Therapist Reacts to CORALINE
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- Опубліковано 17 жов 2022
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How do you stand up to people trying to manipulate you? How do you do the right thing even when you're scared?
Licensed therapist Jonathan Decker and filmmaker Alan Seawright compare Coraline's real mother and other mother to talk about what good parenting looks like and how to stand up to manipulators and fear. They talk about how Coraline is the scariest kids' movie they've ever seen, the amazing stop-motion design and color palettes, and the danger of just trying to escape reality or your problems. Especially if that escape involves button eyes.
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Written by: Megan Seawright, Jonathan Decker, and Alan Seawright
Produced by: Jonathan Decker, Megan Seawright, and Alan Seawright
Edited by: Trevor Horton, tzhediting.com
Director of Photography: Bradley Olsen
English Transcription by: Anna Preis
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One of my favourite fun facts about Coraline is that the medal Mr Bobinsky wears is the liquidator medal. It means that he helped in the clean up of Chernobyl which helps to explain why his skin is blue and he eats raw beetroots (they're supposed to help against radiation damage).
See, I love it when writers and directors actually bother to pay attention to the tiny details that very few people will even understand. It just shows the huge amount of care and passion that went into the project.
i've been obsessed with coraline ever since i was a child and have read every possible fun fact about it and this is the first time i've read about this fact. thank you for sharing that's so cool
“Have beet. Make you strong.”
Never knew that beets help absorb radiation.
That is an insanely cool, just... wow. So impressed.
I also love how the other mother dresses up like her real mother at first, and then later her clothes are more and more like her own (she also looks more and more like a spider). It's like she's slowly showing her true colors.
I see what you did there
thats how toxic people work they get comfortable once they know they got you
@@scoobertdooperson2695 that's not abusive, that's "I wanna eat you".
the themes of this story feels so incredibly authentic and personal for me as a viewer/reader. the small, skewed world of the button family.. the “better dad” being controlled by “other mother”, and the cat that helped her cope with everything… the part that drives it home for me was when the right hand followed caroline back into her reality.
we really carry our trauma with us even when we go out into the real world. as the camera pans out, we see the garden in the image of coralline/other mother, meaning the pattern could potentially repeat and she never truly escaped her monster.
She tried to look motherly but later on she doesn't care about what she wears.
Another reason why Coraline is legitimately so terrifying, is in all honesty it's a perfect example of a type of grooming. Grooming doesn't always lead to sexual favors... Just look at what the other mother wanted
She wanted to eat her!! She does like the taste of children I guess.
Yeah, her literal soul
Cults also groom people.
@@PandoraBear357yep. its so nice to see portrayals of grooming that arent just an older man grooming a younger woman into sexual favors, cause its not to say that DOESNT happen (it very much so does) its just great to make children and people in general more aware of other types of abuse and grooming!
Also just straight up narcissism and manipulative behavior. They love bomb you with all these gestures, and then ask you to repay them with something grand. And if you fail to deliver they explode in your face.
I still believe the creepiest part of Coraline is the grandmother. Wybie mentioned she usually never lets tenants who have children rent from her, from the home she lived in as a child. But now that Wybie is at the age where Other Mother comes a calling, she offers someone else's child up instead. Her genuine surprise meeting Coraline at the end, that Coraline would be the one to defeat Other Mother gets me everytime.
Damn that's... That's so complicated. Like I get why she would do that but at the same time that's so truly evil having likely experienced it herself. I think the beldam probably met them both. After all, the doll looks like both of them so she was probably going for a two in one which means that the grandmother knows exactly what the beldam wants to do to coraline.
In the book there was no Wybie, so maybe it was an unintended connection? Though there's still not really an explanation for why she still let Coraline move in in the book, either...
I actually think that the parents omitted the fact they have Coraline on the application as they needed to move quickly and cheaply. A couple of deep dives I’ve seen explained that theory and I think it makes sense.
@@stacey6112 you might be right about that, it's been a very long time since I last read the book so I might have forgotten or missed that detail
Well, it might be that the grandmother figured that since nothing bad ever happened, and Coraline's parents needed a home, she thought it would be cruel to turn them away. Or that it would be fine given nothing bad ever happened in so long. She might have thought that perhaps she would be in the wrong to turn a family away over a superstition. Plus, it might help that Coraline herself is an older kid compared to her sister when she disappeared.
Honestly Coraline being older seems to have been a big factor in her survival, as we see she's always a bit guarded around the Other parents and they never replace her real parents in her mind. Idk, there's plenty of reasons why the old lady would decide it's okay to rent to Coraline and her parents without delving into "oh my god she's going to SACRIFICE a child". Plus I'd say it doesn't make sense she'd "sacrifice" anyone, as the Other Mother would simply keep luring in children after Coraline, as the only reason she stopped was because there were never any children for her to eat.
Although perhaps my assumption that the grandmother's sister was the last victim is wrong. The only cue I got was that Coraline listed the children off in the order of long haired girl, Huck Fin Jr, and then the missing sister. Although I will say that even if those other two children came after her, a long enough time may have passed that their disappearances could be deemed coincidences, and the Other Mother of course never leaves any evidence. My money is on Coraline's mom earning some pity points with that injury.
Something I learned YEARS later is that the song the Other Father sings is actually a warning to her. He’s literally telling her that the Other Mother is always watching her and trying to make her stay by making that world never be boring.
So, what you're saying is that only the Beldam, or Other Mother, was dangerous with the exception of those who she created to lure Coraline in more, even if a lot of those creations were on Coraline's side, even subtly. Other Wybie was obviously on her side, and the same is true for the Other Cat, but the Other Father had to use subtlety due to his constant close proximity to the Beldam, and the Rat Circus, otherwise known as the Other Neighbor, was actually on her side, a representation of the phrase that calls thieves and other unsavory people rats. However, something else about the Other Neighbor, is the fact that his existence also shows that most thieves steal because they have to. The rats of the Other Neighbor believed that they had no other choice, much like real rats don't have much choice between dying and being pests. Much like thieves tend to steal so that they can get by. Much like most unsavory people who don't do what they do for fun or because they think that what they do is right tend to do what they do due to a lack of perceived choices. What I'm understanding from your comment is that the Beldam represents those who do things for fun, the Other Father represents those who are forced to aid the first, hence why he aids the Beldam, Other Wybie is the one that regrets and tries to help the victim. Other Cat is the one who attempted to sabotage the attempt in the first place. Other Neighbor is the one who believes he has no other choice. The ghosts are the past victims who leave hints for the current to try to escape. Coraline is the victim who never truly believed that the better world was truly better. The one who escaped and saved future potential victims.
@@dreadedgamer23 Damn bro, you wrote a whole essay.
A good one mind you, so don’t sweat it.
@@fudgen.a1249 Damn, I did not realize how long that was until just now.
“That ever laid their eyes on Coraline” wait it totally makes sense
indeed its one of my favorite jingles XD
You know, I think this is also a cautionary tale for parents. That if you aren't meeting your children's needs, they'll get their needs from someone else. Whether or not that someone else is good for them
Yeah, but there is also value in teaching your kids to be able to meet their own needs as well so they can be well rounded adults one day. Its a fine line to walk but necessary.
@@jennymunday7913 That may be necessary some of the time, but there's a reason they say "it takes a village to raise a child." Human beings are social creatures to the point that it's proven you will go insane without connection to other people. Yet society makes it out like parents are supposed to got it alone with parenting, which is completely unreasonable and unrealistic since everyone needs help sometimes.
o.o
@@jennymunday7913 Yes and you should consider one thing at a time, and this isn't the right time. In Coraline's situation she is already facing a difficult moment in her life and she needs to feel comforted. She just moved to a new home she does not like - which was also my case when I watched this movie lol - and she is still a child, you can't assume she knows how to deal with this situation on her own. It is where is the thin line, you can't expect your child to spontaneously mature, you are the one raising them and teaching them life lessons. So many parents let their children face these situations fully alone, rather than keeping an eye on them and watching their back to see if everyone is all right. Of course you need to teach your child to be autonomous and solve things by themselves but one step at a time and watching for any sign they can't keep up yet.
In my country the parents will just beat the kids up if they see them talking to strangers even if it is then who created it so the child would be too scared to talk to other people. Yes it is abuse
Something i also realized is that, Coraline probably usually never bothered her parents this much before the move, but since theyve moved, and separated her from all her familiar friends and places, she has nothing else familiar besides them, and they're so focused on work and fixing their adult mistakes, they end up being impatient and short with Coraline.
Yea
This happened to me during late 2020, where we moved into a new house and I started to take college classes during my junior year of high school. I needed love and attention and support from my parents, but intrastate of nagging them I had just learned to stay quiet. It led to me almost flunking a college class because I was too scared to ask for help
I think this film is also centered after the 2008 crisis, which is why they’re so stressed out.
Moving with a family is a very big risk because of this. on one hand, you’re uprooting your lives, and starting over, especially for a kid. But then, at the same time you do have to consider better job and living opportunities for your future. In the recent decade we’ve seen prices go up. during the pandemic, you saw families moving away from the city so they can get a break from all the lockdown regulations. Reason why I recommend that if you have children and you plan moving, try to move as little as you can. Really try to do it when they’re really young so they still have time to make friends in their new environment. Maybe help them find ways to stay connected with their friends And every other thing you can do to make it easier.
Coraline is living proof that you don't need to be gory, or even violent, to be scary. It's proof that a movie doesn't have to fall into total goreporn territory like the Saw films in order to be genuine, gutteral horror.
Also, something I love about Coraline, is the parents don't actually have to go through any kind of "redemption" arc. Not only is it fairly reasonable how they act, but also it's made fairly clear this isn't the norm for them: the mom is injured, and the dad has a looming deadline, so they are a lot farther out of their comfort zone than they normally are and thus there's no reason for them to "redeem" since the situation will resolve itself in time.
Not only is the film not gory, it uses vibrant colors and very few jump scares. There's nothing cheap about the fear. It's all earned.
Just watched re released remastered at Amc yesterday. It was absolutely sublime. The colors. The ost. The painstaking details in absolutely every scene. The haunting and nearly perfect audio design. It felt almost over indulgent to sit for 2 hours in absolute awe. Almost dropped a tear when the credits rolled
I actually watched it when I was 4 or something, it made such a huge impact on my life, I can't wear or even touch buttons.. I hate the thought of them. Its crazy to me how can a "kids" movie like that be so horrific...
Unpopular opinion, but Coraline is way scarier than the Saw movies. In the Saw movies you just see spherical characters in vacuum who never got any development get murdered in a progressively more predictable very bloody way. We don't get scared about what might happen to the characters, because we don't care - there is a new character to get killed almost every movie. While Coraline's actually creates a lot of suspense, and while we know something is fishy and everything will go wrong sooner or later, we don't know how or when. And the visuals and dialogue really creeps you out. Coraline has done it way better because the feeling of unknown is much scarier than random meaningless bloody scenes.
@@kaoryakasaka6835 I agree. I'm hesitant to even call Saw a horror movie. It's more like the Final Destination series: throwaway characters and an excuse plot to show off gruesomely over-the-top gore porn. It's shocking, yeah, but it's not scary.
To me the buttons for eyes are creepy because the purpose of buttons is to keep things closed, but eyes only work if they are open. Buttons for eyes are literally blindness.
Never really thought about it like that before, but dang, that makes so much sense!
But, like eyes, buttons can be opened. Both eyes and buttons can be closed and opened. The reason buttons are creepy is because they are more associated with dolls. As buttons were the original eye "replacement". Dolls and humans are different for obvious reasons. Dolls are Dolls, you make them live the life you want them to. They have no say or will of their own, they do as you want them to. It's the association to dolls. Humans have will, are often disagreeable, have likes and dislikes. We are not dolls. You don't play with human life's, you play with with dolls. The movie makes the association of these button eyes to her becoming a plaything, something with no will of her own, and as decent Humans, having no will of your own just isn't right.
They're also associated with being windows to the soul. And when you communicate with people, you tend to look into their eyes. Without eyes, we become uncomfortable and it's hard to read their expressions sometimes. That's also part of the metaphor for Coraline retrieving the children's eyes, because that's where their souls are trapped.
Maybe it’s for not seeing what is happening when the buttons are on, I think the buttons show what the victims want to see and their souls are trapped. To be blind of what’s actually happening
@@ilive4anime. i think your explanation is on point and very well articulated! it made me see the button eyes in a different, more sinister light.
As a child it's scary, as a parent, it's terrifying. The idea someone can lure your child away with the promise of a nicer life and then take everything from them is so horrific and at the same time it isn't anything new and because of that it's every parents worst nightmare at it's core.
Very much agreed .
OMG, I don't want kids and never have and because of that I never thought of that perspective. But reading it out loud, Gods it's absolutely terrifying.
@@etchasketch3077 I'd like to add to your perspective - it can also be horrible ideas. Many people have seen their children getting swept up in extremism in their teens, and especially busy people like the poor having more jobs or single parents are at risk because of how their kids feel neglected and like the world is full of rot and bad for taking their safety away from them.
It can happen in so many ways, and all of them are scary
True. Sadly two of my wife's cousins were groomed and then stolen by neighbors.
It was done in such a way that, over time, my cousins were conditioned to simply hate their birth parents, and eventually they refused to come home. They ran away, supported financially by the neighbors. Even typing this, it's easy to see how this can sound "Good". That's the mask. It all looks good. It all sounds good. I hope they are safe...
@@phasein5413 A similar thing happened to the oldest daughter of a friend. The girl seems to have had borderline personality disorder, so her relationship with her parents was strained anyway. A family living nearby groomed her and made her move in with them at 15. The parents took the case to court but the judge said the girl was 'not a child anymore', so they couldn't make her come back. She is 20 now and hasn't had contact with her family for five years. (They are aware how she's doing though through neighbors and friends.)
In the face of my friend's wife, you can now see a bitter streak from the terrible suffering she has endured. They still hope though that one day the'll hear from her again.
One thing that Coraline illustrates really well with the Other Mother is that it is the people closest to you (parents, step parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, etc.) are the most likely to abuse or manipulate you. Most people teach "stranger danger," but that is not as common as someone whom you have a close relationship with that is actually dangerous.
nice seeing someone use "whom" properly for once!
Is this necessarily just about family members, or anyone who is close to you? For example, a guy you met on a trip, and now you are very close and intimate etc.
@@Sun-God2 Coraline specifically showcases family members, but I think it can apply to anyone who is close to you.
this movie making you feel things again, dearest?
'keep your friends close, your enemies closer.' dunno how thats revelant for sure ya just made me think of it.
I just wish Coralines parents had redirected her in a kinder way when they were clearly irritated. Like real parents, they're very much allowed to be frustrated but it's saying things like "will you stop pestering me" that I think does really impact a child's sense of self. Parents need to communicate their needs as well even if it's gently telling your child that you don't have time to do what they want. Going back to what was said at the start, even if something isn't neglectful in the eyes of the parent, that doesn't negate the impact it may have on the child, even after they have grown to understand the reasoning.
Thank you for saying this, I intensely hate this movie because it triggers my trauma so bad lol, I think its a good movie it just makes me start shaking to see how her parents act especially since I have only watched the movie once, when I was 11 and watching it with my parents who treated me exactly like that all of the time, I have really major self worth issues and social anxiety and probably a personality disorder specifically because of being treated like I was annoying and a problem and a bad child for having completely normal and reasonable social needs. I think in Coraline the implication is that it's kind of temporary but for me it wasn't and even as an adult my mother still talks to me like this. I know they were stressed and busy, but if they couldn't be patient and kind at the same time then they should not have had kids, the impact that can have is extremely serious. I had terrible nightmares after watching it too, I really really hate it.
I don't have kids but I was surprised the Dad didn't take a moment to try to bore his daughter with his work. Why he does or doesn't like it. If the child does get bored they'll be driven to find something on their own. I would like the idea of being able to teach a child the art of milking a paycheck while keeping the boss pretend happy
@@butasimpleidiotwizard Came to say this exactly. My parents were very supportive financially or physically, but very neglectful and abusive emotionally. I've taken a lifetime to come to terms with that. The amount of sheer self loathing I did and still do endure is excruciating. There is a reason people say parenting is hard. It's not enough to just put food on the table and roof over your head. You have to help a child grow into their own person. Learn to be confident in themselves and still be aware and cautious in the world.
The only reason I'm doing relatively OK now is that I found a very supportive spouse that understands mental illness and doesn't shame the days that depression keeps me in bed. He doesn't make me feel bad for not being able to work, and just encourages me to do things that make me happy and continue to work on healing.
I appreciate that once Coraline accepts the drab, gray "real" world, she makes a conscious choice to implement the things she loved about the dream world (friends with her neighbors, making space for Wybie and his grandma, planting colorful flowers in the garden, etc). Making her waking life more beautiful and doing the work to make it somewhere she wants to be.
Yes, this is the key, the solution to the puzzle of life. Beautifully put, thank you.
What a beautiful message.
This comment needs to be higher up!!!
I agree, boost this!
It is a beautiful message about how we can try our best to be happy
Apparently publishers thought that Coraline was too scary for children to enjoy, so Neil Gaiman had his editor’s child read it. The child said that it wasn’t too scary, so it got published. Years later when Gaiman asked she said that it was terrifying, but she needed to know what happened next. That makes a lot of sense lol.
Lol I thought it was his daughter at first
It is scarry, but man, is adictive !
Kids need safe scares, neither to much coddeling nor having all fears being real are healthy for the development of a child
Yeah Neil Gaiman's pretty active on Tumblr and and one of the more common questions he gets are about how terrifying Coraline is and how it got made.
Hahaha
At some point when I was little, my dad taught me that you only owe someone if you asked them for help/nice things. If they give it to you freely, there is no basis for them to say “but I did all of this for you, why can’t you do this for me?” If they wanted to be nice, that’s their fault. Not only was this helpful for not falling for manipulations large or small, but it helped me realize that it doesn’t get you anywhere if you try it… even if it’s just 7-year-old me playing minecraft with my dad :)
This is what I'm going to be teaching my kid. I've been thinking a lot about how to address this topic, especially seeing as there's a manipulator/narcissist in our family. It's good to know that what your dad said helped you so I'm going to incorporate it into my parenting. Thank you for the insight
@@gracecodd4378Oh wow, I’m glad I could help! I didn’t think my comment could be useful to someone in that way. Sorry if this reply is a bit long lol, I just wanted to give a bit more context since I’m a stranger on the internet. First, I’m only now turning 18, so I don’t have any experience with teaching or parenting. This feels like some UA-camr saying “I’m not a lawyer this is not legal advice” or something like that lol, but I just wanted to acknowledge that there’s probably things I don’t see because of my perspective.
Also, the example in my comment is a bit simplified. I was really lucky to grow up in a very safe household, and I grew up surrounded by good role models. It would have actually taken a long time of learning by example for that lesson to solidify into something I would keep with me, so my comment was just one of the times I remember better. Importantly for me it was always ok to ask questions and make mistakes, so I was able to learn through trial and error that it was easier for me to get what I want by being trustworthy and by showing that I could accept “no” as an answer. Parents can’t have all the answers, but kids can learn a lot on their own just by having support when they need it.
I’m not sure how much of a difference it would make if I had a narcissist in my life, but I think I would be ok if I had someone who had my back even if I made mistakes. The trial and error might take longer, but I think I would eventually realize that even though this person doesn’t give me everything I want, the kindness, love, and respect they give has no strings attached
@@owenbegowin9335 Thank you so much for the extra details. I'm so scared of my daughter getting hurt but like you said, having support and true love behind everything you do makes a huge difference. I'll keep in mind everything you said so thank you again for the insight. And I get what you're saying about you being young and maybe inexperienced but that doesn't mean you don't have good morals and teachings to share and teach other people. Sometimes the wisest of us are the youngest because they watched the older ones make mistakes
I really wish that someone was there to say this to me. But it's amazing that your dad taught you something so valuable. Hope you both still have a good relationship. :]
wow... that really just opened my eyes to how my dad used to manipulate me as a kid. I never used to ask for much, but I was spoiled. Every day he would come home from work with mountains of presents in his trunk that I'd never asked for, but when I wouldn't take his side in family court he got so mad at me based on "I bought you everything you ever wanted, why cant you just do this one thing for me so we can be happy?" It's been 10 years and haven't seen him since. Crazy
I think the film producers struck such a good balance with Coralines real parents. You can tell they do care and give her some attention, but they also have other things to deal with. That's why I love the scene at 13:02 where her real Dad cooks and calls her a fusspot. It's the perfect balance between a little bit of fun and attention, and being preoccupied with moving and writing the catalogue.
Fantastic job
The ghost children always saddened me and frightened me because without showing the gruesome details you know what they went through. The second she sowed the buttons into their eyes, they were in anguish. Their last moments were of pure terror as she devoured them. The sad/screaming faces got to me like nothing else has. Hearing the young boy say he remembers his real mommy too just breaks you
When they say the other mother draines their life was the saddest line in the movie to me. Manipulators and groomers really take their victims life away if you're "caught" by them
@JD Burns You missed the best final arc of the movie after all that build-up! D:
@JD Burns it is all worth with at the end when you see their faces of terror are replaced with smiles and halos
The screaming one was the creepiest.
🥺
Something about this movie I noticed just now: BOTH fathers sing. The Other Father sings his piano song full of vim and vigor, and her real father sings his "Twitchy Witchy Girl" song. Her real father does sing, he does dance, but he does it like an actual middle-aged person with a job--off key, full of heart, and without musical accompaniment. Though Coraline's parents could pay attention to their daughter more, they actually love her, and show that there is genuine fun, beauty, and love in reality. It's the harsh, overly exuberant Other world that blinds her to those moments of REAL loveliness and excitement. And in the end, when Coraline walks to the well to finally defeat the Other Mother, she sings the "Twitchy Witchy Girl" song, because of course she does. It might be corny, but it's sweet, it's real, and it's comforting, unlike the Other Father's song which only sought to delight in the short term with literally nothing behind the eyes.
The other father's lyrics were the warning.
In the book there's also a part where she recounts how one time her dad got stung by a bunch of wasps so she could get away
@@TrelliessRose Yeah.
I think that adds to Melody original point though. The other dad did care- because he was designed to care - and that caring nature was invested in choice of words in the song to try and warn her. The song itself is just flashy attempt to upstage true dade. In dad song it's off key, it's corny but it's true and from the heart. There is no ulterior motive interrupting it in anyway.
I think though that if other dad was free of his controller though he would suggest coraline return to her true father. The other dad, even if well intended, was designed to always be a competitor, a leech effectively for Coraline attention by trying to mock her original family and their humanity.
Other father is actually a good guy , he tries to warn coraline multiple times but has to keep it subtle because other mother has eyes everywhere
The Other Mother is the evil one. Her creations aren't evil necessarily. Except the rats. Her spies. The Other Father and The Other Wybie were good. I think it's about the _intentions_ that they were made for, that makes them good. Wybie for example, was made to be a _friend_ for Coraline.
I think it says a lot that the first time Coraline is talking to the Other Mother, she seems amazing because she finishes Coraline's sentence, but she's actually cutting her off and talking over her.
One detail that I really appreciate is how, when they sit down to eat, the Other Mother doesn't eat: she never has food in her plate, she gives food to the snapping dragons but doesn't eat herself; because her food is the children's lives. Meanwhile the Other Father, who's literally a hollowed pumpkin, eats a ton.
I think this quote from the book perfectly encapsulates the message. The other father is trying to convince Coraline to stay, saying she will get whatever she wants. She replies “I don't want whatever I want. Nobody does. Not really. What kind of fun would it be if I just got everything I ever wanted just like that, and it didn't mean anything? What then?” I love how she says it wouldn’t MEAN anything. Life isn’t about getting everything we want but finding true love and meaning.
This is my favorite quotation from the book. Getting whatever we want all the time strips it of value and by extention, makes us stop questioning why we want what we want.
"Something given has no value"
@@rebeccaconlon9743 I agree to an extent. Some gifts can have immense value. But like Jono said, it’s the intent of the giver that really matters.
Sadly alot of adults don't get that. Entitlement at its finest I guess.
Such a Gaiman line. ❤
The Other Father's song, while being an absolute banger, is also a really clever piece of foreshadowing, mainly the lines "She's as cute as a BUTTON IN THE EYES of everyone who ever laid their eyes on Coraline" and "When she goes around exploring, Mom and I will never ever make it boring; OUR EYES will be ON CORALINE!" He was trying to warn her.
😵😵
Also "She's a peach, she's a DOLL, she's a pal of mine"
He was always on her side!!!
I also saw someone post one time that he said the word "eyes" 3 times in the song, hinting at the lost eyes of the 3 ghost children. I didn't go back and check but I hope it's true cause that would be some 13/10 foreshadowing
Plus the Other Mother saying he was "happy as a pumpkin" or something along those lines when she told Coraline to find him in the garden.
Oh, and another quick thing I heard was that two loops on a cursive o means whoever wrote it was lying. There are two loops on the o in 'Home' when they give her the cake that says "Welcome Home"
I feel like we don’t think enough about the fact that they made a literal children movie about a 11 yo who one day disappeared and was never seen again. it gives me chills 😭
The worst: INSIDE the freaking house!!
ever heard of the brothers grimm?
The reason the 3D works so well on this movie and not on others isn't because it's stop motion, it's because everything is in *focus*. Most movies, your director is using cameras to put certain things or characters in focus and others not, which means when you put on the 3D glasses, no matter how hard you look at something, it will never snap into focus. With this movie, you feel immersed, because you can chose to look just about anywhere at just about any time, and it all remains in focus.
I think my mom managed that clingy thing very good when we were little. She always let us take part in what she was doing: when she was washing dishes, we got a towel to dry them. When she was baking, we were allowed to make our own bread too. We sew, crocheted, knitted, baked, painted with her. We loved it and learned a lot. Thank you, mama!
THATS SO CUTE and very thoughtful of her!
My mom did the exact same with us! Couldn't ask for a better parent
You were so cool kids
I wish my parents could have been like that but they never let me, and just told me to go away and was irritated. That IS neglectent of them. And they don't understand how neglectent that is.
@@poweredbymoonlight9869 My mom was the same. When I was a teenager, she was surprised and angry with me that I didn't know how to do things and that I wasn't eager to help her in chores. Also she was blaming me for all of that calling me lazy and incompetent.
i saw a tweet that said "Coraline is so real. If a demon created a different reality where my mom loved me i’d get trapped there too" and honestly i can relate so much
same :c
Remember God loves you like a Father!
I'm sorry for your pain, fortunately there is a lot of love out there!
@@mepod7024 i read this as “god loves you as if you were his father” and was so confused. i was like “damn, i didn’t know i was the godfather”
@@mepod7024 🤢
@@mepod7024 God loves us yet does nothing to stop all the suffering in the world.
You said exactly what I always felt watching this as a kid. The ghost children always scared me. Not because I was scared of them but what she'd *done* to them.
100%
This is exactly why Coraline was so relatable. My childhood was spent swapping between parents who indulged my desires, and parents who completely denied me those indulgences and more
I find it super interesting that he thought "wow what terrible parents" until he had kids, because in several ways I felt the opposite. the first time I watched this I thought Coraline was a brat, and it was only as I got older that opinion softened, because she's obviously a child going through a big change and having issues with that, clinging to the two stable people who are shrugging her off.
I think it's both. she's being a bit of a brat, but she's going through a big big change and with that comes big emotions and not dealing well with something like boredom. Meanwhile the parents have 1) just moved their family and 2) been in a car accident that obviously came with some medical bills. They're doing their best to get their family through this financial, emotional struggle (even physical! notice how the dad's office is filled with boxes, because they haven't had the time or ability to unpack everything yet), but have forgotten to save some of that emotional connection for their daughter. both sides are understandable, but it's extra hard to get through things when your support system ALSO needs a support system.
@@hannahvannoy1051 Also, whenever parents are trying to get a child to go along with a big change like this, they try to spice it up, paint a really good picture. Maybe leave out all of the practical stuff, like the transition would obviously take a while. Ideally they would have been able to get the house in order as a family, at least a little bit. Instead parents are stuck at their computers. So Coraline probably had very different expectations of what life in the new house would be like. Due to unforeseen circumstances parents are unable to live up to their promises. And the weather sucks.
@@obsessedmalou so true! And the weather DOES SUCK haha
its concerning they saw nothing wrong with her parents methods of dealing with their current situation, coraline wasnt asking to be around her parents all the time, only when she was told she couldnt do anything on her own because her mom said no, did she even try and talk to her parents. theyre not terrible, but theyre not good by a long shot, try telling coraline to garden on her own and to not track mud by cleaning her boots, that way shes occupied and can experience autonomy on her own time. the fact they try to justify the way her parents act when keeping her in a box with nothing to do speaks to how concerning it is that they confuse clinginess, with being stressed in he own right.
I disagree. Her mom could have just let her go play in the mud and non of this would have happened. Most child psychologists will tell you that if a parent is too strict it is bad just like being too indulgent is bad you need a balance. They expected her to just sit there and do nothing that's not reasonable
I've watched Coraline several times- it's fantastically crafted. I too thought the parents were neglectful...and then I realized that it was only a temporary neglect. Coraline doesn't act like a habitually neglected child. The other mother had never met a child so well adjusted and self confident. That was her downfall. The contrast between the ghost childrens reaction to the Beldame and Coralines ultimate reaction to the other mother in their interaction really underlined it. The other mother played on coralines temporary neglect with a gigantic lure...bright and tasty and thrilling. A candy house for a hungry child....
So true. Her parents were just extremely busy from recently moving. It’s clear Coraline usually gets a lot of attention from them so when her parents couldn’t give her that attention for a few days/weeks (not sure of the timeline) she was super vulnerable to the Other mother’s temptations
@@nala6846 Not just that, they mentioned an accident and her mother's neck was in a brace. For a non-universal healthcare country, medical bills can and have bankrupted people into homelessness. That catalogue they're focused on might have just been a last-ditch effort to put food on the table and keep the roof over their heads.
@@nala6846 I think any child would be charmed by being royally entertained. I've always thought the other mother failed because she didn't understand that a simply bored and lonely child isn't automatically vulnerable to her lures...
@@cristiewentz8586 Wdym? She definitely was initially vulnerable to her temptations which is why she followed the tunnel in the first place. She just wasn't "neglected" enough to want buttons sewn into her eyes.
When a normal person goes into a horror movie, it be like:
Ew you think i fall for that
I think the whole thing with predators eventually ask you to do something that makes you uncomfortable isn't talked about enough and to me, that is what the book/film is about. Ultimately, predators are willing to expend all that energy luring you so that they can use you in a way that is against your best interests. When you're a kid and are exposed to things that change your worldview, it can literally and figuratively steal your whole life away. Kids are supposed to see the world in a somewhat protected space, and exposing them to horrible truths and betrayals too young can rob them of the childhood they deserve to live because they spend it in severe fear and suspicion. I think the message is that not even all of your wildest dreams are worth sacrificing something like your childhood for. That message and the level of understanding that the book has was an immense comfort for me aftering trying to overcome childhood s*x abuse outside of a neglectful home.
Coraline, both the book and movie, is a favorite in our household. My younger child who is now in her twenties still puts the movie on whenever she's having a sick day on the couch. We are big Neil Gaiman fans in general, but this is one of his masterpieces.
We moved to a new town when I was 7, and my parents were busy. Mom was running a business out of our home and dealing with two toddlers who got into everything. Dad was working as many hours as he could to afford the new mortgage.
I wandered around outdoors a lot. There is a real feeling of being away with the fairies when you are a child entertaining yourself for hours on end. A feeling that you are in another world away from your parents. You see and do things they don't know about, and you meet people they aren't always aware of.
I found" secret " places to explore. Strangers rescued me from bike crashes and falls, strangers offered me rides home. It was a perfectly normal childhood for the 1970s. (Yes, my parents flipped when they heard about these things. They were busy, not negligent)
Gaiman takes that feeling and introduces an actual fae element. Coraline truly gets lost in another world. We all have that potential, and the ability to rescue ourselves from its dangers. And he throws in the reminder that some of us never come home.
It's a terrifying story, brilliantly told and illustrated. The fact that Coraline is always questioning and challenging is what gives us hope that she will not be the Other Mother's next meal. That's a lesson to take from the movie as well: teach your children to consider people's motives, and to question when things don't make sense or are disproportionate to the situation (aunt or uncle offering secret gifts, for instance).
This last line is so truely sad because it smells like child sexual abuse. And I've been there. 😢
Coraline terrified me as a kid and it still scares me now. I love the messages behind it though, “not all the people who are nice to you have good intentions”.
May God bless you and your family and help you Give your life to Jesus Christ and repent. I pray that God will lead on the path to Jesus Christ and send the Holy Spirit to be your helper. I pray this in the mighty name of Jesus Christ I pray Amen! Jesus Christ loves you. Give your life to Jesus Christ and ask for forgiveness for ALL OF YOUR SINS. Even the ones committed in the past and repent. He’s coming soon. Please pray and repent.
@@angelemeana2754 This inspires no one. You're being weird and annoying lol.
ok
@@angelemeana2754 no
yeah
Something I just noticed, the Other Parents have perfectly symmetrical faces. Coraline has a slightly crooked face, her nose and mouth turn up on her left side, just like her Mother and Father respectively. The Other Parents have perfectly symmetrical faces, and humans don't. I think that adds to the Uncanny Valley a little in the film
omg its true
Humans look for symmetry.. in fact, the more symmetrical a face is, the more "beautiful" we consider it. It definitely adds to how the entity is trying to make this world seem "perfect".
I'm not sure if it adds to the uncanny valley, but perhaps the juxtaposition of symmetrical face whose only "blemish" is those button eyes... it makes it stand out more.
@@kaisokusekkendou1498 it actually does contribute to the uncanny valley - we look for symmetry but when we have perfect symmetry it looks unnatural
I forgot his name but the boy with the button eyes unable to speak has a symmetrical face but his head is always tilted to one side. Which shows that he is not "in lined" with this other world the way everyone else is
in the coraline book the other mother was always described as resembling her mother, but just ever so different. “She looked a little like coraline’s mother, only…
Only her skin was white as paper. Only she was taller and thinner. Only her fingers were too long, and they never stopped moving, and her dark red fingernails were curved and sharp.” The description is very unsettling, only slightly resembling her mother, and as the book goes on coraline only identifies more little differences in the other mother to her real mother. it’s a really great read if you get the chance!
A pieces of character I really like is coraline’s response to the other mother asking if she would like anything else (the dinner scene) and she doesn’t say something like “I would like a drink,please” she is straightforward with her needs “ I’m real thirsty”. It gives more insight into her being self assertive. Love the detail in creativity
Authors that respect what children can handle, I always appreciate them. Scary concepts but not gratuitous, it allows children to help overcome fears.
Coraline is a good movie for both kids and adults. For kids, the message is “be careful about people who might want to manipulate you, even if that’s your parents” and for adults it’s “if you don’t take care of your kids, someone else with bad intentions will happily do it for you”.
Perfectly put.
Other Mother is one of the most terrifying antagonists ever. Yes her true form is nightmare material but what's scary is how charming and nice and thoughtful she could be that you'll be persuaded into doing things you would otherwise not even consider doing.
Its because thats what real world predators do to capture children. They know what the child wants to hear to be able to win them over. Happens everywhere in the world, in every country, even if you think it doesn’t
I think that’s what terrified me about her most as a kid. She was so NICE, until she wasn’t. Solidly drove home a healthy fear of strangers 😂
Miss M Isn't that a form of abuse, though? Being super nice and giving so that the person they're after will want to do whatever they say? Heck, the Other Mother gives Coraline plenty of gifts, wants to play with her, and (for the first acts of the movie at least) never stops smiling at her. But she's also making it very clear that Coraline spending any time outside of the Other World (or time with anyone in the real world) upsets her, and when Coraline starts learning what's actually happening, the Other Mother words her phrases so that it sounds like Coraline is the one at fault: "You may come out when you've learned to be a loving daughter!" "Darling, why would you run away from me?" "You selfish brat!" Okay, that last phrase was kind of a stretch, but you get the idea.
She a mother witch, case closed. Nothing is as scary as the corruption of a safe space, the perversion of who you should be most comfortable with...
@@CheshireCat-cm1si yeah, of cause it is abuse
26:12 I just noticed this. The other garden looked scarily like Coraline's face, but this one. . .it looks like a face, but not quite right. It's not perfect, but it's trying. Another wonderful symbol.
This video means so much to me as the therapist was explaining exactly what I went through as a kid with a predator and manipulator. I love the way he explained the psychological traits behind every action the fake parents of Coralinen did. This helped me understand the man that abused me mentally,psychologically, physically and emotionally into a more deeper, correlative interpretation of understanding and even wrote down some notes in my notebook to help me remind myself that I am a survivor of my past living hell. The fact that he said that young people tend to just follow along to what their manipulators are asking them to do, compared with adults where they think more consciously, made me realize that it's so true. kids and teenagers are more innocent and vulnerable and that's exactly what predators look for and seek on to. And I can't believe I had to be one of them... I love the person that dedicated their time to actually read this. Thank you
you're welcome
I can't imagine the pain that must have caused you. I really hope you're doing better now and have/will find peace. Keep looking after yourself and remember that none of it was your fault. He knew EXACTLY what he was doing, and he was just a nasty, vile man. Stay strong
@@gracecodd4378 thank you so much ❤️❤️ May you always be blessed. Life is better now 💯
@TheMystical-123 I'm glad to hear. May you always be blessed too ❤️❤️
as a child I always took to heart that scene with the soul's of those children saying that they don't remember their names but they do remember their real "mommy", it made me cry a couple of times because I can't imagine longing for years to see your mother again, and now that I moved away from her it's even more striking emotionally for me
Yeah, it's also super sad to think of those parents missing their child and never getting any resolution to where they disappeared to
@Wolf-dog Cat-dog 2.0 did the grandma knew? Or the beldam took only her twin without letting her know? Maybe one was happy while the other wasn't.. Coraline then explained everything to her so I think she really didn't know but suspected something with the doll and the door. I have to know her story! Wish there was more
I wish I could understand this sentiment better. My mother may have given birth to me but my grandmas were the ones I saw the most of. It is good that others have better relationships with their parents though. 😃
@Wolf-dog Cat-dog 2.0 yeah she definitely knew something bad was going on. Also, she got rid of the doll and got mad when Wybie took it. I wonder what she's gone through, that must've been awful
@Wolf-dog Cat-dog 2.0 also at one point of the movie Wybie shows Caroline a photo of her grandmother and her twin sister when they were kids, the photo was taken just before the twin sister disappearance .
The photo shows the twin smiling brightly while holding a doll (the one the other mother used to spy in the kids) and Wybie’s grandmother is looking at the doll suspiciously/with distrust.
Wybie also mentions that her grandmother used to live in Caroline’s house and that she didn’t like it and prohibited Wybie to go in there.
She defiantly knew about the Beldam and that’s why she wanted to talk to Caroline at the end of the movie
One of the little things that makes the Other Mother scenes so terrifying is the fact she and other characters stare at YOU directly. Not Coraline. You.
In the real world her parents don’t really look at her directly. Scenes are safe for the viewers because it is clear that we are observers in the safety of our seats. When the Other characters stare at us directly, suddenly we are no longer safe. We are seen. We are vulnerable. And what’s worse is we can’t see expression in their eyes because they are buttons.
True. I didn't think about that.
Also she's always smiling and I got to admit, it's a very creepy one, she could play the animated Joker for real
True also... their eyes are buttons and they are insect people... kind ansettling too
I never noticed this... Now this movie just got another level of unsetling to me.
Indeed
Thats why fourth wall breaks can be Really Scary
Because suddenly it feels like the barriers between the worlds are gone
This movie is incredible, filled to the brim with great attention to detail, that without being told beforehand can easily be missed, like for example the song the Other Father sings for Coraline is actually a massive warning for Coraline and in the lyrics details what will happen to her if she stays to long. There's also the fact that the Other Parent's faces are symmetric whilst Coraline's actual parents have crooked noses. Another really small one is that on the cake that says "Welcome Home!" the "o" in "Home" has a double loop, which according to Director Henry Selick signifies that the writer is misleading whoever it's directed to
How were we supposed to deduce that the way "o" is written signifies something?
everytime i watch this video the part where jonathan looks directly into the camera and talks abt youtube and escapism always feels like hes talking directly to me and telling me to get up and face reality. i end up feeling so bad that i DO leave my bubble and get things done, so thanks to this video for being the perfect call out for me :) i just wrote an essay and did two loads of laundry, thanks guys!
Good job, keep going!
One of my favorite quotes from the book-This is when she defeats the Other Mother and begins to enjoy her reality. It’s really beautiful, and reminds me to find beauty in the ordinary and mundane. “The sky had never been so sky, the world had never been so world” ✨
Oh wow quote is such a quote /srs i love ittt
That’s such a Neil Gaiman line as well
That's such a beautiful quote! Makes me wanna read the book now
@@katescosmos It’s very easy, but very impactful read! Highly recommend x
Ah yes, the floor is floor.
Also can we mention how beneficial it is for Caroline to be such a brave and tough character. It was always important to me as a kid growing up and watching this movie to realize that she never gave up. She always went for what she wanted and knew what was best for her, despite naysayers or people trying to manipulate her to get what they wanted.
Coraline?
its coraline lol
@@kaitlynmorgan4613 she is probably latin american, Caroline is an actual name in most spanish-speaking countries. however Coraline isn't.
@@jotajmg I'm from an English speaking country and Coraline isn't a name here either but Caroline is as far as I'm aware. It was a point in the movie that everyone thought her name was Caroline lmao
@@kaisetic3150 well, then at least we are all in the same page :v.
I’d like to know more about Coraline’s psychology.
I know she’s brave, but she faced a manipulative demoness, met her previous victims, and almost died herself, yet escaped (seemingly) mentally unscathed.
In fact, when she sees Grandma Lovat at the end, she cheerfully exclaims, “I’ve got so much to tell you!”
I’m worried poor Coraline might be a little screwy.
She probably is. Trauma doesn't always show itself straight away. It might be years until she has to revisit them memories and deal with the trauma it gave her
@@gracecodd4378 My understanding is that a great deal of the trauma in PTSD has to do with a sense of a lack of control. Since Coraline found herself to be very capable, escaping herself and saving others, she will be probably be fine.
@@YoniSagi That's a good point
I watched this movie with my mom in theatre and ive loved it ever since. It is my comfort movie despite it being so creepy. Usually i dont like horror movies especially when i first watched it but like the confidence and courage and self awareness Coraline portrayed the whole time i knew she was gonna be fine no matter what happened
Psychological horror is my favorite, not too fond of gore and jumpscares
Fun little fact about the cake too.
Some might have already heard this but in the practice of calligraphy (Edit: I have been informed that it's actually graphology, sorry!), different numbers of loops mean different things.
One loop on an O tends to mean the writer is telling the truth, whereas two loops tend to indicate lying.
In the word "Welcome" on the cake, there is only one loop in the O, but in the word "home" there is two.
Coraline might be welcome there, but she isn't home.
I didn't know that, that's pretty interesting!
is that because of the speed of the person's handwriting? When I write while I'm still processing what I want to say I do so slowly and deliberately, when I do that my Os have two loops. Could be seen as very calculated picking and choosing of words. When I write from a stream of consciousness or my honest thoughts with no pausing I write very fast, and so my Os only have one loop, if they have any at all.
Hey, this actually is called graphology! It's the study of handwriting and loops to the right is outward lying, loops to the left is lying to self.
Graphology is so incredibly fascinating and you can learn so much about a person, along with true feeling in writing.
I personally use it to check in on friends when their handwriting is showing concerning mental state signs, or looking out for what people to get closer to or not.
I really really recommend learning about it!
@@AaaAaa-rf3cj Oh wow, that's really interesting! Thanks for correcting me, I'll definitely look into that :)
Interesting... personally I still find the two loops more beautiful, though.
26:47 “golubushka” is actually a word in Russian, and I must say it fits perfectly with the context. Literally in means “little dove” (feminine) and used as a way to say “my dear”, or “honey”, or “sweetheart”, something like that. It is a bit archaic.
“Golubushka” is exactly what this Russian-kind-of monster would say in this kind of situation. When i see my language used like that, it warms my heart. Usually people don’t bother and just make jokes about “vodka” and “babushka”, but in Coroline voice actor even pronounced the word correctly. Also the whole monster design is clearly inspired by the famous Russian ballet “The Nutcracker”, made by Pyotr Tchaikovsky (the original story was written by E.T.A. Hoffmann though).
The writers clearly did their research, and i admire them for that.
+ "nikogda" = never
Man, can't help feeling sad whenever I see someone russian out of context on the Internet.
+ vsegda = allways
I was looking for this comment 👍🖖
Thank you for the information
I think the creepiness factors into how too perfect the Other Parents are. Living in reality, we notice and eventually get used to the imperfections of people. With the Other Parents, they look and act great but they also seem too vibrant and flawless. It’s this instinct that something doesn’t feel natural with them, because “perfect” people don’t exist.
My favorite character is Bobinsky, the circus performer with the mice. In the real world, he’s skeptical and accusative of Coraline, but he does eventually warm up and shows that he isn’t mean, just eccentric (which Coraline also eventually sees). It’s a good lesson that people can have good qualities even when they’re not perfect, and sometimes their imperfections can be identifying traits of themselves.
Another example is Wybie. He’s a talkative kid, but in the Other World, he doesn’t talk. Coraline had expected him to, which meant that although he is annoying to her, Coraline would have accepted that part of Wybie until the Other Mother claimed to have “fixed” him in order to cater to her. Something that makes Wybie “Wybie” is taken from him, taking a piece of his identity/individuality, and making him less “real”, no better than a doll up until we see that he does care about Coraline, and even that’s taken away from him. Punished for being his own person, from becoming “real” just like the Other Father. A perfect person would have no qualms about what the Other Mother is doing, and yet it’s their imperfections - their compassion - that led to them helping and even saving Coraline.
I was always struck by how incredulous Coraline was, even in moments when she was amused or delighted, she quickly reverted to a skeptical, “home?”
It was almost as though Coraline (in the film at least, I’ve not read the book) was predestined to vanquish the Other Mother and free the ghost children because she was wiser than her years, not as easily taken in as previous victims presumably were.
Trusting overly kind strangers can definitely can be a bad idea
hi good nice
Yes testing good idea
real
Nice
Nice
Did you know the book Coraline wasn't supposed to be published as a children's book? When Neil Gaiman tried to publish it one of his editors said it was too scary. So he recommended she read it to her daughter and ask her opinion (Her daughter was a kid at the time). So she read it to her and the girl said she wasn't scared. Well later at Coraline the musical Neil Gaiman was sitting next to the girl and told her the story and she said "Oh I was terrified, but I needed to know what happened next so nobody knew."
CORALINE WASN'T SUPPOSED TO BE PUBLISHED!!!!!!
"CORALINE WANST SUPPOSED TO BE PUBLISHED!!"
Now that's the most terrifying about the whole thing, being deprived of one of Neil Gaiman's best work
The editor's daughter was a real one and took one for the team.
It would have been a shame
Now that explains my trauma, but thanks to that little girl, I love Coraline
We’re so lucky then. Great story overall and the movie exposed the concept to a lot more people who might’ve needed to see it.
The thing that always tripped me up was that Other fathers song has like 8 different warnings to Coraline. It's cool that even a creation of Other Mother still wants this kid to run free.
I remember the first time that I watched this, a couple of years ago, I *_entirely_* forgot that it was a _stop-motion_ movie, until that scene where the Other Mother was cooking bacon.
Just seeing the bubbles formed from the sizzling and the grease, and how not really natural it looked, is literally the thing that reminded me "oh, this isn't computer animated, or traditionally animated, this is _stop-motion_ ."
Really think that that shows how incredibly well-done and fantastically animated this movie is.
I think it's interesting how Coraline is cool and mysterious for children watching, but very creepy and almost disturbing for adults. I remember watching it as a child and being mesmerized by the characters and the artwork, the color palette. now it has a special place in my heart but I'm too scared to rewatch 😭
idk about you but it traumatised me when i was younger - the cat and the other mom as a spider stayed with me for years after just one watch
Precisely, it traumatised me as an adult AND a child, both in different ways. As a child, it was the animation, as an adult, it's the psychology themes.
@@tutusketchesyeah I'm looking at the other comments and it seems like a lot of kids were just scared 😂 I wonder if there's just something wrong with me LMAO
@@daisymilks Personally loved the look of the film as a kid, and still love the film as a 26-year-old. I just dig the aesthetic so much, and am always fascinated by the look of stop motion animation.
I think as a kid some saw it as fun etc - and as you grow up you start to see The creepiness of it. Though i was equally creeped out as a kid as i was when i re-watched coraline
To add to the discussion of Coraline's boredom, it isn't just that she's alone with her parents, it's that she's alone with her parents after moving away from her friends, and her parents are working so much they don't have time to go shopping. And her mom recently got in a car accident. That's a lot for a kid to deal with on her own.
It is, and I do like that you see reminders around the house that her parents are not always this way with her (there are pictures of them having fun as a family, dad is playful when he’s not swamped with work, mom made plans to garden with Coraline before the accident happened, etc). Like, they are normally a united family. It just so happens that we, as an audience, are witnessing them during a tough time in their lives when things are not so great and fun things are put on the back burner for the time being. These things happen, sometimes we go through bad times as a family and in those situations you just have to prioritize what’s important in the moment. You don’t have time for fun stuff, you’re too stressed, too tired and you just want to get through it. Obviously Coraline is a child and for her this is unbearable, but the parents really are trying their hardest.
Couldn’t have said it better @GothicMCRgirl. I think that they are simply very stressed at a very difficult time in their lives and their stress is manifesting in slightly ignoring their kid. It’s also clearly temporary, I.e. due to the situation they are in and not the type of parents or people they really are. Some people in this comment section saw them as neglectful or that they didn’t really care about her, but I didn’t read rhat at all.
It's addressing very similar issues that PIXAR's INSIDE OUT was dealing with (and there is a good Cinema Therapy ep on INSIDE OUT) - being a kid and moving away from your friends and your parents having their own things to deal with so you don't feel important. Neil Gaiman dresses it up in horror as an allegory and PIXAR dresses it up a different way - but it's a pretty universal feeling. Even in INSIDE OUT, Riley tries to go back (escape) before she realizes that her parents really love her and they just had their own things going on.
@@gothicMCRgirl are they trying their hardest though? The seem incredibly cruel in their dismissal of her.
@@kstar1489 I do think so, yeah. Are they perfect? No, of course not. They’re exhausted, pulling all-nighters and their patience and tolerance is running on thin, it’s obvious. Should they respond so dismissively like that? Probably not. But honestly, we all get that way sometimes. It isn’t right, but we all do it, especially when we’re exhausted. That doesn’t make Coraline’s parents monsters, it just makes them human. And as you can see at the end of the movie, they’re trying to make it up to her (by going gardening, by getting food, by going out in celebration after the catalog is a success, by giving Coraline those new gloves she wanted). I do think the parents are trying their hardest, otherwise they wouldn’t have even attempted to make it up to their daughter towards the end.
I remember writing a 7 page essay about this movie but there are no words to describe how much detail the creators had added in this film! Great video
I love this movie so much it's one of my top favorites, there's so much symbolism. Like at 16:05, for the cake, when there's two loops on the cursive O. In graphology that usually is means that the person is a liar; the top "welcome" has one loop while the "home" has two. She's welcome in the other world, but she is not home. Also the other Mr. B was saying голубушка I think, it means dove.
I remember watching Coraline with my boyfriend for the first time and him being horrified at how dark it was. I had told him it was "a lovely film" 😂
I grew up with a manipulative parent, and so movies and media like Coraline actually make me feel safe, strangely, because I recognise the feeling it conveys, that everything is wrong, even though you're being told it's right and you can have everything you want. There's something about Coraline's creepiness that I find beautiful, delicious, even grounding. Stories like this help people like me to understand themselves.
I still get chills every time I watch the scene where Coraline escapes, and the Other Mother screams, "don't leave me, I'll die without you!" Because I have met those people in my real life and seen the lengths they'll go to, to stop you making your own choices. That's the real horror this film so beautifully illustrates.
Same but I had an emotionally absent parent and a physically absent parent (due to work) lol, this movie was my childhood
I also get chills when she's crying out to Coraline saying she'll die without her. I was in a toxic friendship with someone years ago that made me feel like crap and demanded I always made time for them, but then they'd always cover it up with their "good qualities" so that I would stay because I thought "well no one's perfect and they still care for me, right?"
While this toxic friend never said anything like they'd die without me, the FEELING of them constantly wanting me around even if it was to treat me like their doll they could toss to the side at any moment was still there (same with how the Beldam wants Coraline around all the time until she one day eats her)
What’s especially unsettling about that, is it’s very literal. I’ve always theorized that the Beldam goes after children, not just b/c they are easier to manipulate, but b/c of their youth. Their souls are young, & she gets all of the years that they had left to live when she eats them. So, when Coraline escapes w/ the key, the Beldam knows that she will never come back. The Beldam won’t get a new soul to eat, & even worse she’s lost the 3 other souls she’s used to sustain herself. (Notice how the physical eyes of the ghost kids shrink the farther back you go?) So she knows this is the end. Her door is locked, she can’t physically force Coraline to stay anymore, so she’s desperate. And in her primal fear she is completely honest & transparent for the first time.
Here, we get to see what & who she really is: an old, desperate creature that hunts w/ trickery, all out of tricks. With literally only her life left to lose, she lays everything out there even if it’s futile.
I remember watching a video on someone explaining that she hadn’t seen Coraline until she was married to her husband because her mom didn’t allow it. Her husband was shocked and sat her down immediately to watch it because he’s never meant someone who hasn’t seen it growing up. She realized that the Other Mother’s behavior was near identical to her moms. Her mom banned the movie because she knew if the lady saw it she’d realize she was being manipulated and abused.
You just put into words exactly what happened to me, I never really understood why this movie made me feel so much at home and safe. Thank you
My grandmother was a manipulator. It got so common that my family would tell each other "careful, there's a fish hook in that" if we saw her setting a trap.
Both my older brother and I are terrified of talking with our mom. We do not have the best relationship either, but thats a thing we can perfectly relate over
Hmmm i like that...
Well at least they knew...
My ex-finace has mental issues, but before we know anything was wrong, she would blow up over a percieved slight, and we used the phases "don't poke the bear" to warn each other when we knew she was gonna explode or "The bear is awake" if she was already set off.
@@pvtpain66k what was wrong?-
Man the whole “being the shadow” following a parent around the house is literally still me today and I’m 20, no school, no job, can’t go out, all due to health issues so i just stay home 90% of the time, and my mum stays home to care of things. So she’ll be walking around doing things, and I’ll just follow her around telling her random stuff, like the lore of a game i play. When she’s really busy i try not to pester her too much, but when she’s like, washing the dishes or ironing clothes I’ll be there right behind her with my chatterbox on
@@Ugubgugb i was born with Marfan syndrome and my case is quite severe, I’m disabled which makes it hard to do a lot of things, i also suffer with depression and anxiety which made going to school during quarantine nearly impossible, i was fully burned out by the time i reached 2nd year of highschool so I had a convo with my mum and we both decided it would be best if I dropped out. I plan to finishing highschool in the future and I hope to find a job I can do from home because it’s just too tiresome for me to leave the house everyday. Rn I’m waiting on a very important and quite serious surgery so even if I want to I wouldn’t be able to do much. After I’m fully recovered maybe.
Doing chores is hard for because of severe back pain, when I do try to help her then I just end up suffering myself.
What I can do without going through much pain I’ll do it a heart beat so.
It’s not really a case of “I became like this” it’s more that I’ve always been like this, but now I’ve endured a “normal” life for a long time. I know the cause but there’s just no other way at the moment.
Am I a failure as a 20y/o? Yes.
But again, at the moment there’s no other way for me to live. I’ve been trying to go out more times because i just gen don’t leave the house. I have 2 friends who understand my condition so sometimes they plan hangouts with my complications as the main worry. But still going out with me is not typically fun so I rather them go do their thing than me going and making everyone worry.
God, you've described my situation almost to a T. Anxiety, depression and autism leave me stuck in my house as well, following my mom around
@@BeatrizViana13 how do you think you're a 20 year old failure because you can't do stuff due to health issues? I'd agree with you if you chose that as your life but it sounds like you didn't. And you're looking for a job too which sounds like you're trying to do everything that you are capable of. You're not a failure honey. It sounds like you are doing everything you can.
@@BeatrizViana13 Sorry, not trying to lecture you. It just sounds like you're being harder on yourself than is accurate.
@@sarahlandis289 I’m just very self conscious about my situation, the few friends I have are either already working or going through uni, my brother is quite literally the example of a golden boy, or at least was because now he developed a bit of an attitude, but skills wise he’s both smart and athletic and he earns a great salary for his age. My mom gave up her work for me and although she has said multiple times it was her choice and not my fault, the fact still remains that if I was born healthy she would be able to work on her area which she was very passionate about. Plus the years I did go to school, I was bullied for who I am, since I was a kid I was basically told everyday at school that’s it was my fault and that I should just be ashamed for being born (kids can be cruel but idk to what point they are to blame, since most of the times they’re just a reflection of their environment), my depression came mostly from that.
I know it is not my fault, and I know there’s nothing I can do other than keep living, I know if I had other choice I’d turn my life around, but there’s just that little voice inside of my head that blames me for everything I’ve gone through.
9:40
Apparently you're both correct
The speaking voice for Mr. Jones is John Hodgman but the singing voice is John Linnell of They Might Be Giants
I studied this movie in class for an English assignment two years ago, and my teacher focused mostly on the lighting, colours, and sound effects of it all. The non-diagetic sounds are ominous music tracks that put you on edge, while the diagetic sounds are whimsical and cheerful. The real world's colours are muted and cold, sticking to muddy colours like browns and desaturated blues. Coraline sticks out against it all in her bright yellow coat and vibrant hair.
Upon entering the other world though, her orange pajamas match the warm, oversaturated lighting. However, her hair is still out of place, with blue scarely used in the scene of her first trip through the door. The pajamas suggest that she fits right in, but the stark contrast of her hair says the opposite. Her clothes are changeable, but her hair colour isn't.
I love this movie so much, every aspect of it is facinating.
Holy shit,this should have more likes. I was wondering about the things the producers did to make coraline still seem out of place in the other world and this makes so much sense. Really cool observation omg
To have the colour of her clothes fit in while her hair contrasts, it's almost as if the movie is symbolising that her heart is saying "yes" to this strange alternate world while her head should be telling her "no". Or maybe I'm reading too deep into it.
There's a psychology to color...blue meaning honesty trustworthy and most often linked to truth and authenticity.
@@memr1a thanks! There's tons more to it too, like the significance of camera angles and a fun detail on the cake of how 'welcome' had a single loop on the o and 'home' had two loops, and having two loops on an o has been shown in a graphology study that it indicates that a person is lying, as if displaying that she is welcome but is certainly not home and foreshadowing how she can go but can't stay... yeah, sorry, I just love this movie ahaha
It's great that this movie shows the child's perspective of things. I mean, Coraline's parents are shown as boring adults who do not pay any heed to her, but if you look at it from an adult's perspective, it is obvious that they 1) are hurrying to finish their work in time; 2) are obviously tired after the move (especially Coraline's mother, who in addition has a trauma and has to wear the neck cone); 3) have financial difficulties, as seen from the scene at the shop. But, alas, Coraline had to get it the hard way...
In the book it is even more obvious, her parents are not bad, they are just not great. You can not possibly always entertain your kid
And from Coralines perspective her parents are neglecting her for soooo loooong, but in the grand scheme of things it was a couple months maybe during a very hectic seasonal work time, a move and her mother being injured.
oh, that was a neck brace?! never seen one in person, so I thought that was just her drip.
@@lonelyronin2428 what kinda drip are you seeing to think a neck brace is a fashion statement lmaoo
@@tiffanyh629 I always thought it was a turtleneck sweater, I never noticed the brace
It's nice you guys pointed out how different you felt about coraline's parents when you're single and now you have kids. I never had kids but I did understand how the parents felt in the movie why they can't provide for her the time and attention she needs. I was always looking for reactions that I felt similar to mine and I only heard it here.
6:41 "It's not my job to entertain you all the time"
-Me as my cat is walking all over me while I'm trying to pack for my move tomorrow. 😅
Omg I feel that 😂😂😂
Same with my two cats 😂
One thing I noticed about the Other Mother is that for as much as she cooks, she's the only one at the table who doesn't eat the food. She always has a place set for her, but there's never any food on her plate.... but she feeds sausage to the flowers at least. I think the flowers eating the meat is a hint to her true nature --- a pretty flower or something nice on the outside, but an apex carnivore/predator in reality, and that she gets her sustenance in other ways.
Like children's souls
@@prowers2623 like the butthole mouth grim reapers from Hogwarts
@JeeseDooBoogaloo that's was an actually bug so that confirms she doesn't eat normal foods
almond mom vibes 😅
@@shanehe729 LMAO
i found it interesting at first that he made a song for her and it was a kind gesture and sweet, but he isn’t doing it “for her” he is actually WARNING her. The lyrics tell coralline what will happen if she stays in that world for too long, so doesn’t that mean those other creatures are stuck under her control, and her world is always against her but they cannot fight back considering her power. All they can do is warn the innocent children that enter it
He is kind
It's foreshadowing for what he turns out to be. Like all of the [SPOILER REDACTED], the Better Father manages to throw a wrench in the [SPOILER REDACTED] when he gets a chance, even a small one.
Yeah, him being controlled by the other mother is even further symbolized by the piano, that is literally playing him instead of the other way around.
@@sleepysnorlax9384 exactly
Examples of this being shown:
“She’s a doll” meaning the doll is the other mother’s eyes
“She’s a peach” meaning she’s just food to the other mother
“She’s a pal of mine” meaning coraline can trust him.
“When she comes around she’ll never get bored” meaning this world is designed for her, so she’ll want to be here forever.
“Our eyes will be on coraline” meaning she’s always being watched
I just finished reading the book and I am SO GLAD the movie did not include the scene where, while looking for the "eyes", Coraline goes into the basement and finds a hideous, disfigured blob monster that used to be the Other Dad that attacks her. That shit was TERRIFYING.
I went to the 3D too. I always go to the movies when there's the least people, but there was a little girl there, with her mom, and she was screaming terrified. She's probably in therapy now
Its always interesting seeing people make commentary on Coraline. When I was in the fifth grade, my english teacher had her whole class read the book. Then as an assignment we had to write a letter to the author and make an persuasive argument for the book to be made into an movie adaption. To motivate us she even told us she would personally mail all of our letters to the author. The whole class was excited for the assignment because we all loved the book. Apparently she also did this with the kids in previous years. I don’t know if she ever mailed the letters, but I will say that I don’t recall any of us getting our letters back. I like to imagine that my class helped this movie become a reality.
You should ask Neil Gaiman; the man's on twitter and could answer.
o.o
@@aromaladyellie he is pretty active on tumblr as well
It didn't. As soon as Neil Gaiman was done with the book, the first thing he did was have the manuscript sent to Henry Sellik. They started work on the movie before the book was published.
That's so cool
Beldam love bombed Coraline so much in the other world. They tailored so much of what she wanted to the world created, it FEELS like a trap.
From a storyteller perspective, I liked how the other world fell apart the more Coraline doubted. It shows the Other mother is losing control of the world as she loses control of Coraline. It also shows Coraline (being the only 'real' person) has all the control and that's a powerful message for kids.
Also third thought: Coraline eats a lot of Otherworld food and as someone who grew up with stories of Fae food: no
You can also see how the other mothers design, especially her clothing design, evolves over the course of the movie. The more times we return to her world, she looks more and more insect like. And of course, her red and black colors and angular shapes resemble that of a black widow.
ua-cam.com/video/SeuEmmYp59E/v-deo.html
Definitely the food was a BIG no for me as well for the same reason-- It's not referenced as much now as when I was a kid, but accepting food from fae-adjacent anything is such a huge no
Right?! I was like nooooo! For me it's bcs of Greek Mythology
Yes, I love that someone else picked up on that! When I saw her sitting down to dinner with the Other Family I thought 'oh no this is it they've got her forever'.
You guys have earned a sub. Keep doing what you’re doing here, this is great work.
Welcome and thanks for watching! 👋
10:16 that song wasnt about her, it was for her, it was to warn her.
They just gave me a free therapy session with this one video. When they started talking about escapism and all that stuff, that kind of made me realize why I'm always so hooked to my laptop. I always get so upset when my laptop is taken away because I don't have that outlet anymore, that place where I can escape reality. It's videos like these that make me take a closer look into my psyche which allows me to understand myself as a person more and more each day. Thank you.
Agreed. It hit close to home for ma too. UA-cam blurs the lines between informative and escapism. It is a problem I am going to have to get a grip on. What a truth bomb.
Oh I definitely have a problem with disassociating and escapism 😅 especially while driving I need to focus more
So what you're saying is that imagining I'm doing my own concert while listening to a music video is unhealthy? Well damn
I do the same with my phone.😅
Same here, but I’m trying.
I always thought the buttons were super creepy, because the eyes are the windows to the soul. With buttons, you can't see their souls or their intentions.
Exactly!
I know what you mean
The voice actor for Coraline’s father/the Other Father is John Hodgman, but his singing voice on the Coraline song is performed by John Linnell from They Might Be Giants. TMBG actually did an entire soundtrack for Coraline, but most of it ended up getting scrapped after the filmmakers decided to go for the darker tone of the final product, with the Coraline song being the only one that ultimately made the cut.
I just watched the film recently and it made me realize that I was also being groomed and manipulated by my mother to stay with her and never leave… Way scarier of a movie to realize you are sitting in your own personal Coraline while watching it. But now I am away from her and in a more supportive environment thankfully.
Something I still find to be cool attention to detail is that the other mother's plate is always empty when they eat. The only time we actually see her eat is when she eats a beetle much later into the movie. Fitting seeing as she's a spider, only eating things like bugs, but to me also solidifies her hunger for coraline throughout the film. She feeds off the children she traps and as the movie goes on she gets more desperate to keep coraline, clearly getting more hungry until she gets outright aggressive.
This one! I also think that she really snapped when Coraline refused to have buttons sewn into her eyes. Her smile looks extra fake while Coraline was tryna go up the stairs.
Great point and insight. Gotta watch again to catch these things.
I love details and though this may mean nothing, the other father's eyes are sewn to have 'x's and other mother's is sewn with a '+'
I remember catching that detail and it being very another very creepy layer on the unsettling cake.
@@solstice_soda701 The Other Father is literally not alive. He is fake in every way. So it makes sense
A detail I just noticed is that at 18:20 the Other Mother’s fingers are sign language for “I love you” but she specifically gestures towards Coraline’s eyes when she makes the gesture! Even without words, she’s indicating that the only thing she loves about Coraline is her eyes 👀
Ironically, that same gesture is the one SpiderMan is famous for using to shoot webs. Don't know if that was a deliberate allusion to the Beldame's spiderlike true form or just a coincidence, but either way it sort of fits.
@@dbseamz Spiderman makes that hand shape so his 2 middle fingers can reach the hidden button that shoots the webs. Tobey Maguire's version is the only one who can shoot webs naturally, but they had to keep that hand shape due to how iconic it is.
@@lucifang maybe toby Maguires spiderman does that so that his tendons in that portion of the arm flex, and help his web (glands??) shoot lol
Brooo
I never noticed that! It's like how in Tangled, when Mother Gothel shows affection to Rapunzel, she's only holding her hair. Like one scene she kisses her hair instead of something like her forehead. The minute details in animated films to show manipulators is insane
One thing that is super creepy that i only just noticed after watching the scene again with the other mr b in this video is that... at first it sounds like like he slurs and rambles during the scene because he's drunk. But he isn't drunk... He's *sleepy*.
Okay i don't know if this fully makes sense but Other mr b is a collection of rats with a consciousness piloting the body - but as the magic wanes he is also just turning back into a feral pile of rats. So what happens to the consciousness?
Listen to him talk but not as a spooky spectacle but as someone trying to stay "awake". Trying to keep their eyes open for just a bit longer as unconsciousness approaches.
His mind is slipping off into... Somewhere and its leaving him light headed and giddy. He's not even trying to seriously stop coraline he's kind if just... Cheerfully vibing. Like he doesn't really care either way. What he's saying is ridiculous - obviously coraline has seen first hand there isn't going to be cake and parties and fun at this point so why continue to keep up the charade? Because he's in *delirium*. His mind is coming apart. His thoughts aren't making sense anymore.
When you see it not as a spooky pile of rats playfully being sarcastic and spooky - but instead as some kind of 'consciousness' slowly slipping off into the void and cheerfully rambling their last thoughts to the closest person nearby as it happens, it feels so much more unnerving.
"not even that... anymore" his final line of remorse as he drifts off into "sleep". As his mind finally goes. Did he like being alive? Is he sad to go? Is he self aware enough to feel like a person? Either way he no longer has the mental faculties to care either way.
So it feels so spooky because at the back of your mind you are kind of like "uhhhh did i just watch someone die?" and not only watched them die but watched them die while struggling and fighting to remain conscious and lucid as they circled the drain. Going to sleep and not waking up is very very scary. Nobody wants to slip into that dark.
Between other mr b, other dad and other wybie - i think the most horrifying thing the other mother does is make full conscious and alive beings (who are fully knowledgeable of their own mortality and able to think for themselves to some degree) and kind of just... Gives them cheap disposable props as bodies and discards them later.
Like they could just be mindless puppets... but she makes them sentient then kinda just... Throws them away to rot.
And she isn't even being evil about it! Like her creations being sapient in no way helps her it actually works against her when her creations mess up her own carefully made plans. Theres NO reason at all for them to be conscious and have their own personhood.
She just flat out doesn't care that she's making sentient beings JUST as an cheap illusion - that's clearly just the easiest option for her so she doesn't bother doing anything else. Like damn that is wild. Talk about the worst kind of godlike being.
The parents’ actors ability to be identifiably two different characters that are also the same character while trusting someone else to do their facial and physical acting is so damn good I can’t even. (Also, about what they said at 18:50, it was their choice to do all that for you, not necessarily you, but whatever, it is not their choice for you to do this for them)
Also! Another reason for the Other Mother looking oddly unsettling even before her transformation it’s because her design is sharper and it’s also filled with triangles, meanwhile Coralines mom is rounder. In character design triangles are usually used to convey danger!
Oh that's an interesting observation!
What else is used to convey danger in character design? I’m curious o:
@@Rolling_Girl_falling_forever Going by Disney methods, usually using either dark colors, especially green to convey that this person is "mean" or spooky in a way. They tend to have exaggerated facial features, exaggerated makeup/hair/clothing. Ironically, looking at the Belldame and Coraline's Mom, the Bellesame's version of Coraline's mom looks... "older"? somehow.
I'm part Russian on my dad side. I'm pretty sure the word is голубушка (pronounced gah-loo-boosh-ka) which is another word for darling, though it literally means dove. It's nice when a studio actually does their research about a language and culture rather than rely on stereotypes. Especially from Laika since the studio is named after a Soviet dog who went to space.
9:36 The voice you're hearing when the Other Father sings is actually John Linnell from They Might Be Giants! They were hired to do the soundtrack but due to creative differences, only one song made the final cut. As much as I love the song, people of culture know the best They Might Be Giants song will always be the Higglytown Heroes theme song. It is such a bop
I F***ING KNEW IT. I KNEW I RECOGNIZED HIS VOICE.
Correct
OMG I DIDN'T KNOW THAT WAS THEM BUT IT MAKES SO MUCH SENSE
You are right, it is голубушка
oh my god, you just unlocked a core memory with Higglytown Heroes
“Eat time”
4:30
Now that may be one of the most poetic quotations ever uttered
My parents always said I never got bored as a child. I don't have the heart to tell them that I was bored, I just recognised that I wasn't as important as whatever they were doing, especially if it involved my sick sister that 'had' to be catered to always, regardless of whether she was sick at the time or not. I learned early on that I was just an extra burden and that I had to stay out of the way or inevitably become the scapegoat for whatever my sister had an issue with, and there was always an issue, especially when it came to me.
I'm super sorry you felt that way. I definitely felt that way too growing up, that my needs and interests just weren't as important as my siblings and because their needs were more obvious or pressing than mine, they were often ignored. I get how you feel and it sucks but it can get better.
@@that-one-wolf-thing8846 I feel like my main problem is that I understand. Everyone was doing everything they could under difficult circumstances with little information.
I don't blame or even find much fault in them.
Which only leaves me with anger at the situation..... And their subconscious desperation to not acknowledge their own trauma and get help for themselves
But that's family I guess.
While i agree that the parents here aren't necessarily bad parents, they defiantly had communication issues with Coraline which had a major strain on her attitude towards them.
Thank you! Everyone is saying the parents aren't bad at all, just "busy", but they definitely expected Coraline to understand things like an adult.
Bad parenting vs bad parents overall
@@MargauxNeedler that’s the best possible way to describe it. coralines real parents had bad parenting skills. her Other Parents were (obviously) just bad parents
Yeah I think a lot of parents focus too much on sugarcoating things. When I was growing up there were a lot of examples of things that I didn't understand, but once they were explained to me plainly, I understood and stopped bitching or whatever. People would try to dress the concepts and teachings up in kid speak but that just made things harder a lot of the time.
Kids are smarter than you give them credit for. Being honest about not exactly being this superhuman who can juggle all these concepts isn't all too bad, just as long as you teach them they still aren't a burden.
I also think it’s important to note that Coraline’s parents have a ton on their plate at the moment. They just made a big move, they had an accident, and their catalog is due. Also, you pick up on the fact that they’re on a budget while waiting for the catalog to sell. I think there are so many little moments where you can see tenderness, but it’s important to note that this is a small handful of moments right after chaos. I would bet that they are good parents who are going through a tough transition.
100%, and I can relate.
I would like to add, in the book (assuming I remember correctly) Coraline talks about how her parents used to be before the move, which made it seem less like neglect and more like a temporary issue
considering this was my favorite movie growing up, its pretty funny that i was in almost the same position, being manipulated by my stepmom (who my father enabled) and it didnt click just how bad they were to me until long after i left. show hits a little too close to home now, but in a good way.
The Other Father Song is in fact written and performed by They Might be Giants. This was originally going to be a musical, but this was the only song that survived to be filmed.
As someone with DPD ( depersonalization disorder) who spent the larger part of adolescence completely isolated due to an overbearing parent; the points you guys touched on about escapism rang so very true….. Trust me when I say, disappearing into a dream world or entertainment may sound like heaven, but it becomes the lowest level of hell if you find yourself stuck there unable to even process reality .
You put my situation into words pretty damn well. Any idea on getting out?
As someone not diagnosed with that, but another disorder with dissociation as a symptom.. Yeah...
Mine is also chronic and never dissipates.
I've lived in a dream world for probably around 10 years now.
It's an actual living hell.
A nightmare world.
People who overcame depression and say that suicide is not the answer have no idea.
They have no fucking idea.
@@turgor127 I didn't 'overcome' my disorders but I did make it to a place where I recognise suicide isn't the answer. I hope you get to find some of that too my guy x
This was my immediate thought when he started talking about escapism. I have struggled with dissociation since I was a kid. As an adult escaping into the fantasy world of books and movies was so appealing but in the end it left me isolated. The real world was overwhelming and dull until I started to see the beauty in everyday living. I practice being present and dealing with my emotions instead of numbing them.
The funniest thing is that Coraline's parents don't seem as negligent in the books as they do in the movie. And that's probably because we get flashbacks of when she was younger and how much they trully care about her. The movie only shows the present, which make them seem aloof and non-caring
Until you get to the end when they've had time to settle in and have finished there work
The story about Coraline's dad and the bees still warms my heart (poor dad tho)
@@celestee2264 right they should’ve included that in the movie would’ve been a nice message about bravery
Aw man! You didn't hear the lyrics in the Other Father song, it foreshadows what's to come. He's warning Coraline "She's as cute as a *button in the eyes of everyone [lost kids and potentially Coraline too] who ever laid their eyes [on other mother]* " "our eyes will be on Coraline" I felt so smart when I realized it, but only because the song and scene was so fun I had to rewatch
So I see a lot of people mentioning how the song is foreshadowing the other mother's true nature but in the next scene where they gave her a welcome home cake, there's a double loop in the 2nd O. In typography, a double loop in an O is indicative of deceit. Meaning that while she will always be welcome, she isn't actually at home.
When the other mother says, “I bet he’s as hungry as a pumpkin by now.” Takes on a WHOLE new meaning when you’ve seen the ending…😖
The other mother was a real dark jokester.
It was such a weird line in the moment too-
I don't get it?
@@Nada-qn2rg when Coraline first meets her, she's cooking and asks Coraline to grab her other father saying, the hungry as a pumpkin line. Later in the movie when the other mother reveals her darker side we see that the other father was created from a pumpkin.
@@crystalchorus oh, I see. Never realised that 😅
It's completely subjective, of course, but what I don't like about Coraline's parents, in the film version, is that they aren't respectful about setting boundaries, and they don't appear to consider Coraline's feelings or needs. It's hard to do, but it's a necessary part of parenting.
But *you guys missed* one of the primary reasons the Other Mother and the Better Father are so creepy: it's the voice actors. No matter how syrupy-sweet or charmingly whimsical they are, there's always just an edge of malice to the voices, and also an edge of steel. As an adult, you just KNOW these creatures are going to demand something horrible from Coraline, and that hidden steel will come out to back it up.
For me, is the movementa of the other mother and how she distracts coraline anytime she quesito a everything, her hands are so...meticulate on a robotic way
One thing that creeps me out about the other parents, is the fact that we get an established relationship of the real parents and Coraline. The "distant and busy" parents that, although care about her, like you mentioned haven't set healthy boundaries in a respectful way. Where as the other parents are so hyped attentive to where it's uncanny. Fantastic story telling for a creepy film. It shows even in a warm atmosphere you can up a creep factor heavily if you do it right.
The only reason i dont demonize her real parents is because the movie takes over a span of three days. In which her parents are dealing with moving in, a deadline as their sole source of income, and a neck injury from their mother. As someone with an easily stressed mom who wokred alot despite her terrible eyesight, i saw my mom in coralines parents.
@@Misora7303 Yeah, I almost forgot this was a stop-motion film, and was going to say something about puppeteers who come from dance and physical performance backgrounds, lol
@@killme5630 Exactly! No family is perfect all the time
9:38 John Hodgman played the Dad but when he sings John Linnell from They Might Be Giants sings it, and John Flansburgh wrote it.
One interesting detail that is in one of the clips you guys used is the cake that reads 'welcome home'. It's written with a double-loop through the O in home, which is a symbol of the word being a 'lie'. There is only one loop in the Welcome. Meaning she is welcome, but she is NOT home.