Coraline Jones moves with her mother and father from her comfortable life in Pontiac, Michigan to the Pink Palace, a dilapidated three-bedroom apartment building in Ashland, Oregon, which is also occupied by retired actresses Misses Spink and Forcible, and odd Russian acrobat Mr. Bobinsky. With her parents perpetually working on a gardening catalog and paying little attention to her, Coraline feels neglected and decides to explore their new home, befriending Wybie Lovat, the grandson of the apartment's landlady. While exploring, Coraline finds a small door sealed off by a brick wall. That night, Coraline is awakened by a mouse and follows it to the small door where she discovers a long, dark corridor in the brick wall's place. Coraline goes through it and finds herself in the Other World, a fantastical parallel version of the Pink Palace inhabited by doppelgangers of her parents called the Other Mother and Other Father, who have black buttons for eyes. These beings prove to be warmer and more attentive than Coraline's real parents, particularly the Other Mother, who does everything she can to impress Coraline. Coraline decides to stay the night at the Other World, but when she wakes the next morning, she finds herself in her old world.
