Coraline is one of those movies that gets creepier as you get older. As a child, I remember being captivated by the movie’s colorful design and the exciting adventures Coraline went on. However, as I’ve grown older, I’ve realized that the movie has some pretty disturbing elements, some more obvious than others.Â
Even though the movie came out in 2009, fans still analyze and develop theories about Coraline’s world and the seemingly innocent details that might have much darker explanations.Â
Here are some of the most compelling fan theories that might make you rethink everything you knew about Coraline!
Coraline’s Name MispronunciationÂ
All of Coraline’s neighbors call her Caroline. When correcting them, she says her name is still Coraline, implying that they repeatedly mispronounce it and refuse to correct themselves. Fans theorize this phenomenon occurs because they don’t want The Beldam, also known as the Other Mother, to hear Coraline’s name.
According to the theory, her neighbors know about the Beldam because other children in the residence have fallen prey to her. Since the Beldam uses magical dolls to spy on her targets, the neighbors may have been purposefully pronouncing Coraline’s name wrong to draw less of the Beldam’s attention. To further support this theory, Wybie, Coraline’s friend, doesn’t pronounce Coraline’s name correctly until she successfully escapes the Beldam, suggesting that he may have known about the danger all along and only felt comfortable saying her real name once she was safe.
Key Dropping Scene
At the end of the movie, Coraline throws the key that unlocks the little door — which gave her access to the alternate reality to begin with — down a well so she can prevent the Other Mother from reaching the Real World. This makes Coraline think she and the other future children are safe. However, fans have theorized that the well is a portal to the alternate reality too, it has a similar spiral shape to the tunnel to the other world behind the little door.Â
Wybie also says that if someone falls down the well, they would see midnight stars in the middle of the day. In the other world, it is always dark outside, therefore, all someone would see is midnight stars. This further supports the theory that the well leads directly to the Other World, suggesting that Coraline may have unknowingly returned the key to the Beldam rather than keeping it out of her reach.
Dragonfly Hair Clip
Fans also theorized that Coraline wears a dragonfly clip because dragonflies are known to be able to escape spider webs easily. The Beldam is associated with spiders throughout the movie, through her shift into a spider-like shape and the webs she creates.
The spider-like Beldam designs the Other World like a complex web meant to trap Coraline. However, like a dragonfly, Coraline can escape this web, unlike many of the other children or “prey” beforehand. This dragonfly hairpin foreshadowes that she will be able to escape the Other World.
Candy Jars Theory
While visiting Miss Spink and Miss Forcible, Coraline sees three taffy jars in a chest, each with dates on top. Fans theorize that these dates correspond to the three missing children who were the Beldam’s prior victims.
Miss Spink and Miss Forcible hand Coraline a taffy bowl of her own, as if they had already expected Coraline to join the other three ghost children in the Other World. However, Coraline’s bowl breaks, unlike the other bowls that were intact, foreshadowing that she will survive unlike the other ghost children. Miss Spink and Miss Forcible also smile at each other once it breaks, because they foresee Coraline’s chance of escaping.
Whether these theories are true or not, they certainly make Coraline a lot creepier than I remember.
Maybe next time you watch, you’ll notice that even the smallest details might have a much darker meaning.
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