Coraline and 3D Printing

Coraline, a stop-motion animated movie directed by Henry Selick (of The Nightmare Before Christmas fame), has brought in more than $80 million since it opened in February, a respectable box office for an animated film. The secret to its success: more lifelike and varied expressions than were previously possible. Selick used a 3D printer made by Objet Geometries that can take an object from any 3D design software and "print" a physical copy. While Selick used handmade models to give the main character of Nightmare 800 different facial expressions, the Coraline star had 208,000. Entertainment is a growing sector for Objet. Other customers include Bad Robot, which produces the TV hits Lost and Alias and which made the 2008 movie Cloverfield.