Neil Gaiman’s award-winning novella Coraline is heading to the big screen. But can it match the magic of the original?

There’s no denying that the stop-motion animation is breathtaking. And with the star power of Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, Jennifer Saunders, and Dawn French it will definitely get noticed.

But will it bring the dark allure of the original to life, or will it be just vanilla enough to appeal to a kiddy audience? I think I’d feel a lot more confident if Neil Gaiman himself had been involved!

We won’t have to wait too long to find out. Coraline will hit screens worldwide in February 2009.