Coraline: The Monster You Missed 

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I love how coraline can stay relevant even after many years. Its so cool.

Always love seeing people talk about Irish folklore like faerie fog. Personally, I think the Other Mother is some kind of fae that preys on fickle children's affection. She needs it, which is why she turns aggressive and scary the moment Coraline withdraws her affection for the other world.

Something I didn't see you mention was that in the movie, during the slug hunting scene, wibey says that the cat doesn't like the mist because "he doesn't like to get his feet wet", but given all we know about the cat I think a safe assumption is that the cat knows that the mist is dangerous or evil which further supports the idea

The fact that we now have like 3 ancient eldritch creatures all going after this one girl is kinda funny. Brilliant as always 💙

"Whatever that corridor was was older by far than the other mother. It was deep, and slow, and it knew that she was there…" says the book

Considering that mist is often associated with fairies, getting lost, decieve and madness it's understandable considering that one can loose sight of the path, fall into a cliff or find a dangerous creature that could kill anyone. Once again, folklore mixes with life lessons that come from people of the past. And the symbolism here is exquisite. Kinda like how the kappa legends comes in hand with the warning of not playing too close to rivers to avoid falling and drown.

Idk if this was the plan all along but something a very interesting piece of trivia I have to offer is that the greek translation of the book is quite literally called "The house in the Mist"

I think it's so funny how there's more and more terrible monsters that you can find in Coraline. Like next time maybe the cutlery will be revealed to be evil too idk

I dated the woman who animated the HAIR in Coraline! Some of the dolls had thin thread... Others had ropes as thick as 5 INCHES!!! (Closeups) and they needed one person to handle all that with continuity!

do you realize how many creepy stories that Coraline would be able to tell her classmates if she goes back to school, she could like win oscars for horrifying stories which are technically true

The RU-vid channel Imaginago made this theory about Beldam's influence on the adults in Coraline. Since Coraline has a strong personality we could assume that if her parents were always distant and cold towards her she would not even bother to try to get their attention. So what if Beldam made them act like that so Coraline would want to stay on the Other World? In the final scenes the neighbors feel more sane and the parents are nicer towards Coraline

It feels like the Other Mother and The Mist are fighting for space in the other world. As the Other Mother grew in power it forced out the Mist, which in turn pushed Coraline out of her world and into the other. When the Other Mother lost the last bit of her influence, the Mist receded.

counter, the mist is tied to the cat. If the cat is a fairy, and the mist is a tool for fairies it is something to think about. The cat the whole time is against the other mother, shows up with the mist, and disappears with the mist. The mist greatens as the other mother falls, the cat was instrumental in her defeat. The mist was brought by the cat so it could hide in it as we do see it do. (I might be wrong do correct me, it has been awhile since i have read or seen coraline.)

I remember watching a lot of fan theories about Coraline and I'm surprised nobody has talked about the fog/mist until I saw your video. Most of the theories I've heard was about the cat being two cats (one good and the other being evil) or the cat being the boy in blue in the portraits while having connections to the Beldam.

I never even considered the mist! But that’s so amazing that in the movie the animators were able to capture it so perfectly. I love animation a lot

My local theater recently did a showing of Coraline, with extra never seen before behind the scenes bits at the beginning and end. My partner and I went to see it. It also had remastered visuals and sound. We wore glow in the dark skeleton pajamas to look like Wybie. It was magical:)

I have a theory that this video helps. why the mist overwhelms even the other mother’s realm and the inclusion of fairies. I think that the othermother/the belle dame was once human but stumbled into the fairy realm (through the mist/stepping into a fairy ring) and ended up making a deal with a fey for immortality/power and got her pocket dimension but with a caveat of “you will only have these gifts so long as you can keep us at bay”, meaning the mist and thus the fey, would generally be working against the othermother; not to the benefit of the children or victims of those circumstances however. but the downside is that she needs the souls of children to use magic strong enough to do so. So while she may use some magic to entice the children, the bulk of her magic goes to keeping the fog away as well. And as she kept doing so, she became less human and more fey like as she eventually resorted to doing the same fey tactics and managing to even get the soul of a fey child (which could have been out of ego or simply boosted her ego against the fey, that she managed to trick one of their own), but then had the either hubris or the näivette to think she was cunning or clever enough to be of equal and grant a similar deal-game to coralline would showed to mist an opportunity of weakness that it actively used since the othermother’s attentions and energy would go to keeping track of coraline than keeping the fog at bay. And the more power coraline took, the more the mist took. Until eventually the othermother lost everything. And nothing good usually happens to the person who doesn’t keep up their end with a fey, even if the circumstances were exceedingly unfair.

5:49 I just noticed how the dad looks like the other father in the computer screen,that’s so scary!

"what lurked in the corridor as something older than the other mother, deep, slow, and aware of her presence" i saw this for a very long time but its the first time i see someone associating this entity with the mist and its creepy how much sense it makes

I still think the cat is a villain. It's an entity that even the other mother was concerned about in wanted to keep out. Not only because was attempting to ruin her plans, but I think she's actually scared of him. I love how this movie is still relevant today. Not only as a perfect representation of what claymation can do, but how a well planned and carried out story is still very popular and entertaining today. Even if it never gets a sequel, it will always be good as stand-alone movie.

When Coraline goes into the other world's white and discovers it to be a small world, I think she is facing and grappling with her own small-mindedness. I always read the story as very much about Coraline's thought process, metaphorically and the other mother as one sort of imaginary friend gone ammuck. So going into the mist or the sketchy nothing world is an exploration of what is truly unknown, with all the emotional/psychological risks involved, but also giving rewards that are real and not false or deceptive. The Coraline who wins in this story is the one who explores, listens, learns and eventually understands why her reality has to be so hard to be an honest one and, in doing so, finds ways out of destructive and self-destructive fantasy.

I personally dont believe the "Coraline is still in the other word" theory because, yes, there are some things that can prove it, there is a lot of stuff that can debunk it. I say she escaped the other world until we get an answer in coraline 2

Something to also take note of, when the other mother crafts Coralines doll she doesn’t put it in her world, she lets the mist do it for her. When Whyborne finds the doll he gives it to Coraline (obviously) saying it was in his grandmothers trunk. Later he states that the grandmother says it used to be her sisters, showing that the mist didn’t just take and replace the doll- it created a mirror version. One that changes shape in both dementions if one is tampered with. Probably why we don’t see the doll enter the other mothers dimension

on one hand the mist and the grayness when reading could be seen as just metaphors and silly description that doesn't do much but stimulate the mind, but on the other hand, this is coraline we're talking about. wonderful video!

I love seeing my culture's folklore being discussed. You made a good effort in the pronunciation too! In general, 'th' creates a soft h. Accents on vowels (called a 'fada', meaning 'long') elongates the sound. So féth fíada is sorta like 'fay FEE-a-da' and tuatha de dannan is like 'TU-a-ha deh dan-an'. ❤ Bhí do físeán go hiontach! Go raibh míle maith agat, mar tá ár scéalta an-suimiúil 😊

I think your title was a "mist" opportunity XD Other than that, it did feel like that fog was a character of it's own. It caught my attention most when Coraline was leaving the basement apartment.

After seeing the movie, my headcanon was always that the events of Coraline's misadventure are how she perceived the same realm that Alice calls "Wonderland".

I always did feel like the thick fog on the ground was..off, like it did mean something because it seemed to come out of nowhere really, if you’re not paying /this/ much attention to the movie that is. Also the other mothers hand’s in the clouds/fog is very telling for this theory, and the fact that, after it’s all done, it’s the first clear night in the real world. Makes a lot of sense now XD

nice detail is that on the book cover theres shiny gray misty hands reaching for Coraline

As a Dead by Daylight lore fan, this video tickled something in my brain. In DBD, a major part of "The Entity", an incomprehensible evil that gathers people and monsters together into its personally crafted world also heavily uses fog and mist in everything it does. The fog comes in many kinds in DBD. From a simple white fog to shroud the forests between areas in the realm, to a spooky black mist that can guide, block, or misdirect. It's surprising how many similarities to The Entity this Coraline Mist have.

I love how you talked about faeries and the folklore behind them. My theory is that the Beldam is a Fae creature who was banished to an empty realm but has molded the faery mist into a portal to the mortal world. There are so many interesting theories and ideas in your videos and in the comments section, so thank you for making your content :)

This theory reminds me of the 2007 movie & book The Mist by Stephen King. People went missing or died in the mist. It represents the connection between 2 dimensions like in Coraline. The mist also represents mystery and ghostliness in many horror fiction. I thought maybe the author decided to play with it in this movie and book for a more thematic feeling of spookiness. It’s so subtle, yet ties everything together so nicely that we don’t even know it’s there the whole time.

Considering the presence of a literal fairy ring that turns out to be where the ancient well that the Other Mother's hand is tossed to I'm genuinely baffled I never noticed the fairy folklore connections with this story.

It still blows my mind how well crafted the story of Coraline is

I always wondered why those actresses would be able to craft the true sight candy eye when Coraline asked for their help. Are they a form of witch?

This is so good as ever... I wouldn't even notice something like the mist. Such a detail.

One thing I love about the movie incorporating wybie's grandmother into this is a new level of tragedy added to it as well as helping to answer a question the audience would ask. 1st the question people would ask is "3 kids went missing so many years ago. Why would they rent/sell the place? Especially to parents?" By having Wyborn's grandma in the mix she knows but either thinks it won't happen again or had a notion/or drank tea with the ladies and was told to let the family stay. The tragic story. We know the other mother lures in unhappy kids with promises of their desires. Now the granny and her sister lived in the pink palace but somehow that wasn't good enough, she wasn't happy, maybe tired of having a sister dividing her parents' attention so she goes to the other world and loved it. Brags about it to Granny who tries to warn her but sister doesn't care. One day she goes and never comes back. Granny lives knowing what took her sister having that doll as a reminder. She locks it away and makes sure that the door is sealed up then locked up so tat no other family has to suffer the same loss her family did.

Oh my gosh! I’ve been trying to remember what the first horror movie I watched as a kid was, and this finally kicked my memory! Coraline! I watched it in fourth grade after I read the book, and it’s what sparked my love of horror.

It's crazy how we are continuing to find things to discuss and consider in Coraline. Gaiman is a masterful writer, and you are a wonderful analyst of his work.

Mind blown. I would've never caught the mist as a tool of allusion, foreshadowing in the film, or perhaps another character all on its own. Just the same as the moon phases in both worlds. It's another reason to love Coraline, it's very complex, with all these subtle, ambiguous things that are just hidden in plain sight. Great video, btw!

I’ve watched Coraline many times, but I don’t think anyone ever mentioned why she was looking for “the secret well” in the first place…

Wow, didn't know Coraline had defeated bri'ish wheather. Absolute power move. This work has so much to offer, you can keep coming back and finding new interesting things

I know it might be impossible but I wish they made a Coraline 2 movie

Should've called the episode "Coraline: The Monster You Mist" 😂

I really like your narration. You do a good job of expressing a variety of emotion with your voice, adding depth and personality to your analyses, all the while maintaining a soothing, wholesome vibe. There's a sort of caring quality to your speech; It's comforting. It helped me feel better after a hard day. Keep up the great work! Your animated avatar is cute, the way you cross analyse history and lore against your subject material has me wanting to hear more from you, and your narration is uniquely appealing.

The way you describe the mist reminds me of "Nothing" from The Keys to the Kingdom book series. It is a formless black substance that someone with power can use to create anything and everything but if left unchecked it corrodes reality into more Nothing. It surrounds reality and extends infinitely in all directions. And from this Nothing creatures can randomly form. Most of them simply dissolve again but some become creatures of power, capable of manipulating the Nothing and creating little pocket worlds for themselves. However Nothing is never really treated as an entity with thought or will. It's simply a natural force of reality. I mean... Nothing seems to lean a bit more into cosmic horror than the mist but the concepts seem to stem from a similar train of thought. At least in regards to what the Mist does to the Other Mother and her world.

This channel’s officially convinced me to read the book, it sounds so much more in depth and scarier than the movie (even though the movie’s still amazing). I’m ready for a real spook this Halloween

I don't think the cat is necessarily evil, I think he's just a traveler who doesn't care one way or the other. He just watches amused, waiting to see who will win. That's why he gibes Coraline hints on how the Other Mother plays. He's not chauffed as to who really wins he just watches. . There's a passage in the book where Coraline is walking through the corridor she feels a presence. One more ancient, stronger and hungrier than the Beldame. One that follows her creeping slowly and she fears that if she stops, it will come for her. In fact it is mentioned that she fears it more than she fears the Beldam.

Honestly, I was most surprised that the movie style Coraline wasn't the same as in the visual novel. The movie style is so iconic I thought that was always how it was.

I still find it crazy that when we watch the mother making the doll…we are watching an embalming… AN EMBALMING

This feels like silent hill , with all the mist leading up to the end, kind like Silent hill 1. Love your stories and theories especially this one. Keep up the good work!

Thank you for adding a tiny bit of my snippet! It means a lot! I have a lot to put in, but that means truly a lot. :3 I hope you liked it! I’ve been in and out about it! ;3

It's funny how a background detail like the ever-encroaching mist in the movie could really not have been noticed before. It's creepy, but most people wouldn't think it has much to do with the Other Mother or the Other World. In the book, it's more obvious that there seems to be something more to it. You know this video has really good timing considering Coraline was back in theatres for a couple of days last month. I hope a lot of fresh eyes were able to see it.

Man I absolutely LOVED Coraline back when it was released. I was already a grown ass adult even back then so it wasn’t really on my radar at the time. I watched it on a whim in 3D with a friend after a little bit of apprehension because I wasn’t really in the mood for a “kids movie”. I’m so glad we did! I even went on a bit of a mission to convince other friends and family to see it, in total I think I watched it a total of 4 or 5 separate times. I still remember the first time I experienced the iconic tunnel scene. It always garnered a great reaction from everyone I watched it with. I would love to see a theatrical rerelease at some point in the future.

My god daughter and I watched Coraline last night, our favorite movie btw. We never thought about the mist being a living thing. Thanks for letting us in on this.

I really love that this potentially explains the origins of the world and the material that the other mother used to create her pseudo world! The ghost children call her the "beldam" which is only a witch that steals childrens' souls. She isn't a malevolent god that can create a whole dimension. So she has to use a preexisting entity and make a deal with it where she provides souls for it to consume and to maintain her safety within it. The ghost children also moved a lot like mist in the movie.

I watched the Coraline movie in theaters recently with my mom, and I LOVED the tiny details that could be seen on a cinema screen. I adore this movie and I'm so happy people are still looking into it even after all these years

coraline is such a deep book/movie. i love watching deep dive coraline videos, they’re fantastic!!

I feel like the other mother had a bargain with the mist by capturing souls, so she could live in the inbetween world while eating in peace. Each time Coraline retrieved a soul, the mist was getting closer in the other world and the bargain got slowly dissolved along with her world.

Coraline lore still goes as hard as ever

Your videos really help me out with my own fantasy world, because I learn all these neat bits of folklore and ways to write horror monsters that seem fine on the surface

Love your videos! Especially the Coraline ones. You must put so much effort and time into research, drawing, scripts and voice overs. My fave type of videos to watch before bed!

I just have to say I love your videos especially those about Coraline. You put so much work in to your videos and the quality is so good.

The other mother and whatever the otherworld/mist is reminds me of a spider living in a pitcher plant. A somewhat symbiotic relationship in sharing prey, but should the other mother not be careful enough she will become prey herself.

oh my goodness. i used to listen to your coraline videos over and over again while drawing or playing games ALL THE TIME. now i can do it even more. THANK YOU!!!

Pun indeed intended 0:02

It's always Halloween when Abitfrank drops a video.

What a gem of a channel to randomly stumble across. You're verbal mannerisms are absolute amazing I look forward to binging your exceptional content no doubt!

I love how you are making my favorite childhood movie even more interesting and iconic 🥰

Gaiman returned to sketches in "another world" in the story Mirror Mask. That was also made into a film & features two other versions of the protagonist's mother in the other world, one a Bright Queen trapped in a coma same as her Mother in the real world, & the other a Dark Queen searching for her daughter who has vanished. Helena, the protagonist of that story, sees the Dark Daughter as having stolen her place in the real world in this dream (or is it) that she's having, and the dream world is explicitly the drawings that Helena herself has decorated her room with.

Abitfrank's analysis often become invested in literal mechanics of how these worlds work at the expense of overarching metaphorical currents in story, but she always picks up on interesting symbols. I'd draw a distinction here between mist an steam - connected but different metaphors. In this story I'd interpret it thusly; mist comes in from the outside, steam builds up and bursts up from the inside. Mist is about metaphorically obscuring natural human abilities of perception and self-perception and the making-strange and perhaps frightening of the world. Coraline struggles emotionally with parents who seem uncaring at best and antagonistic at worst, particularly her mother. Seen more objectively, however, Coraline is simply seeing her parents struggling with their own transitions and problems, many of which overlap with hers. They encourage and expect her to be imaginative, resourceful and self-sufficient and to find fulfillment in what she is given around her, which she's usually good at. But they don't rescue her from struggles with boredom, disappointment and pesimism about the future - that effort has to come from her. Coraline feels increasingly as though not only are her parents unhelpful, but there are no good options for her in the world as offered to her--nothing out there interesting or worthy of exploration. Again, we can find Mrs Fink and Forcible, for instance, quite interesting, probably more so than them as Coraline would like them to be, as recast in the other world, but Coraline can't get over the negative disposition life has dropped in her lap and the mist and rain play this out in the external world, making any interesting things disappear and physical exploration impossible. Steam, meanwhile, is like the anger inside Coraline; it builds up internally and is violently released. Both mist and steam are part of the story's deeper discussion of why people might reject the realities in front of them and retreat into self-fulfilling fantasies and the ways in which that can be destructive and self-destructive, eventually both becoming, on the whole deeply unfulfilling and severing important ties with the real world, so that it becomes harder to reestablish them and, eventually, a person can't go back and has less actual control over what they become.

I’m new here and I love this person’s voice and this art style and style of talking/video making- This is beautiful, subbed

I appreciate your research for us. The fact that you took your time and really watched and read Coraline for us is amazing. Thank you!

i can never get enough of these coraline videos ESPECIALLY yours, your soothing voice just sets the perfect mood for a cozy creepy video about my absolute fav movie !!

Coraline: The Monster You.....Mist (very clever!)

I LOVE how even after all this time, we're still learning new things about this story

You are an amazing storyteller and have a fantastic voice for it too... I just discovered this channel but will certainly be back for more!

AH!! It’s a story of the Fae! How did I miss that?! I love this channel, it’s so good. So I noticed the mist, I always assumed it was either a part of or a power of the other mother, I thought that it was one of her ways of seeing (or feeling, hearing etc) what was going on in the real world, I thought it was how she knew what Coraline was feeling and it’s why she made the doll to get a closer, maybe more detailed look into Coraline life. At first when I watched the movie I thought “yeah but, how did the other mother even know that Coraline had moved in? How she knew she was lonely and sort of unhappy?” Then I noticed the mist an attributed the mist as her ability/power/equipment to spy. That’s just how I figured it, I could def be wrong, but it made sense at the time. Regardless, I loved this video, it was creepy, and fun, and I could record your voice to sleep to, it’s so relaxing it makes me happy.

i saw coraline in theaters last monday and it was so wild- it was a lot more detailed and secret packed than i remember

possible theory: the Misty Gray is trying to get rid of the Other Mother and her influence, and so is helping Coraline. However, it's not benevolent - which is why it's willing to help the Other Mother kidnap the other people.

I just got this channel recommended and I think your voice is really calming and pleasant. I'm looking forward to seeing more videos

Have you ever thought about doing a Coraline Audiobook?

I feel like there is no need for a live action of Coraline as the stop motion version still lives up today.

Yay I love your Coraline vids! I missed them

The mist is not itself a creature. It is the fae-stuff out of which the Other Mother builds her world. Without her power to bind it, the Other Home reverts to mist entirely. Opening up the portal to her world naturally means that some mist will spill over to our own.

Not only do I love Coraline but I love your Coraline videos!!!

The music, my memories of the book and movie, and the tone of your voice just creep me out. love it.

it makes me wonder about the well and the mist at that point and how they're connected. its so weird and I feel conflicted because of that line that Wybie says that at the bottom all you'd see are openings like "stars" and in the "other mother's" place you see stars, yet in the theory of the mist being a monster in the background scheming, making me wonder and feel dumb/crazy that it was also swallowing up other mother's(we can call it sanctuary) under there. is the mist everywhere? or just in those places, does it have "logic breaking" powers since we also talk about entering the magic mushroom circle letting them enter into another world. idk I'm confused and can't tell what I'm typing anymore but my brain is throttled

Fantastic deep dive. Gaiman is, without question, a formidable wizard of the written word. And the connection to the tarot at the end was a nice little cherry on top! Cheers!

AH YEAH! Coraline is back! Thank you.

I would love to listen to you read the whole book, youve got the perfect voice for it

Coraline is truly the gift that keeps on giving, and i for one am HERE for it!. Also WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME THERE WAS A GRPAHIC NOVEL!!!!!!!!!?????????

I love how disconcerting it is to finally realize there was something unsettling in the backgrounds of a movie after. I really appreciate creators taking the time to add something subtle in the background. Something that won’t mess up the story if you miss it, but adds some extra context if you do see it.

i love your storytelling skills. the way you speak makes me hold on to every word! btw the twilight princess reference 🥰 thank you for sharing your thoughts and feelings, i haven't read the book so it was especially neat to hear about

"there's a monster in Coraline that everyone MISS" omg, I went to copy the video and restarted it, good job!

Clicked so fast that imma watch all the videos I can today- just such great ways of telling these!

I literally grew up with this movie. I never would've thought the mist was so important, but this is really cool. This is one of the best movies out there ❤️

I was just thinking how much I misses Coraline videos haha!

11:00 while we don't physically see Coraline's mom again, we know that she did in fact return to the house after going shopping. When Coraline first makes it back to the real world, she realizes her parents are missing and begins to search the house after finding the groceries her mother bought rotting on the counter. It does help suggest that the mist could be sentient though, because if it took Coraline's mom, maybe it did so by luring her outside of the house. Possibly by imitating Coraline's voice (via The Beldam controlling it) calling her outside.