Coraline: The Other Mother's Weird Origins

What is a Beldam? The word has been around a long time, and has an interesting origin story itself! How do the Other Mother's button eyes, affinity for bugs, and an overwhelming need to consume the souls of children fit in with other traits common among Beldams, and which traits track back furthest? How are Button eyes, and Wild eyes, and one poisonous beauty potion tied together?

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"Floating Cities, Myst on the Moor" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech. com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

References:
“Coraline” by Neil Gaiman, 2002
"La Belle Dame sans Merci" by John Keats, 1819

Images:
John William Waterhouse – La belle dame sans merci, 1893
La Belle Dame sans Merci by Henry Meynell Rheam, 1901
Arthur Hughes – La belle dame sans merci
Frank Dicksee – La belle dame sans merci, c. 1901
John Keats - by William Hilton, after Joseph Severn, based on a work of c.1822

#Coraline #OtherMother #CoralineTheory #Animation #Beldam #abitfrank

[cramerfloro]

In Italian, the word „Beldam" was translated as "Megera" and in German as "Vettel". Both words are, like the modern usage of "Beldam", used as insults against older, uglier or unpleasant women.

[colinray]

Apparently there's evidence for being attracted to eyes that look large, which is the sort of effect belladonna eyedrops would cause. (you have no idea how happy I was to see this referenced because I got to finally share something I learned in an intro to psychology course)

[ArbitruaryLemon]

I remember years ago, someone made a comparison with a Chinese mythical creature that was a half-spider, half-woman. She would lure children away to eat them. I think Coraline's Beldam may have gotten inspiration from multiple sources with similarities.

[abracadaverous]

Belladonna is still used in pharmacology. Combined with phenobarbitol, it's pretty effective at relieving gastrointestinal spasms. I had never heard of such a thing until my doctor gave me a scrip for a stomach problem. I think it's the gothest medicine I have ever been prescribed.

[adinaboldea]

hi! i'm from romania, and muma pădurii (in translation-forest's old woman/grandma) is basically a spirit that can take a human form. it's told that she's omnipresent in forests and some parents scare their children by saying that if they don't do what they're supposed to do, muma pădurii will come and take them away (not good parenting, but that's besides the point). the similarities between her and the beldam are pretty remarkable. the way they take kids if they don't behave, the fact that they can change their appearance etc. i never heard of that girl of hers, but that's really interesting.

[CrazyKitten]

There's a bit in the movie Coraline that litterally NOBODY talks about!!

The third time Coraline goes to the Other Mothers house, when she's crawing through the door there's a shot of the whole room. If you look at the third/biggest window you can see a figure walking past the window. This figure looks like Coraline in the clothes the Other Mother gives her (the ones with the stars) But this "Coraline" walking past the window has button eyes

honestly it scared the hell out of me and my cousin when we first saw it xD

[monroerobbins]

The funniest thing is that a lot of the accused “witches” back in the day were actually midwives, and blamed for children and women dying in childbirth (when it was really the mostly male church wanting to invade a primarily matriarchal space, but lacking the knowledge passed from mother to daughter, midwife to midwife.). So it makes sense that a witchy character’s title of beldam would be associated with a bewitching beautiful young woman who uses her wiles to manipulate people, and an old bitter crone who uses her knowledge to attain power or control, especially when the younger witch is associated with manipulating and luring men, and the older beldam is associated with luring and manipulating children. It covers the two main blames we associate with witches (that didn’t involve real world issues of the time like crops dying, women owning property or being unmarried, or political issues); manipulating men, and harming children. Just like midwives and their “feminine powers”; the young mother luring a well to do man with her charms and wild eyes to become pregnant and then for the two to be locked into wedlock, and therefore she gets the status and money from it, and the older woman using her knowledge of people’s desires and weaknesses and applying them, leaving her to revel in their pain when their child is replaced by a changeling.

[AshlynnHolmes]

You should do something on all of the Studio Ghibli movies if you haven’t already! I’ve seen your video on Howl’s Moving Castle and that was really good! :)

[challengingarmadillo]

My school recently had an original play of Coraline, written and directed by one of the drama teachers. There were a couple of adaptations used to allow the play to run smoother on stage with a limited budget, but one that wasn’t necessary but was interesting to me was the final birthday scene for Coraline, where it’s just her and her mother left onstage. Coraline comments on how much she loves her mom and how most kids don’t realize how lucky they are. During the part, Coraline is facing the audience, hugging her mother, while her mother is facing away from the audience. As the mother says her line, “no Coraline, they don’t, they really don’t” she turns around so that she is now facing the audience, though now she has the button eyes of the Beldam.

[robertdochter]

I can easily see Keats' poem being a massive inspiration for Gaiman. He is very educated and well read, often utilizing older literature for retelling. Just look at his novel, The Graveyard Book. The same goes to his usage and description of the Faire Folk. He doesn't always present them with kindness, but instead shows that they are a wild breed that can be both friend and foe.

[tayloredwards]

The other mother is one of the scariest cartoon characters of all time. Please do a video on the cat and the three children

[StargazerAeons]

Interestingly one sideffect of Belladonna you mentioned was blindness. The Beldam in the movie when revealing her spider web had no eyes, and relied on Coraline moving a web string to know where she was.

[SoggySnail]

i've got a question: when coraline gets into the other world, the other mother prepares food, right? But where does she get it? Is it even real or is it just an illusion like the other world? And if it isn't real food, what is coraline eating? (if you think about it, it's actually creepy) also i love your videos they are making my day better and creepier at the same time ;>

[satsujin-shathewitchkingof]

I think the fact that you can't pinpoint her is what would make her scary. We humans fear the unknown

[pikachuneoncat]

I think she goes after children specifically because they're much more naive and their wariness and fear is much easier to melt with the promise of fun.

[literallyunfunny]

I've associated the word Beldam with a witch for at least 15 years, and I can't recall why. I've only read American Gods and Sandman, but at least in those, Gaiman bases the important folklore-ish characters on something specific that he's researched rather than a vague amalgamation of things he's been exposed to throughout his life. I always saw the Beldam as a sort of hag-like Hansel and Gretel thing, but that story with the knight seems just like the sort of thing Gaiman would use as inspiration.

[bretsheeley]

One thing I will always remember is that when I first read the book 13ish years ago, I initially misread "Beldam" as "Bedlam". It added a subtle almost Lovecraftian feel to the character until I caught my mistake.

[Lexyalexa]

I am impressed how good you are pronouncing Muma pădurii! She is generally the villain of every romanian bed time story. She is an old woman that lives in the woods and either helps the hero or she tries to prevent the hero to reach his/her goal. "Muma" means mother and "pădurii" means "of forest". She is described as a very old lady in any story. Maybe the closest relative to her is Baba Iaga.

[sequincook]

You kind of mentioned this but not entirely- if I remember correctly from my French courses, Beldame means step mother, because a woman who would marry a widower and take on someone else's kids would be a beautiful woman. And then of course there are many evil step mothers. So beldam being the other mother could relate to step mother.

[MissUmbra]

“Beldam” being a synonym for Witch makes a bit of sense, as Coraline DID call The Other Mother a witch near the movie’s climax, although not directly at her.