Analyzing Evil: Other Mother/The Beldam From Coraline

Hello everyone and welcome to the two hundred-third episode of Analyzing Evil! Our topic for this video is Other Mother from Coraline. I hope you enjoy, and thanks for watching. If you have any feedback or questions feel free to let me know below!

Sources used in this video:

#coraline #evil #claymation

[TheVileEye]

For the last fifteen years, I was under the impression that Coraline was a Tim Burton movie (I even thought that it was my favorite Tim Burton movie!) and so I didn't even bother to check whether or not it was because, well, why would I if I was sure that was the director? However, I have now learned that is definitely not the case. In fact, Tim Burton had absolutely nothing to do with the making of the film.

Thankfully, it would it seem I'm not alone in having thought this, but I do apologize to you, and Henry Selick, the real director, for the error, and it was a bit too late/cumbersome for me to re-shoot this, so here we are. At least now I can say that Coraline and James and the Giant Peach, another of my favorites, are my favorite Henry Selick films! Thank you Elijah Kai for pointing this out to me. I hope you enjoy the video everyone!

[canucksfan]

Analyzing Evil. Eric Cartman from South Park. In my opinion, this one is long overdue.

[lydiajoe]

For an evil demon that preys on children with great homemaking skills, I like to think of Other Mother as Pennywise meets Martha Stewart

[itsjustmeriver]

I love the fact that after she transforms into her taller monstrous form, the film's ambiance transforms as well, with it now having this harrowing murky aesthetic, it all just amplifies the horror of the movie.

[doctorheck]

Analyzing Evil: The Gang from It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia

Analyzing Evil: Wilson Fisk from The MCU

Analyzing Evil: Francis Begbie from Trainspotting and T2 Trainspotting

Analyzing Evil: Bruce Robertson from Filth

Analyzing Evil: The Men Behind The Sun and its basis, Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army

[dionettaeon]

To be fair, Laika Studio and Tim Burton do share an affinity for creepiness in their stop-motion films, although I'd say Laika's style dials it up farther than even Burton does.

I remember suggesting the Other Mother in the comments once, I'm glad you finally covered her. One possible origin for the Beldam is that she was originally a wealthy human woman and the original resident of the Pink Palace, considering the garden in the real world bears a resemblance to her face, but she one day fell into the well and became trapped in the other world, a limbo-like void. Via unknown means, being trapped in the void warped her, giving her her powers and made her practically immortal, with the caveat that she needs children's souls to maintain her life and power. Perhaps it's the other world itself that feeds on souls, and the Beldam's soul has been constantly draining, or has already been drained, over all these years, which is why her true form is a barely human husk and is mostly replaced with giant needles, bones, and cracked porcelain.

[hasturthekinginyellow]

Fun fact, canonically there's at least 4 otherworldly beings hunting Coraline in the story:
1.- The Beldam, enough said.
2.- The Being in the corridor, who is compared to a whale and whom almost catched Coraline and swallowed her whole.
3.- The Mist, that is actively feeding off Coraline's sense of dread and fear, and who's the sole responsable for Coraline losing her sense of time.
4.- The Corridor itself, that is stated to be "waiting the correct moment to close and eat Coraline"

[lydiajoe]

OH My Goodness! The wait is finally over! The antagonist of my all time favorite movie finally getting the Vile Eye treatment she deserves!

[JohnoftheWesternlands]

Analyzing evil: The person that invented 30 second long ads that we can't skip

[TheNotoriousMrDee]

Analyzing Evil: The finch outside who starts singing at 4am

[stingerjohnny]

It just occurred to me that the legend of the Beldam taking the form of a beautiful woman to lure in men to rip out their hearts is very reminiscent of how Other Mother lures in children to take their eyes.

[Jerome_M_]

This film is so peak. Probably one of my favorite stop motion films ever

[jamesbroussard]

My head cannon is that the other mother and Mama Padori are one in the same, but following her temporary defeat by some unnamed hero in the past. Sometime ago, a brave person captured and cut out the eyes of Mama Padori and pushed her into the well. It was through her eyes she was able to draw life from her victims to maintain her life force. Without them, she perished in the well. However, her soul endured and used its magic to create a portal to a spirit (i.e., the pocket) dimension. She sew buttons in place of her missing eyes, which allowed her to retake a physical form. However, she cannot re-enter the physical world directly, but can only influence inanimate objects. Over time, she was able to use her spells to continue to lure children into her domain. However, she could no longer consume them directly, as she lost that power when she lost her eyes. However, if she was able to get the children to freely give up their eyes, then she may consume their souls. Should she ever find her own eyes, she could re-enter our world and begin to feast again on living humans and her powers would once again grow.

[kshitijsrivastava]

She's TERRIFYING


She also shows up when you search the word 'gaslighting' online

[markmerk]

I love how pretty much everything about the Other Mother is kept fairly vague in the story. Everything from what she actually is to what she actually does to her victims, is only ever described in half-answers and vague allusions. The final spidery form we see her in still has a few traces of Coraline’s real mother in it, so it’s quite likely that even that isn’t her “true” form. How she kills/destroys her child victims is also ambiguous. She might literally eat them, suck out their souls, and there’s even one creepy theory that she somehow “loves” them to death. We’re shown and told just enough to get our imaginations spinning with wonder and terror.

Also some suggestions:

Kira from Jojo Diamond is Unbreakable

Redmond Barry aka Barry Lyndon

Terrence McDonough from Bad Lieutenant Port of Call New Orleans

Characters and Themes of 8MM

Swan from Phantom of the Paradise (with the film’s 50th anniversary happening this past month and all)

[flameguy]

Analyzing Evil: Raul Menendez from Black Ops 2

[trackerjacker]

3:09 that’s actually an image of Baba Yaga. I have a book on witchcraft that has that same picture in it.

[trfyhrghty]

“I think the other mother in Coraline is like a monster from another dimension. She fulfills desires in specific ways, but in reality, to continue her existence, she feeds on the energy of quality lives. She’s not just a villain, but a representation of something that consumes and manipulates.

[VersusArdua]

Coraline is one of those special movies from my childhood that is still sacred where most everything else has lost its magic. I think its the genuinely dark tone which still manages to maintain this whimsical Alice-like experience. Its a shame we dont see a lot of kids movies with this level of storytelling anymore.

And oh, yeah, the original book is excellent in its own right. I think I listened to it on YT a while ago. Couldn’t recommend more

[iamapancake]

The Other Mother is one of the creepiest villains I've ever seen. It's not her horrific form that scared me; it was the creepy, caring candy coating she puts on for Coraline's benefit. That's just too real and too sinister.