>>96557435I think a good chunk of Coraline's charm comes from what a limited setting and casting it has.
All of the action is settled on a single house, and while there's a scene in the city, it's not very long. Because of being limited to one location, they made sure to make it an interesting looking location.
Same goes for the characters; Coraline is centered around her, while Paranorman deals with many more people and issues. None of the characters in Paranorman seem all that developed to me. Norman and Agatha are the only ones that feel deep somehow. And even then Agatha is barely in the movie and Norman gets too whiny for me at times. I know, he's going through a lot, but that's still a bit annoying.
Coraline acts like a real child does, specially one whose teenage adolescence is right around the corner. She's a bit of a brat, sarcastic and looking for attention. However, she's also pretty funny, so damn cute, and really loves her parents. All of the spotlight is on her, so there's no distracting side characters to really get in the way. There are some side characters, but those never show up unless Coraline is there, and even then, they are so cartoony and, while a bit cliched, still somewhat original that I was never bothered by them.
