.