Coraline.

[Grislygus]

Don't recall saying it was a ripoff, but the Thief of Always was a far better take on incredibly similar material, done seventeen years earlier. BUT, I can't resist a stupid comment, so:

A Brief Synopsis of the Thief of Always
A magical, monstrous creature turns out to be the main force behind various grinning, dust-filled entities whisking away children to a magical dream house where every wish comes true, while feeding off of their lives. The entrance to this house is disguised as a brick wall when adults are around. The children that had entered this place earlier are now trapped forever as pale fish. In order to beat the entity, the main character first escapes, then discovers that his parents are old and decrepit. He returns to challenge it to three games, destroying the dream world when it overexerts itself. In a surprise twist, the monster reconstructs himself as a tall, spindly monster and Harvey Swick finally defeats him by hurling him into the lake behind the house.

A Brief Synopsis of Coraline
A magical, monstrous creature turns out to be the main force behind various grinning, dust-filled entities whisking away children to a magical dream house where every wish comes true, while feeding off of their lives. The entrance to this house is disguised as a brick wall when adults are around. The children that had entered this place earlier are now trapped forever as button-eyed ghosts. In order to beat the entity, the main character first escapes, then discovers that her parents trapped in the dream world. She returns to challenge it to a game: Find three souls and her parents. With each find, she destroys the dreamworld. In a surprise twist, the monster is revealed as a tall, spindly, spiderlike monster and Coraline finally defeats her by hurling the key into the well behind the house.



Nah, the only similarity is that they have to do with kids.