Link roundup

1. Laser men.

2. Colorado Lottery Monopoly commercial by Laika. (A far cry from Coraline.)

3. Princess and the Frog concept art.

*Buy Princess and the Frog toys at eBay.

Thundercats cake and cupcakes (link roundup)

Thundercats cake and cupcakes. Via.

And a few more links:

1. Hulk/Wolverine mashup.

2. Cory Doctorow responds to a legal threat from Ralph Lauren. You don't want to miss the horribly photoshopped image that's at the heart of the matter.

3. Coraline director Henry Selick has "left" Laika.

*At Evil Buttons: Coraline and Goth Coraline dolls.

*Buy Thundercats action figures and collectibles at eBay.

Sark cosplay (link roundup)

Sark cosplay. Via.

And a few more links:

1. To get in the mood for the Horror of Star Wars art contest, why not read this Death Troopers excerpt.

2. The winners of the British Fantasy Awards 2009 are...a whole lot of books I've never heard of. Via these sites.

3. Laika laid off 63 animators, plans on focusing on stop motion. Via these sites.

*Previously: Lego light cycle.

*Buy Tron toys at eBay.

Logo for Bowling Thunder (link roundup)

Logo for last year's Bowling Thunder tournament. Via.

And a few more links:

1. GigPosters the coloring book is available here for $10, and GigPosters the poster collection is 34% off at Amazon. Of course, it's been a long time since I saw a concert poster at GigPosters that was worth posting.

2. Chris Haley channels Mignola.

3. How has Laika followed up Coraline? With ads for Spam and M&Ms/Transformers.

4. DC has started blogs for Vertigo and Wildstorm. That makes good sense. But making only partial feeds is dumb. Get a clue DC. You're in the business of selling DC product, not maximizing page views. Via.

*Previously: Rampaging unicorn.

*Buy concert posters at eBay.

Minutemen cosplay (link roundup)

Go here for several photos of these Minutemen cosplayers.

And a few more links:

1. Deanna Marsigliese claims she was never paid for work she did on Coraline.

2. Relatedly, here's advice for avoiding the problem of submitting work to an art show, only to have the gallery refuse to return your work.

3. Man intends to have prosthetic eye equipped with camera.

4. Detroitblog is an excellent source for news on the post-apocalyptic city that is Detroit.

*At Evil Buttons: How to make Coraline cakes; Homemade Coraline doll.

*Buy Coraline Dunks at eBay.

Coraline Box #41

The makers of Coraline sent out 50 handmade boxes to some of their favorite bloggers. Each box is unique and includes items from the movie. Box #41 apparently never made it to a blogger, but is on sale, along with several other terrific items, at eBay to benefit the Starlight Foundation:




You can see the rest of the boxes I've found to date here. And for all things Coraline, visit Evil Buttons.

*Buy cigar boxes at eBay.

Coraline Box #40

The creators of Coraline sent out 50 handmade boxes to some of their favorite bloggers. Each box is unique and includes items from the movie. Box #40 belongs to Ironic Sans and features headless dog bodies:



You can see the rest of the boxes I've found to date here. And for all things Coraline, including interviews, giveaways, and reviews of the books, toys, and videogames, visit Evil Buttons.

*Buy cigar boxes at eBay.

Photos of the Apple store Elf and Santa statues

Scott Beale/Laughing Squid has posted some high res photos of the Apple store Elf and Santa statues.

*Previously: Photos of the John Hodgman and Justin Long puppets.

*Buy Santa Claus toys at eBay.

Photos of the puppets from Laika's Mac ad

It seems like an absurd missed opportunity that Apple hasn't put on sale toy versions of the adorable Justin Long and John Hodgman puppets from Laika's Mac ads. But there's a few photos of the puppets in this Flickr gallery.

*Previously: Plush haunted iMac.

*Buy Corpse Bride toys at eBay.

Neil Gaiman's Coraline Box

Neil Gaiman received a Coraline box that included a Coraline puppet used in the movie. He posted lots of photos here.

*Previously: Coraline keys found on abandoned building.

*Preorder Coraline toys at Entertainment Earth.

Coraline keys found on an abandoned building in Chicago

Artisan boxes, button boxes, alphabet posters, and now Coraline keys stuck to buildings. Via.




There's already one on sale at eBay. (The coraline.com url is written on the key.)

Coraline Button Box

Wow, the advertising campaign for Coraline is endless. Now the Other Mother is sending out button boxes to bloggers. You can see the contents at Laughing Squid.

Relatedly, you can hear the MeFi community's thoughts on the advertising campaign here.

*Previously: 50 Coraline Boxes.

*Buy the Coraline Graphic Novel at Amazon.

This is why I'm worried about Coraline's chance for success

Neil Gaiman: It was lovely, and, once it got going, really creepy. I have visions of terrified parents having their hands squeezed by solicitous children who will have to remind them that it's only a movie.

Ain't It Cool News: That fact is evident from the opening credit sequence, which follows a rag doll being dismembered and subsequently rebuilt by an unseen creature whose nature is hinted at by the giant spidery hand seen performing the operation. We don't really know what's going on here, but the sequence is still as unsettling as hell.

They Might Be Giants: "It was a strange experience. They basically wanted the music to be more creepy. It was unfortunate--we did a lot of sort of preliminary work, there were a lot of false starts, and we never really found a rhythm to work with them. I guess there's one of our songs in the movie momentarily, but it's sort of unfortunate."

The Oregonian: Laika, Phil Knight's Portland animation studio, laid off 65 people today as it pulled the plug on a long-gestating film. [p] "Jack and Ben's Animated Adventure" was a computer-generated feature once slated to be Laika's second film. The first movie, a stop-motion picture called "Coraline," is due in theaters Feb. 6.

Would you be comfortable taking a young child to the movie? And if not, exactly what is the audience for this movie?

(Image from Coraline box #8.)

In other Coraline news, at random I checked to see if the Other Mother had a website. Turns out there is a website called "The Other Mother," but it's not related to the movie.

*Previously: Hand-crafted Coraline boxes.

*Buy the Coraline Graphic Novel at Amazon.

26 Coraline posters

26 alphabet card Coraline posters, all collected here.

*Previously: Hand-crafted Coraline boxes.

*Preorder Coraline toys at Entertainment Earth.

The Coraline website is active

The Coraline website is once again active with more than making of videos. I wonder if that means all of the "influencer boxes" have been sent out?

Exploring Coraline's house unlocks desktop wallpapers, making of featurettes, clips from the movie (my son made me play the song about Coraline roughly 12 times), a pattern for knitting a sweater, and an image editor that supposedly allows you to add buttons to a photo of your choice (it locked up on my computer). There are also several "posters":




There were two potential mysteries someone else might be able to unravel. First, there's a piano you can play. Maybe if you play the music on the sheet (or some other special tune), you unlock something? Second, you can move past the photos in the well to look at the bottom of the well. It struck me as strange that someone would create the entire well and allow you to twist the entire thing around if there was nothing down there. Finally, the site has a photo of Nike "Coraline Dunks," which you can try to win by using a password that will play at the end of the movie's credits. Apparently, there will be less than 1,000 made.

*Preorder Coraline toys at Entertainment Earth.

Coraline Box #3

The creators of Coraline sent out 50 handmade boxes to some of their favorite bloggers. Each box is unique and includes items from the movie. Box #3 belongs to Stainless Steel Droppings:



You can see the rest of the boxes I've found to date here.

*Preorder Coraline toys at Entertainment Earth.

Coraline videos

The making of Coraline videos can now be watched at Youtube. This one shows Jeanne McIvor assembling a cat puppet:



*Previously: 21 of the 50 Coraline boxes.

*Preorder Coraline toys at Entertainment Earth

Coraline Boxes #9, 46

The creators of Coraline sent out 50 handmade boxes to some of their favorite bloggers. Each box is unique and includes items from the movie.



Box #9 belongs to Darkmatters and features the other father's arms.


Box #46 belongs to The Kreep. No photos yet, but it features a bat/dog model.

You can see the rest of the boxes I've found to date here.

*Buy "Coraline: A Visual Companion" at Amazon.

Coraline Box #7

The creators of Coraline sent out 50 handmade boxes to some of their favorite bloggers. Each box is unique and includes items from the movie. Box #7 belongs to Lauren Marie of Ravelry (registration by invitation required).



You can see the rest of the boxes I've found to date here.

*Buy "Coraline: A Visual Companion" at Amazon.

Coraline boxes #8, 15, 34, 39

The creators of Coraline sent out 50 handmade boxes to some of their favorite bloggers. Each box is unique and includes items from the movie.


#8 belongs to Knitty Blog and features a collection of horrifying tools.



#15 belongs to Lines and Colors and features a scrapbook.


#34 belongs to VampireFreaks (registration required) and features a skeletal hand.



#39 belongs to Halloweentown and features bugs' wings.

You can see the rest of the boxes I've found to date here.

*Buy "Coraline: A Visual Companion" at Amazon.