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Coraline: Don't take a young/sensitive child to see it.

90 replies

FluffyBunnyGoneBad · 09/05/2009 20:34

Ghost children have their eyes taken away, main character kidnapped, weird spider wants to take her eyes. Her parents taken. Too weird, creepy overtones. It could give a small/sensitive child nightmares for months! I wish I hadn't gone. Story is similar to the People under the stairs. Main character even gets attacked by plants.

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BoysAreLikeDogs · 09/05/2009 20:35

did you not check the reviews before going

fishie · 09/05/2009 20:36

fluffy i am really sad that ds is too young for this. what did you expect?

nickytwotimes · 09/05/2009 20:39

What certificate is it?

If it is a PG then I think it is up to you to check out the theme before hand.

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FluffyBunnyGoneBad · 09/05/2009 20:51

It's a PG. I mean I was scared, not ds! He's 10!

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FluffyBunnyGoneBad · 09/05/2009 20:52

It would have been a 15 cert if it was not a cartoon, I felt sorry for the little ones who watched it. It was really creepy!

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muffle · 09/05/2009 20:55

I cacked my pants just reading the book - aged 35! I was surprised when it was made into a film aimed at children - it will probably cause millions of nightmares up and down the land.

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FluffyBunnyGoneBad · 09/05/2009 20:57

yup! me some adults included. Seriously sick undertones to the movie. Should never have been made into a child's cartoon!

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janeite · 09/05/2009 20:57

What about fairy tales? Coraline no worse than some of those. It is about dealing with fears and then having things be okay in the end. No worse than Grimm or Dahl!

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FluffyBunnyGoneBad · 09/05/2009 21:00

Na, Dahl's mild compared to this. I don't remember him writing about taking a child's eyes out, swapping them with buttons and eating them! Sick!!!

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mawbroon · 09/05/2009 21:01

My 6.5yo mindee told me he went to see it and said it was pretty scary.

Of course he was too cool to say that he was scared....

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FluffyBunnyGoneBad · 09/05/2009 21:03

There were 3 year olds in the cinema! I felt bad enough taking ds (10) to see it, I nearly took him out half way through so I he didn't have to finish watching it.

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muffle · 09/05/2009 21:04

actually I think it is pretty bad janeite! Of course in fairy tales children do get captured by witches or eaten by wolves but I think the fear is lessened by familiarity and knowing what will happen, and also by the context and setting. Coraline is very much about a normal girl in a normal RL setting and the details are not stock familiar ones - they are really terrifying. Although IIRC Gaiman was inspired by a fairy tale - but it is a little-known, really horrific, shudder-inducing one called the pear drum (scroll down to read it) which you will not find in most children's anthologies.

janeite · 09/05/2009 21:06

Brothers Grimm

The Witches?

janeite · 09/05/2009 21:08

I think that it's up to us to check out stories before sharing with our children, if they are so young. Coraline has been published a fair-while, so it shouldn't have been difficult to find out the content.

Thanks for the story link: off to have a read!

muffle · 09/05/2009 21:08

But most children rarely read unadulterated original brothers grimm versions these days (do they?)

And in dahl terrible things happen - like in the revolting rhymes - but they are irreverent and funny which makes it a bit different. Agree the witches is a scary film though.

muffle · 09/05/2009 21:10

I challenge you not to shudder at the end! I just read it again - and I've read it before - and literally got a chill down my spine.

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FluffyBunnyGoneBad · 09/05/2009 21:10

I've never heard of Coraline before, I didn't know it was a book.

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melpomene · 09/05/2009 21:11

Previous thread here

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FluffyBunnyGoneBad · 09/05/2009 21:12

oh, thanks mel

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squilly · 09/05/2009 21:13

I think it was fabulous. I loved every minute of it and I'm sure, that as an adult with an adult's perspective, I found it MUCH scarier than DD did. She's 8 and she loved the book and the film equally.

She also loves Stardust, which is a Gaiman story.

I love the darkness of this man's stories. You should read the Graveyard. A superb dark tale.

And to be fair, every review I read before going said don't take your kids, so I went prepared to walk out if necessary...but as I say, it wasn't as scary as I'd expected and was even less so for dd.

southeastastra · 09/05/2009 21:14

want to see it now!

the IMDb is a good site to check out suitability beforehand

notcitrus · 09/05/2009 21:14

The book gave me nightmares and I'm in my 30s!

I love Gaiman's work usually though (NB - the Sandman graphic novels are wonderful but not for children!)

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FluffyBunnyGoneBad · 09/05/2009 21:15

It was FREAKY!!!!

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KnickKnack · 09/05/2009 21:19

I think it completely depends on the child. My two are 5 and 7 and have seen Nightmare Before Xmas and Corpse Bride several times. They love both and cant wait to see Coraline

I can see how many small children would be freaked out by this style of film though.

KnickKnack · 09/05/2009 21:21

Here's the IMDb page for Coraline