It has been 15 years since the premiere of Coraline came out in theaters on February 6, 2009. This stop motion animated dark fantasy film has left a huge imprint on millions of people, who recognize this movie as a cult classic. LAIKA, the studio that produced Coraline along with other stop motion movies such as ParaNorman and Kubo and the Two Strings, announced Coraline will be returning to theaters on August 15, now remastered and in 3D. To celebrate its 15th anniversary, I will guide you through hidden details you might have not known. If you weren’t excited yet, did you know that Coraline is a book too? Buckle up, because you will be blown away by how different it is compared to the movie we all love.
At the beginning of Coraline, we all know the iconic Coraline doll making scene, where the Beldam summons the doll to create a mini version of Coraline to spy on her life? If you pay attention to the music, you can hear the Beldam singing. You might be wondering “yeah we know, what about it?” At the start, the Beldam’s voice is rougher and more hoarse, but as the song goes, her voice becomes softer and more clearer. What she is doing is changing her voice to match the voice of Coraline’s mom because her voice then matched the voice of Mrs. Lovat’s mother, which she utilized to lure Mrs. Lovat’s missing sister to the other world. Creepy right? Throughout the entire movie, there are hidden details and features in almost every scene, each hidden in the background, in places you would pay no attention to, but for today I’ll minimize it, because if I went on and on, I’m afraid we’d be here for an eternity, so I will just point out the most noticeable ones.
When Coraline goes to sleep in the other world, while both the Beldam and her other father watch her sleep, if you pay attention to their shadows, you can tell that the shadow of the Beldam reveals her true form, her thin and bug like body along with her elongated thin neck. Even before you could tell that something was off about her, her true form resembles a spider, some even say she is the same species as Pennywise, but she never ate anything throughout the movie, her plate was always empty while the others ate. The only time we ever saw her eat was those chocolate bugs she offered Coraline, further implying that her form would be bug-like, and even so, her decorations throughout the movie were bug like, such as the drawer, the praying mantis machine and so much more. Even the line from that ghost girl implied her true form: “Hurry on girl, her web is unwinding” (Quote from Coraline). It sure goes to tell the foreshadowing at the start.
Did you know they also added hidden cameos to the movie? When Coraline and her family first moved into the pink palace, her parents paid the movers a dollar as a tip. Instead of the actual face belonging to the one dollar bill, you can notice that the face in the dollar belongs to none other than Henry Selick, the director of Coraline. The other cameo is when Coraline went back to the other world to save her parents. When the Beldam is preparing food for Coraline, she makes her eggs with mushrooms and bacon. As the Beldam cracks the egg, we can see that the egg yolk is actually the head of Jack Skellington from The Nightmare Before Christmas.
I found the book version of Coraline to be very interesting. In the book, the journey of Coraline does not take place immediately like in the movies, but instead it takes two entire weeks for her to go through the little door and meet the other mother. Aside from that, when she first encountered the door, she wasn’t led by mice but a shadow which resembled a tall woman. She noticed the little door was open, but instead of exploring she closed the door and went back to bed. Throughout the first few chapters of the book, she meets all the characters living in the flat. When she met Mr. Bobinsky, or Mr. Bobo for short, he told her that the mice have a warning for her: “do not go through the little door” (The book of Coraline). After the warning, she goes to spend time with her parents but they don’t pay any attention to her because they are working.
The thing about the characters in the book is that they never give the sarcasm and attitude like in the movie. Except for the Beldam, she continues to act indulgent towards Caroline but in a very suspicious manner, but it’s bizarre to think they don’t act in that way. For example, Coraline is an 11 year old who loves to explore and is very adventurous but she never seems to talk back to her mom or father like in the movie. Other than the difference in behaviors, there are major differences between the events in the book and the movie. In the book, there is no Wybie, no Coraline doll, and no Mrs. Lovat. Even though the doll does not exist, from what I can theorize, the Beldam can listen into Coraline’s world/house. In one chapter of the book, right after Coraline’s parents go missing, Coraline instead of going back to the other world, she dials 911 to report her parents missing and that they were taken from her by the other mother. The police officer instead tells her to wake her mom and ask for a big hug and for her to make a hot chocolate to comfort Coraline from her nightmare. Because the policeman told her this, Coraline in turn tells him that she will and hangs up the phone. When she goes to rescue her parents, the other father tells her she must be hungry for something and then suggests hot chocolate, information that only Coraline would know.
Aside from that, when Coraline finally challenges the Beldam to a game to find her parents and the ghost children’s eyes/souls, the Beldam agrees. As Coraline is looking through the kitchen, the Beldam follows her around, giving a rather disturbing feeling. As Coraline looks through the house, she is able to find one of the eyes of the ghost children in her room, it whispers into her ear that the Beldam is angry and to hurry. She does so and meets with the Beldam, and gives a hint to where another eye is located, she tells Coraline it might be in the basement somewhere and gives her the key. Coraline heads off and sees the basement door and opens it, it is dark and nothing can be seen. She walks in and the door closes on her, a horrible smell surrounds Coraline, as she’s looking around she sees something horrifying and I’m glad they kept it out of the movie. Inside in the dark, is the deformed version of Coraline’s other father or what remains of him, and I quote, “In that dim light, it took her several seconds to recognize it for what it was: the thing was pale and swollen like a grub, with thin, sticklike arms and feet. It had almost no features on its face, which had puffed and swollen like risen bread dough. The thing had two large black buttons where its eyes should have been” (the book of Coraline). It turns out that the Beldam when she is angry punishes those around her when something does not go her way, revealing a sick nature to her character. The other father tells Coraline to flee and to not stay, for the Beldam wishes him to hurt her and keep her there forever. Coraline urges him to resist her, but he cannot. He then attacks Coraline, lunging at her but at the end, she is able to escape the basement.
A little while after that, Coraline is able to find all three ghost eyes, finding the last eyes in the other Mr. Bobinsky’s room. As she meets with the Beldam inside the house, the Beldam takes note of the cat- who she was constantly trying to keep out by blocking out all entrances and exits, and eventually was able to block out the exit in the end for the cat, forcing him to tag along with Coraline inside the house. It goes in the following sequence: the Beldam asks where her parents are, Coraline says they are in through the other door, she opens the door, Coraline throws the cat, Coraline escapes, etc. Yet as we know, the hand comes back to get the key. Coraline cleverly outwits the hand by tying the key on her neck, going outside and plays tea party on top of the well at the beginning, using a blanket to cover it up. As the hand lunges for the key, it falls down the well with no escape, Coraline the gathers her toys and leaves back home to spend time with her family, making conversation with Mr. Bobinsky, who tells her that the mice call her a savior and would like to perform for her one day. As the day turns into night, she falls asleep, her new school clothes ready for when summer ends.
Coraline over all, is a great movie with great visuals and storyline. Each character is unique in their own way and it is just a great franchise. I hope you guys enjoyed this as much as I did and hopefully you guys would be interested in reading the actual book of Coraline by Niel Gaiman. It is an awesome book and I would really recommend you to read it. I tried my best to summarize it all but there are still some chunks I left out on purpose because I would love for you guys to experience it yourselves and at your own pace.
