“Be careful what you wish for.”

With a descending doll all expectation is set aside at the start of author Neil Gaiman and director Henry Selick’s Coraline. Her punch-and-cut deconstruction is distressing; at her inversion you may feel a gastric tug. You may also dream of submissive needlepoint only to awake with new eyes.

To paraphrase the film’s series of alphabet posters, “‘C’ is for Coraline – brave little girl. Who unlocks the door to a whole different world.”

Artist/Director Dave McKean and old friend author Neil Gaiman make like the creative trellis and vine team on the opening credit sequence to MirrorMask featuring the unadulterated sock puppetry of a boxed-in, 15 year old Helena who “wishes she could run away from the circus and join real life.”

Illustration, 3D and live action meld in a phantasmagoric menagerie with a big budget scope in a small budget reality. The depth and graphic style help to usher in The Dark Crystal & Alice in Wonderland sensibilities.

When asked about the opening McKean told Art of the Title, “I can tell you that it was not planned. The beginning of the film I intended didn’t work, so I had to improvise.“

Well done, sir.