Other Mother and Other Father welcoming Coraline to the Other World with a deliciously-prepared meal.

BD: And did you see footage?

TU: I saw the preview on my computer. I believe it is going to be a great movie, and am really looking forward to seeing the complete version.

BD: In your book of illustrations, Three Trees Make a Forest (also featuring the works of Del Carmen and Casarosa), you wrote that you must capture your ideas quickly now that you've discovered Photoshop. What's it like working digitally and what kind of Sketchpad do you use?

TU: I am using Intuos3 PTZ930. Because it has been a while since my designing process became digital in full scale, drawing by hand with paints became such a cumbersome work. I believe the merit of digital processing is a great reduction in time in materializing the images from the inspirations in my head. On the other hand, it takes a great patience in doing the same with hand-painting. It would be wonderful if I could produce the design by hand-painting which has the same quality as the digital production.

BD: Speaking of animation, what are your some of your favorites?

TU: Sleeping Beauty, animations by Tex Avery, the modern style by UPA Studios, film title designs by Saul Bass and works of Yuriy Norshteyn of Russia.

Other Father playing piano for Coraline.

BD: And what have you seen recently that you like?

TU: Among what I saw recently, Peter and the Wolf, winner of the 2008 Academy Award for the Best Short Film [Animated] was very good.

BD: Coraline marks the first stop-motion feature in 3-D. What do you think of stereoscopic 3-D overall as a storytelling tool?

TU: I don't have a good impression from the 3-D works I've seen in the past. However, I've never seen the works done by the latest technology, so I am looking forward to seeing the new ones.

Bill Desowitz is senior editor of VFXWorld and AWN.