Coraline

Coraline Jones (Dakota Fanning) and her parents, Mel and Charlie Jones (Teri Hatcher and John Hodgman) leave their relatively comfortable lives in Pontiac, Michigan and move into the Pink Palace Apartments in Ashland, Oregon, which is a converted mansion that they share with retired actresses Miss Spink and Miss Forcible (Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French) and retired Russian circus performer Mr. Bobinsky (Ian McShane). Coraline's parents are busy working on a gardening catalog, which leaves them with little time for Coraline. She meets Wybourne "Wybie" Lovat (Robert Bailey Jr.), a talkative neighborhood boy and his nameless black cat (Keith David) while exploring her new home. Wybie has been told to avoid the house by his grandmother (who is the landlady of the Pink Palace), as her twin sister had disappeared there years ago as a child. The next day, Wybie gives Coraline a button-eyed doll that has an uncanny resemblance to her. She also finds a small locked door that had been wallpapered over, and when she insists her mother unlock it, she is surprised to find nothing but a brick wall.

That night, Coraline is awoken by the sound of mice, and follows their trail to the small door. Opening it, she finds a passageway instead of the brick wall, and crawls through it. On the opposite side, she finds herself in the "Other World", which is inhabited by button eyed doppelgangers of her parents, the Other Mother and the Other Father. The "Other Parents" seem to be much warmer and attentive than Coraline's real parents, particularly her Other Mother, who does everything she can to impress Coraline. Coraline continues to return to the Other World and is entertained by "other" versions of Wybie and the neighbors. But when she falls asleep, she finds herself back in her normal world. Coraline's attempts to compare her normal world with that of the Other World raises tension between her and her mother, who slowly tries to be more affectionate to Coraline (and fails).

On her third visit to the Other World, Coraline sees the black cat she saw earlier on. He warns her of the dangers of the Other Mother, but Coraline doesn't listen. Later, after a show performed for her by the Other Miss Spink and Forcible, Coraline's Other parents offer to let her stay there forever, but only if she agrees to allow them to sew buttons in her eyes. Scared, Coraline rejects the offer and tries to go to sleep, but finds she's unable to return to her normal world. When Coraline refuses to call the Other Mother her real mother, she becomes angry and transforms into a wretched witch, trapping Coraline in a mirror until she's "ready to be a loving daughter". In the mirror, Coraline meets the ghosts of three button eyed children, including that of Wybie's grandmother's sister, who explain the Other Mother or "beldam" kidnaps children from the real world, sewing buttons over their eyes with the promise of a happier life, and slowly consumes their souls. They also explain that the rag dolls are actually the Beldam's spies. Just as she promises to find the childrens' eyes to free their souls, she is rescued from the mirror by Other Wybie, who helps her back into her world.

Back home, Coraline finds her parents have disappeared. Coraline visits the real Miss Spink and Forcible, who give her a seeing stone made from old candy for protection. After seeing an image of her parents shivering in the mirror, she realizes they have been kidnapped by the Other Mother. After preparing herself for the mission ahead, Coraline returns to the Other World, and demands that the Beldam return her parents. Coraline then challenges the Beldam to a game to find her parents and the eyes of the three children. If she loses, she will stay in the Other Mother's world and let her sew buttons on her eyes. If she wins, then everyone will be freed.

Coraline, with the help of the seeing stone and the Cat, is able to recover the three eyes. As she recovers the eyes, the Other World starts to de-materialize before her. The Beldam (now a monstrous spider-like wretch) throws the seeing stone into a fire, and then demands Coraline to reveal where her parents are. Knowing the Beldam will never let her leave, Coraline tricks her into opening the little door. The cat then spots her parents inside a snowglobe and tells Coraline where they really are. Though the Beldam attempts to trap her in a spider web, Coraline and the cat are able to escape, closing the door on and severing the Beldam's hand. Coraline finds her parents are back, having successfully gotten their catalog published, with no memory of the incident. That night, the freed ghost children tell Coraline through a dream that her task is not done, and that the Beldam will try to retrieve the key.

Coraline quickly gets the key and attempts to throw it down a well nearby. Just before she drops the key down the well, the hand arrives and attacks her. However, Wybie shows up at the last minute, they both manage to destroy the hand. Together, they drop the pieces of the hand and the key in the well, ending the Beldam's threat. Wybie reveals that he came to believe Coraline's story after finding an old photograph of his grandmother and her sister holding a button-eyed doll. The next day, Coraline has a garden party with her neighbors to celebrate the success of the garden catalog and the defeating of the Other Mother. Wybie's grandmother joins them and Coraline begins to tell her everything that has happened. At the Pink Palace sign, we see the cat licking himself. He stands up and gives us a mysterious look, disappearing behind the sign, probably telling us that the magic isn't over.