here’s a thread of all of my favourite little details and hidden gems in coraline! ミ☆

before I start I highly recommend you read the original novel by Neil Gaiman if you can! it’s a similar premise and story but there are a few different plot points.

(1) All of the music in the film, besides the other fathers song, is composed by Bruno Coulais, with the Hungarian Symphony Orchestra and Children’s Choir of Nice performing the tracks.
While it may sound like French, the Children’s Choir is actually singing in gibberish.

(2) Spirals are a constant motif through the film, appearing in several locations. Spirals are a symbol that represent journeys and changes in life. The book emphasies Coraline’s journey to maturity, while the novel focuses on Coraline’s journey to appreciating her family.

(3) The doll at the very beginning of the film is of Wybie’s grandmothers sister, the last child to be taken by the Beldam.

(4) On the back of the moving truck is a piece of graffiti saying ’StopMo Rulz’. This is an appreciation for stop-motion animation, and essentially all of the work that went into the movie. Coraline is the second longest running stop-motion movie of all time.

(5) In the beginning sequence there are two movers who help move the jones’ furniture, known as the Ranft Brothers. These characters are modelled on the real life Ranft brothers, Jerome and Joe. Joe was a friend of the the director, Henry Selick, who passed away in 2005.

(6) The dollar bill that Joe Ranft receives from Charlie Jones has Henry Selick’s face replacing George Washingtons.

(7) The well is surrounded by a ring of mushrooms, which is known as a fairy ring. In folklore, these rings were caused by elves and fairies dancing, and in many different cultures, they are seen as a space of bad luck for humans if they enter. +

(7) cont. It is theorised that the well is another portal to the other world, and the fairy ring surrounding it emphasises how unlucky the spot is for Coraline.

(8) Wybie was not a character in the novel! He was created for the movie so Coraline would have someone to talk to rather than herself. This isn’t an Easter egg but I love Wybie and his character and he’s more important to the story than people think.

(9) Pepper, Bleeding Hearts, Pumpkins and Squash are the seeds Coraline places on the windowsill when talking to her mother. These (almost) exact plants return in the other worlds garden.

(10) In a deleted scene, a spider crawls into Mel Jones’ coffee cup before she takes a sip, and scuttles away after. Many people believe this is how the other mother was able to replicate her so well, as the other mothers ‘true’ form is a large spider-like creature. +

(10) cont. The spider is able to ‘take’ Mels DNA from her coffee cup, and use this to replicate her in the other world. This spider also shows up at the same time Coralines doll does.

(11) Whenever we see the Jones’ car, there is a large crack on the left side through the headlight. Combined with Mel Jones’ neck brace and her mentioning of ‘the accident’, we can assume this is where they collided with a truck.

(12) The Pink Palace’s wallpaper is filled with bugs, foreshadowing the other mothers fascination and obsession with bugs.

(13) The doll is used by the other mother to spy on Coraline and her life. Whatever Coraline complains about in her real world, the other mother will give to her in the other world. +

(13) cont. E.G, when Coraline is grossed out by her dad’s food, the other mother provides a feast, the other mother knows Coraline is annoyed by Wybie so she makes him unable to talk, and when Coraline doesn’t get the gloves she wants, the other mother gives her a new outfit.

(14) Whenever the other mother is humming throughout the movie, she is actually humming the soundtrack. When we first meet her I believe she is humming the ‘Mechanical Lullaby’ track (not 100% sure however).

(15) The other fathers song he sings to Coraline is an eery foreshadowing and warning to her about the other mother and other world. “She’s a peach she’s a doll she’s a pal of mine”, implies not only the doll made of Coraline to spy on her +

(15) cont. but also how the other father feels pity her and ends up helping her with the ghost eye at the end. The song also implies how the other mother wishes to put her eyes on Coraline, “our eyes will be on Coraline”, they’ll be watching her through the doll +

(15) cont. as well as physically placing their button eyes on her.

(16) The three silhouette paintings on the wall in the other world resemble the three children the beldam has already killed.

(17) A double loop in the letter o indicates someone is lying. When ‘Welcome Home’ appears on the cake, it indicates that she in indeed welcome, but that she is not home.

(18) When lightning strikes in the other world, it’s in the shape of the other mothers hand.

(19) When the other mother sits and watches Coraline fall asleep, she is replaced by the doll in the real world, further demonstrating how she’s watching Coraline through the doll.

(20) Bobinsky is Coraline’s Russian neighbour who always wears a medal on his left breast. This medal is actually real, and was given out to the Chernobyl Liquidators. These were civil and military personnel who helped with the cleanup of Chernobyl after its explosion in 1986.

(21) When Spink and Forcible read Coraline’s tea leaves, Spink sees a ‘very peculiar hand’. This resembles the other mothers hand.

(22) Whenever Coraline and her other family are eating together, the other mother never has anything on her plate, and only eats one thing during the entire film. This is to assume that her main and only diet is the souls of children and the occasional bug.

(23) All of the other Bobinsky’s jumping mice disappear into his suit after the performance, foreshadowing how he will be made entirely of rats later.

(24) The final dress the Beldam wears has a prominent bustle on the back, almost resembling the large behind of a spider.

(25) The mask other Wybie wears when saving Coraline is the same oven mitt used by the other mother when we first meet her (I’m not sure if this is deliberate or not).

(26) In Spink and Forcible’s apartment there are shown to be three different jars of hand-pulled taffy, each with a year over them (1921, 1936, 1960). These are believed to be the years in which each ghost child was abducted and killed by the Beldam.

(27) In a family photo of Coraline and her family, we can see that she was born a natural brunette, and dyes her hair blue.

(28) The other fathers true form is shown to be a pumpkin, referencing the other mothers earlier line saying he was ‘as hungry as a pumpkin’.

(29) When the other mother makes Coraline an omelet, she cracks an egg into a bowl. The egg yolk is shaped like Jack Skellington’s head, a nod to Henry Selick’s other work on The Nightmare Before Christmas.

(30) The hot chocolate on the table is a reference to the book, where Coraline calls the police about her missing parents and they tell her to ask her parents to make her a hot chocolate.

(31) When Coraline goes to retrieve the second eye from the theatre, the bat-dogs are almost a complete juxtaposition of the real world (departed) angel dogs of Spink and Forcible.

(32) This might be a stretch, but when Coraline gets the last eye from the cat she is in a thin stretch of light from the moon, out of the darkness. This may reference her earlier line, ‘she can’t keep me in the dark forever’.

(33) The moon in the other world and the well have a striking resemblance when both are being covered up by something, the moon a button and the well a wooden cover.

(34) When the clouds part from the moon, they are in the shape of two hands.

(35) There is a constant focus on the other mothers hands, as it is her hands that created the other world to fit Coralines wishes. Even the other father says the Corlaine that the other mother knows her ‘like the back of her hand’.

(36) In the Detroit Zoo snow globe, it features the real life fountain that features two bronze bears. Once Coraline breaks the globe to free her parents, these two bears are missing from the globe entirely.

(37) Charlie Jones plays with the octopus toy as if it is a face-hugger from Alien.

(38) When Coraline talks with the ghost children once they’ve been freed, the background is strikingly similar to Van Gogh’s starry night painting. Many interpretations of this painting see it as a bridge between life and death, with the sky representing heaven.

(39) The garden in the real world has a striking resemblance to the other mothers face.