Coraline DVD Giveaway

For parents who don’t get to the theaters because, well, they’re parents, good news. Coraline has finally hit DVD. Even better news? Babble has one to give away to a lucky reader.

The animated adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s best-selling young adult novel is your classic grass is greener story with a twist. Coraline Jones’ busy working parents don’t have time to play with their daughter, but the strange bricked up door in their new home grabs her interest . . . and ends up leading to the “other world,” where her “other mother” and “other father” represent a world that’s as close to a kid’s fantasy as you can get. Or is it?

Stunning with its stop-motion animation and refreshing with Tim Burton-esque kookiness (it was, after all, directed by Henry Selick, the director from Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas), Coraline is one of those made for kids movies that can appeal to adults without the wink, wink, nudge, nudge humor that’s become de riguer in today’s “made for kids” kid movies.

Parents would do well to understand that comes with darker fare – albeit nothing any gorier or more disturbing than an old fairy tale. The rats, bats and other more obvious fears seem less effective, however, than the simple story of a girl separated from her parents and stuck with a witch (AKA Other Mother) intent on keeping things that way. That was the part that kept my own daughter at my side, even as she delighted in the wonderfully inventive wild circus and Coraline’s girl power.

Rated PG, parents would do well to provide that guidance for Coraline, but it’s worth a family night for the whole family. So get on over to Amazon to get a copy (a single-disc set comes with both the 2D and 3D versions and four sets of 3D glasses) for$15.99. You can also get a Blu-Ray or 2-disc collector’s edition.

Want to win one? One Babble reader will be chosen at random on August 7. To enter, e-mail us your name and address to babblecontest@gmail.com. Please put “Coraline” in the subject line.

And take your kids on an adventure through Coraline’s 3D garden!