Interview with Coraline costume designer Deborah Cook

 

Hosting the annual Art of Motion Picture Costume Design exhibition allows us to get an up-close look at costumes from recent films. This year, the exhibition featured a group of intriguing small visitors--puppets from the stop-motion animation film Coraline (2009). Like costumes created for humans, the Coraline puppets wear carefully conceived ensembles constructed from fabric and thread. But how does the design process differ when you're working with puppets? To better understand the process of designing costumes for animated films, we talked with Deborah Cook, costume designer for Coraline. Deborah has extensive experience working on costume design for animation, including the Corpse Bride (2005), The Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) and the UK television series The Koala Brothers. Deborah currently works as a costume designer in pre-production for Laika, the makers of Coraline. The information she provided via email interview enhanced our enjoyment and understanding of Coraline and made us look forward to her next project. Thank you Deborah, for taking the time to talk with us!

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Please describe your involvement with the making of Coraline.

I was involved in the making of Coraline as the head of costume design and fabrication, seeing costumes through from their conception through colour and fabric choices, pattern cutting, animation testing and the final fitting.

Coraline puppets on exhibition at the FIDM Museum & Galleries