Making another reality

Stop-motion puppet master Henry Selick directed the classic Tim Burton animated films “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and “James and the Giant Peach.” Last month, he was in Portland, Ore., toiling over his latest stop-motion animated film, “Coraline,” where photographer David Strick captured the action. Based on the award-winning 2002 novella for children and adults by British author Neil Gaiman, “Coraline” tells the story of Coraline Jones, a young girl who enters an alternate reality after she unlocks a mysterious door in her new home. Dakota Fanning is supplying the voice of the plucky explorer, while Teri Hatcher plays her mother as well as the Other Mother in the alternate universe. The film is set for release in February.

– Susan King

To see more of Henry Selick’s “Coraline” and other David Strick’s Hollywood Backlot galleries, go to photos.latimes.com/backlot.