The scene with the cat catching the mouse caught my attention. So much symbolism in a few seconds. Cats eating mice = a harsh reality, but completely natural. Nature cannot be stopped. From mouse to rat = Both are wonderful creatures but how humans perceive them is very different. Mice are generally seen as super cute while rats are seen as little monsters. This transformation may represent a shift in perspective. Sand pouring out = The Beldame fills dolls with sand to give them life and take control of them, so the death of this rat is also freeing it from the Beldame's control. Death is a type of freedom here. It seems to me that the cat, or Beldame, is sending Coraline a message: "To be devoured is unavoidable, and nothing to fear. This is a natural process that we are all helpless to resist. But shift your perspective and you'll find freedom in allowing yourself to be consumed."
Probably the beldam can manipulate the reality wherever coraline goes But with the white void itself it's true a blank space where the beldam intended for the some sort trap that coraline can't escape from because coraline doesn't realize she's playing in the web like a bug is trapped within the spider's webbing
I still think the Cat is only in it to _win a game,_ which yes, means helping Coraline, but Coraline is definitely not making his moves easier. That's why he seems so exasperated at the window. His wording when he talks to her is, "It's a game we play," not "It's _the_ game we play." Who's to say they aren't playing more than one game at once? Like a simple bet: Cat says he can save Coraline, and Beldame says he cannot.
So Cat and Beldame are two powerful entities playing a game, and the rules limit the hints Cat can give Coraline. Cat has played before and failed with other children. Or maybe Cat has been captured and wins his freedom if he beats Beldame, just like if Coraline wins her freedom.
People tap their fingers like the Beldame does when they are impatient but also when they are playing a game and waiting for their turn. She gives Coraline "help" to make it interesting. Like a cat tossing a mouse into the air to play with it.
I think the cat is just eccentric. In the books, it's more clear that he does what he does bcs...he's a cat, not human. He thinks himself superior to humans, and he goes to the other world bcs he can. He does as he pleases as most cats do. It's only when his lil spots get sealed up that he becomes scared. At the end of the film, it is curious that he manages to go through a portal, though. He could go to taunt the other mother, but tbh idk, he doesn't like being near her, plus she could trap him in there again. So, maybe at that point, the other mother has already perished?
Also my theory on how the other mother is able too see into her life, even at parts where she shouldn't be able too, I just think once the door is open she's able too peer into the world. also from reading the book it does seem more like the mother is stuck there
I used to think the cat was a good character trying to help coraline, but now I can't ignore the fact that each time coraline is likely to be alone in the other world the cat shows up! Maybe he really is working for the beldam and supervises coraline when she is not around.
The fact that the other worldjust turns into a white void makes me wonder if the beldams magic can only do so much? Which also kinda fits in with your theory about her being banished. Maybe the other world is just a prison and she's using what magic she has left
Ok I have a theory. What if the reason the beldam does not like the black cat is because the cat is the one controlling her or in a way has more power then she does. I'm not sure how solid of a theory it is. But I thought it was interesting.
Holy Other Mother 😯!!! Your comment about Wybie’s warning about the bottom of the well…and how that is EXACTLY how the sky is when she visits the Other Mother. So… it seems safe to assume that the Other Mother is trapped in limbo at the bottom of that well surrounded by the magic of the mushroom faery circle. Coraline did step inside the circle when she first found it. So then that tunnel on the other side of the little door the first time was connected to the tunnel possibly? Great video! I’ve watched Coraline so many times that I no longer get creeped, but your analysis today did give me arm shivers!
To your question of WHY doesn't the cat give a straight answer I am what I am. I would tell you what you want to know if I could, for you have been kind to me. But I am a cat, and no cat anywhere ever gave anyone a straight answer. The cat I forget his name from the movie the last unicorn
I don’t know if this has been mentioned in one of your videos already but I kinda just realized the Beldam never says the names “Charlie” or “Wybie” but wrote down a note with Spink and Forcible inviting Coraline and “her ‘friend’” upstairs after dinner. I was wondering what y’all thought of this?
I'm curious if the child is blinded with bottons, do you think that makes the child completely blind in general or do think the beldam is able to make them see what ever she wants them to see? Do you think she can put visions in there heads? I did see a movie once where a revengful ghost was able to give a child a vision of a story just by touching the child's face with the child's eyes closed
Please don’t stop these cuz of Cz’s world. I love how he’s shaming you for over-analysing a film but he literally does that himself and just released a 90 minute video about ‘secrets’ from the purge. Calling others unhinged when he literally talks about killing and death 24/7? Projection methinks
I’m so lazy to watch his hour long video on the topic but what did he say? Aside him being a hypocrite about over analyzing films when that’s literally his job too..
I’ve always thought the cat was vague and nonchalant because he’s tired of seeing “pathetic” children willingly get themselves into danger. But with Coraline he sees spunk, sees that she doesn’t want to be with the Beldam anymore and so he in the end, is willing to help her. Also it’s no wonder the bedlam chooses neglected and lonely children, they are the easiest target for her. Thinking about how that is true in real life is very sad 😞
I already went into a slight tangent on the last time you brought this up, so I'm just going to be brief and chalk it to simply "The cat is just being a cat". Need I remind you the Cheshire Cat wasn't a whole lot of help for Alice, either. But, the biggest arguments I have with you against the cat working FOR the Beldame are 1, the notch in the cat's ear appears to be from an altercation with Beldame, 2 Other Father(at least in the book) refers to the cat as vermin and when Coraline asks if he meant the mice, he replies, "No, the mice are our friends. We mean the cat." and 3, if she doesn't like cats, why would she turn him into one? Why get involved? Well, if he really is Whybie's father, maybe he's been protecting his son, and now that he realizes the boy likes Coraline, he feels responsible to at least help her stay more alert. If he was Whybie's father, he wouldn't have been around to protect the earlier children. If he's the Beldame's own son, perhaps helping Coraline is his way for atoning for what his mother's done in the past, perhaps he's helped other children escape, but he can only do so much as the choice is still up to Coraline herself to make, free will and all that. Problem is (and again, this is more the book than the movie), she's running out of power and the tunnel is slowly starting to devour her. Again, in the book, this scene happened before she ever saw the garden with the other father, because there was nothing in the void outside the Pink Palace.
personally, I think we shouldn't think so deep into this movie. I think coraline got back into the real world at the end and made it safe home. I also think the cat really cares about coraline and knows the beldam's plan, so he wants to help coraline survive. Why else would he go with her to fight the beldam and to free her parents right?
Honestly, I think you might be trying to paint the cat as a villain when he isn't. Cats, especially black ones, are seen as familiars for witches, bad luck, and generally not something to cross paths with, but also very wise. Not to mention, he's a cat, do you really think if you could talk to a cat it would give you a straight answer? They come up wanting attention and when you drop everything to give it to them they immediately pretend like they don't care. Cats are just like that. The thing with the mouse/rat, I don't think it was an alarm for Coraline, rather the cat. The Beldame doesn't like the cat, right? So what if her creations that monitor the space let her know when he's around so she can try to get rid of him? And maybe it's less that the puppets go into NPC mode and more that they become similar to those they're modeled after. Wybie is nervous, guilty, upset a lot, and so when other Wybie comes across her after spending that time with Coraline and getting to see her happy and free, he feels awful about what's going to happen to her. She might not actually have full control of her creations that are meant to be people/creatures. The other father is the same. He might be more similar to the real father, sitting there mindlessly and saying and doing all the wrong things to make his wife/the Beldame mad. All the color is drained, she's resting, there's no one influencing him to stay happy and positive and saying what she wants. He can be himself, or rather who he's meant to be. The world materializing like that could be the Beldame waking back up/getting her strength back enough to re-up the charade of the house and the cheerful surroundings. It comes back because she's ready to try again with Coraline, she's ready to make her stay and has the strength to do it. The cat truly doesn't belong there, he can't be controlled by her and she doesn't seem to really like things she can't control. When she can't control Coraline anymore she stops being motherly and becomes manipulative, impulsive. The cat isn't helpful in the long run, he doesn't truly give any insight to anything happening and likes to toy with Coraline's mind, but he's a cat, they're not exactly helpful. The orchard slowly warping into basic shapes feels like a sort of render distance type thing. And as for it being in full bloom, as well as the garden, The Pink Palace and it's surroundings seem like they've been plucked up from a moment in time, a specific one where everything was perfect, nothing broken, nothing wilted, everything is just right. The ghost children probably saw the house in almost the exact same way, the garden probably looked like them or was something else beautiful, but it's less that someone is using the orchard and more that it's to keep up the facade of a lived in world.
I've developed a theory in recent times between watching your theory videos as well as the theorizer and I tend to lead more toward the idea that the cat is some sort of Eldridge like entity and even the beldam is afraid of him, I see the Bell damn more or less like A parasite and the other world is the belly of the beast so to speak, the cat is more or less in my opinion the consciousness of the other world itself
