At the end of October, I was invited by Laika Entertainment to a sneak peek here in NYC of their upcoming 3D stop-motion animated feature Coraline. I got to see 30 minutes of the film, after which writer/director Henry Selick came out for an audience Q&A.

Soon after the screening, I got an email from the Coraline Team out in Portland, OR, telling me to be on the lookout for a package from them specially made for me with me in mind and that I will be one of 50 people slated to receive such an item — each being one of a kind.

This is a big deal for me, because I’m a great fan of the Coraline book, I love stop-motion, and c’mon, it’s Henry Selick, director of The Nightmare Before Christmas. There’s a reason I can’t stop writing about this project! Anyhow, so I couldn’t imagine what they’d be sending, but the other day it arrived — a handcrafted aged box with an oval plate that read “Handmade in Oregon – 14/50.” Inside the box was a weathered letter with a wax seal with a black button just like the ones used in the film. The letter explained why I was getting such a unique gift and a bit about how it was made. From what I can tell, from the few other people online I saw who’ve gotten their own box, most of the message is a standard form letter, but there’s one paragraph that specifically addresses the recipient. My paragraph has some nice things to say about Geeks of Doom (we’re artistic, hilarious, unconventional…), but probably the coolest thing it said was …

THAT’S WHY WE ADMIRE GEEKSOFDOOM – (GREATEST NAME EVER).

Pretty cool, right? I’m so very flattered.

Now, about the box … it has two compartments: for the top portion, the lid of the box comes up revealing pieces of the hair from the puppet used for one of the characters with a label that said, “6 Plaits of Venus Wig For Miss Forcible“; the bottom portion was a drawer that slid open from the front and inside was a piece of paper with a quote from the book (by Neil Gaiman), a still from the film of Miss Forcible wearing the Venus wig (with a label underneath “Still No. 300-301 – F’s Birth of Venus Act”), and a skeleton key with a tag reading “Coraline dot Com – password: ARMPITHAIR.”

Apparently, everyone also got a password, which when put in at www.coraline.com unlocks a featurette about the film (see list of known passwords below). My password, most appropriately, unlocked a video about how the hair was made for the puppets.

I was super excited to receive this special gift, especially since the scene where Miss Forcible dresses in her Birth of Venus costume for a play that Coraline goes to see in the “Other” world was part of that thirty minutes of footage I got to see.

Check out the pictures from my box here below (sorry some are a bit fuzzy, my camera is just about to stop working forever).

Thanks so much to the Coraline Team in Portland for this awesome gift, it will be treasured always!

Here’s the passwords so far (via Neil Gaiman):

stopmotion : the Biggest Smallest movie ever made.
buttoneyes : Meet the cast…
moustachio : Bo Henry, art director of Coraline, shows off his remarkable moustache tricks.
armpithair : Every hair in the film was placed there by hand…
puppetlove : Director Henry Selick explains what it must be like for the puppets in the film.
sweaterxxs : Micro-knitting. That’s right: micro-knitting.

UPDATE

Here’s the location of the Coraline boxes (as they are found):

#2 – Kiss The Librarian
#5 – Fashion Piranha
#6 Wendy Knits
#13 – SlashFilm
#14 – Geeks of Doom
#22 – Toycutter
#24 – Despoiler
#33 – Cleolinda

Anyone else who’s received a box, leave a comment with the link to your Coraline box post!