Coraline Mystery Boxes!

Click to see the trailer.
The crew of Coraline has been sending out special handmade boxes as gifts to the bloggers they follow. We opened our own mysterious Coraline box tonight! Archive volunteers Michael and Brittany Woodside, Glenn Han and Danny Young (all wearing Coraline t-shirts they got as swag at Siggraph) were on hand to witness the event and capture it on video.



Here's our mysterious suitcase,
number Thirty-Seven!
Browse through the contents of this great gift. Many thanks to Henry Selick and his talented crew at Laika!














I'm afraid the letter in our box was addressed to deweymonster.com. But when they found out that the wrong note was in our box, the Coraline crew sent us this email...

"It warms our stop-motion hearts to see your team enjoying the fruits of this labor. You are right;­ we absolutely meant to send you a special box, just one with the right personal letter. Why? Because we noticed your passion for animation. Your site does a great service to the craft by documenting animation history and keeping a dialogue alive on this sometimes quiet passion. Archives are awesome."

Click through these links and take a gander at the contents of the rest of the Coraline boxes that have surfaced so far... Every one is different and has interesting artifacts from the making of the picture.


Box One: Tomopop
"We are pretty obsessed with animating and miniature models. Like you. That's why we admire Tomopop. Your contributions are fun and we like your devotion to discovery. We used old school craftsmanship and new 3D rapid prototype technology to build incredible detail into the props on our film. We hope someone like you will appreciate this."


Box Two: More Everything
"We are pretty obsessed with Neil Gaiman. Like you. No shame there. That's why we admire kissthelibrarian. It's weird. It's funny. It's got a wicked point of view and that's why we're writing to you. When your byline is 'How Neil Gaiman Changed My Life' you know you're dealing with an honest fellow devotee. Neil's been to the set of our movie and each visit has been inspiring. We've tried very hard to keep true to his magical vision."


Box Three: Stainless Steel Droppings
"We are real fans of Neil Gaiman. Like you. That's why we admire stainlesssteeldroppings. It's wise. It's articulate. It carries behind it a real sense of thoughtfulness toward the tenets of storytelling that we and Neil share. Neil's been to the set of our movie and each visit has been inspiring. We've tried very hard to keep true to his magical vision."


Box Four: Pink is the New Blog


Box Five: Fashion Piranha
"We are pretty obsessed with Neil Gaiman. Like you. No Shame there. That's why we admire Fashion Piranha. It's wise. It's sensitive. We like your point of view and that's why we're writing you. It carries behind it a real sense of thoughtfulness towards the tenets of storytelling that we and Neil share. Neil's been to the set of our movie and each visit has been inspiring. We've tried very hard to keep true to his magical vision."


Box Six: Wendy Knits
"We admire WendyKnits, and the fact that you are a pillar in the online knitting community. We also happen to know that because of your sock obsession, you have an appreciation for knitting things on incredibly tiny needles. Because we've got so much in common, we thought we'd give you an inside scoop because you've got a voice worth hearing."


Box Seven: Knitters for Neil on Ravelry,com
"We've seen your dedication to the Knitters for Neil group on Ravelry, and we love that you are bringing folks together over two such wonderful topics. Because we've got so much in common, we thought we'd give you an inside scoop because you've got a voice worth hearing. We like your passion."


Box Eight: Knitty Blog
"We admire Knitty, and all of the work that you do for the online knitting community. We also happen to know that you are a huge Neil Gaiman fan. Because we've got so much in common, we thought we'd give you an inside scoop because you've got a voice worth hearing."


Box Nine: Darkmattr
"We are pretty obsessed with stop-motion. Like you. That's why we admire Darkmatter. It's artistic. It's wise. It's got an unconventional POV and you've got a voice worth hearing. Henry likes to say the magic of stop-motion is, it is a live performance. 'You start someplace and know where you want to end but you can't say exactly how you'll get there.'"


Box Ten: Stop Motion Magic
"We are pretty obsessed with stop-motion. Like you. That's why we admire StopMotionMagic. Your contribution is artistic and inventive. Henry likes to say that the magic of stop-motion is, it is a live performance. 'You start some place and know where you want to end but you can't say exactly how you'll get there.'"


Box Eleven: Emmyme
"We are pretty obsessed with stop-motion. Like you. That's why we admire emmyymme. Your contribution is artistic and inventive. Way to keep learning and experimenting. Henry likes to say the magic of stop-motion is that it's a live performance: "You can start some place and know where you want to end but you can't say how exactly you'll get there."


Box Thirteen: /Film


Box Fourteen: Geeks of Doom
"Artistic, hilarious, unconventional... That's why we admire GeeksOfDoom (Greatest Name Ever)."


Box Fifteen: Lines And Colors
One of my favorite blogs just received a beautiful box full of concept art! "We are pretty obsessed with old-fashioned animation blended with new technology. Like you. That's why we admire LinesAndColors. We like devotion to discovery. And we share your cross-all-boundaries approach to finding artistic inspiration from everywhere. This is the mantra we took to heart in making Coraline. Our project began with the lucky collaboration with Tadahiro Uesugi's illustrations. Each set, every 3D prop detail tried to do his artwork justice."


Box Twenty-One: Notcot
O"We are pretty obsessed with craft. That's why we admire Notcot. It's informative and fun. And we like your devotion to offbeat discovery. In our film, we use old-timey craft. Like metalsmithing. And new techno-powered craft, like 3D rapid prototype technology. All to build incredible detail into the props on our film. We hope someone like you will appreciate this."


Box Twenty-Two: Toycutter


Box Twenty-Three: ToysREvil
Not much info yet on this one, but it appears to have Scotty Dog heads in it.


Box Twenty-Four: Despoiler
"We are pretty obsessed with mysterious storytelling. Like you. That's why we admire Despoiler. We like your devotion to discovery. And share your cross-all-bounds approach to following the trail from beginning to end. Enjoy the hunt. The braver you are, the more you'll see."


Box Twenty-Seven: Neatorama


Box Twenty-Eight: Cool Hunting


Box Twenty-Nine: Heroine Sheik
"We are pretty obsessed with old-fashioned animation blended with new technology. Like you. Maybe? We admire your posts on HeroineSheik. Maybe the connection from us to gaming seems weird. But we've noticed the scope of your analysis isn't limited by genres. We used old-school craftsmanship and new 3D modeling technology to build incredible detail into our film. Not to mention the girl in this film kicks ass. It's a classic fable. Moral questions and all. We hope someone like you will appreciate this."


Box Thirty-Three: Occupation Girl
"We are pretty obsessed with old-fashioned filmmaking and not-your-average-girl power. Like you. Sort of. We admire Cleolinda. We see a real connection to your passion for girl identity and the story of our film. Coraline isn't a typical movie and Coraline, the film's heroine, isn't your typical girl. We hope someone like you will appreciate this."


Box Thirty-Four: Miss Addams at Vampire Freaks
(Requires registration to read.) This box contains a piece of the Wybie character... a skeletal hand.


Box Thirty-Nine: Halloweentown
"We are pretty obsessed with The Nightmare Before Christmas. Like you. We admire Halloweentown.org. Your care and devotion to keeping The Nightmare Before Christmas spirit alive is awesome. It warms our little hearts to see a group of devotees who continue to seek out the weird and wonderful. We hope you'll like Henry's new movie. Equal doses joy and terror. He's kept the outsider-storyteller vibe alive."


Box Forty: Ironic Sans


Box Forty-One: Starlight Foundation
Sold at eBay. No permanent page with info on this box.


Box Forty-Two: Boing-Boing


Box Forty-Four: Make


Box Forty-Six: The Kreep
"We are pretty obsessed with dark stories. Like you. We admire your dedication to The Kreep."


Box Fifty: Creativity

There are fifty Coraline Mystery Boxes all together. If anyone finds more online, please let me know.

coraline.com
Secret passwords to access special content: otherworld (main menu), stopmotion, buttoneyes, puppetlove, armpithair, moustachio, sweaterxxs

Coraline Trailer
High resolution Quicktime


Gallery of Photos From the Set of Coraline
from the Los Angeles Times.

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