well... this is the longest video i've ever uploaded lmao hope y'all don't mind

One of the quotes I wished they’d kept from the books is
“How do I know you'll keep your word?" asked Coraline.
"I swear it," said the other mother. "I swear it on my own mother's grave."
"Does she have a grave?" asked Coraline.
"Oh yes," said the other mother. "I put her in there myself. And when I found her trying to crawl out, I put her back.
“

Just because I thought it was the best creepy quote

The doll looked like Whybie's grandma's sister as a child. A new child came so the doll transferred dimensions in order to look like said child, Coraline

I recently learned that the 'sewing' tools in the beginning are actually EMBALMING TOOLS, which has such creepy implications added to this already creepy movie.

This movie scarred me for life. The Other Mother is absolutely terrifying. I'm proud of him for noticing the fact The Other Mother wasn't eating

So the author of the book was actually told by his publishers that it was too scary for kids, and to prove it wasn't, he had his daughter read it. She said it was fine, and he didn't learn until years later that she was straight up too scared but she didn't want to disappoint him.

Don't know if you know, but this is based on a book by Neil Gaiman and two things in particular are way creepier in the books:
1. The Tunnel. No Technicolored cotton candy in the book, just a dark tunnel that Coraline can actually stand up in, something that becomes super important when she Runs away from the other Mother through it. while doing so, she stumbles, touching the alls for the first time - and they are warm. They are alive. To quote from the book "It was old. It was slow. And it knew she was there." Coraline is pretty convinced that if she falls inside the Tunnel she will not leave.

2. The Hand. See, in the book, the Hand comes off too. But in the book, there is no mention of it being mechnical.

Yeah.

The Beldam banging on the door in her defeat was the most terrifying moment for me. I love the sequence of flashes as the door draws closer and she screams “Don’t leave me!”

I kinda see it as a, well, "stranger danger" warning both for adults and their children.
If you don't pay attention to your kid, then they might seek it from other grown ups. You know, from those who will listen to them, and play whith them, and buy them all sorts of things... And then ask them to stay and not letting them go home... You know.

Fun fact: the double loop on the O on the cake is actually something that is used to indicate something false. Essentially meaning Coraline is welcome, but is by no means home.

The acrobatics scene terrified me as a child and despite no longer being scared I'm still filled with a sense of soul deep dread everytime it comes up. I still adore this movie anyways.

"I don't remember any of it"
My dude, that's called repression.

The Other Father's introduction song becomes much less fun and much more ominous and tragic when you realize that he's using the lyrics to try and warn Coraline about the Other Mother's plans:

"She's as cute as a BUTTON IN THE EYES of everyone who ever laid their eyes on Coraline!"

"Our eyes will be on Coraline!"

Fun fact: Wyborne is an old english name meaning "war bear"

I THINK it's old English, I might be wrong about that, but I know the meaning for sure

I just realized that in the play the old ladys were sirens. Who are known for tricking sailors into following them, and then sinking their ship.



Thats deep.

i remember the lalaloopsy dolls came out around the same time as coraline (part of their gimmick is button eyes) and i was absolutely terrified of them. convinced every single doll was watching you, even refused to go down any toy aisle that displayed them

"You don't press ctrl-s as you do things?"
Animation major who already has her associates degree: Nope I've been manually saving all these years....☹️

The parents really are an interesting part of the movie. Because we see the movie from Coralines perspective, they seem absolutly terrible, but I think there is quite a bit of info between the lines that shows that they are just mormal parents, not amazing, but also not terrible.
A) The Mothers brace and even ehr mentioning the "Accident" Clearly, whatever it is is fairly recent and had longterm repercussions.
B) The fact that both parents are working through the move. My personal guess is that the accident threw off their schedule and they had planned to get this catalogue done before they moved. Now they have to scramble through a move which is a chaotic thing at the best of times.
C) The move itself. I know the house looks gigantic, but I wouldn't be suprised if it's fairly cheap. Out in the midlle of rural nowhere, only accseible by car, I think this might be a "We are low on funds" move.
D) The fact that everything starts getting immediatly more relaxed once the catalogue is finished. Her mom buys the gloves, which indicates that she a) realized she had been neglecting Coraline and was maybe a bit short with her (which, while probably also part of her personality, might be exaserbated by pain) and b) the now have the fuinds to get something a bit more lavish..
E) When COraline is in distress after the Beldame offered the Buttons, she searches for her parents immediatly and she makes facsimilies of them to comfort herself, This indicates that she does feel safe with them, even if she doesn't also get the attention she wants

All in all, I don't think they are neglectful parents, I think they are going through a big rough patch and a stressful time right now and their biggest mistake was not communicating this to Coraline adequatley. And lets be honest, Coraline clearly is a pretty energetic kid that demands _ a lot_ of attention. Not saying she is at fault, but she clearly doesn't have the mental capacity yet to realize that her parents cannot be her playmates 24/7

When you're young and watch this movie, you think the parents are neglectful, but they really aren't. They do love Coraline, but you can see with the state of the house that they don't have a lot of money. And since they talk about an accident, they also have to pay for hospital bills. They're just super busy. It's extra tough for Coraline in this specific instance because she's in a new, unfamiliar environment and doesn't have her friends to distract her. It's a big change and she feels like her parents aren't there for her. But they ARE there for her.  When he isn't working, the father is actually really cheerful and tries to make Coraline happy like when he sang to her during dinner. It might not be a very good meal but he's trying. And the mother is actually attentive to Coraline and worries about her, like when she buys her the gloves she wanted and even when she tells her to eat more vegetables.

i LOVED that transition at 24:00 where the mom is sitting on the chair and it fades into the Coraline doll sitting there instead. i've watched this movie soo many times and that's the first time I've noticed it.