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| "Is that any way to talk to your mother? Apologise at once, Coraline. I'll give you to the count of three. One... ...two... ...THREE!" | ||
| ~ The Beldam reveals her true hideous nature to Coraline. |
The Other Mother (also known as the Beldam) is the main antagonist of Neil Gaiman's 2002 children's novel Coraline, and the 2009 Laika film and video game adaptations of the same name. She is the button-eyed ruler of the Other World. The Other Mother kidnaps children who move into Pink Palace Apartments in an attempt to devour them and imprison their souls. She frequently disguises herself as her victims' mothers, hence her alias.
The Other Mother is voiced by Teri Hatcher in the film and Amanda Troop in the video game.
Appearance[]
The appearance of the Other Mother changes throughout the film.
First Form
In her first appearance, The Other Mother looked nearly identical to Mel Jones, but with button eyes and a neater appearance.
Second Form
After she reveals her true colors to Coraline, the Other Mother transforms into a taller and more skeletal version of herself. Her fingers become longer, with red and sharp nails, and her mole becomes larger and moves towards the side of her face.
Third Form
After Coraline obtains the eyes of all three Ghost Children, the Other Mother reveals her true form, a skeletal spider-like creature with a cracked porcelain-like face. Her hands are made of connected spinning needles, and she has four metallic, arachnoid legs. The Other Mother stays in this form for the remainder of the movie.
Personality[]
| “ | She spied on our lives, through the little doll's eyes. And saw that we weren't happy. So she lured us away, with treasures and treats, and games to play. Gave all that we asked, yet we still wanted more. So we let her sew the buttons. She said she loved us... but she locked us up here. And ate up our lives. | „ |
| ~ The ghost children explaining what the Other Mother did to them. |
In the guise of her victims' mothers, the Other Mother appears to be a very loving and charismatic maternal figure, especially when the child is troubled. Alluding to her archaic background, the Other Mother speaks very eloquently, uses relatively old-fashioned language and seeks to maintain a traditional family through loving discipline. She is also very observant and vigilant of the problems and desires her victims have in the real world. Through this, she shapes the Other World into becoming their idealized dreamworlds. Even though her calm and composed demeanor can creep her victims out, the Other Mother is extremely skillful in hiding her ulterior motives, no matter how intelligent or mature her victims are. The Other Mother frequently uses wordplay to disguise her ulterior motives, and subtly taps her fingers every time to indicate this.
When her true nature is exposed, the Other Mother drops her loving act and reveals herself a cruel and authoritarian figure who is determined to do anything to consume her victims' flesh and souls, no matter how twisted and sadistic these measures are. This includes punishing those creations of hers who are unwilling to follow her command, mutilating or even killing them.
Her sadism comes to its fullest effect when she gouges out her victims' eyes, sews buttons over them without anesthesia and consumes their flesh and souls until they become empty ghost-like shells. Though she has no qualms about relishing in savagery, the Other Mother chooses to maintain her composure, usually disparaging her victims in a sweet and motherly tone. She loves games, and will accept a challenge, but she is willing to break the rules if they are inconvenient to her agenda. This is shown when she refuses to acknowledge that Coraline has won the "game" of finding the eyes of the Ghost Children despite previously agreeing (albeit reluctantly) to Coraline's deal of letting her go if she won.
Perhaps her most distinctive trait is her "love". At first, the Other Mother seems to genuinely love her victims, caring for them and giving them a world that they cannot afford in the real world. When she reverts to her true nature, the Other Mother still loves her victims but in a much more perverted and disturbing way. Her love could be described as how as a parsimonious miser loves his gold or in a more serious and accurate comparison, how a child predator loves his/her victims, considering the ages of her victims.
Biography[]
Origin[]
In Laika's film, the Other Mother's origins are very vague and even what she really is, is unknown. What can be inferred is that she has lived in the Other World for a very long time, perhaps hundreds of years. Around the 1850s, the Pink Palace Apartments was initially a mansion inhabited by several different families. To sustain her existence, the Other Mother seized upon any opportunity to lure children to the Other World. In her sewing room, the Other Mother created button-eyed ragdolls that resembled her chosen victims and sent them into the void outside. The doll would eventually reach to the real world, where her victim would unwittingly collect it. Through this, the Other Mother was able to spy on their lives to find out what was wrong with them.
Once she had an overall idea on what her victim lacked in the real world, the Other Mother modified the Other World into becoming a whimsical copy of the victim's real world, including its inhabitants, who also have button eyes. Sending her rats into the real world at night, her victim would wake up and follow them downstairs to the door in the living room. Crawling through a colourful corridor, the victim would meet the Other Mother, under the disguise of their real mother. Entertained by the Other World's glamour, her victims would be offered the chance to stay here forever, under the condition that a pair of buttons will be sewn over their eyes. Her victims tended to accept the offer, considering how miserable their real life was, and after they accepted, the Other Mother painfully gouged out their eyes, sewed buttons over it and consumed their flesh.
Afterwards, the Other Mother imprisoned their souls in a dark chamber behind a mirror and relied upon their "soul energy" to survive, which she often drained. She also hid their real eyes in marbles, preventing their souls from passing on to the afterlife. The Other Mother successfully kidnapped and killed several children in the past, including the Tall Ghost Girl, the Ghost Boy and the Sweet Ghost Girl. According to them, they have forgotten their birth names due to their prolonged imprisonment and thus, they are distinguished by these nicknames.
Encounter with Coraline Jones[]
The mansion was eventually converted into the Pink Palace Appartments by Mrs. Lovat, the Sweet Ghost Girl's twin sister. Fearing that more children would suffer a similar fate like her twin sister, Mrs. Lovat enforced a no child policy, which forbid couples with children from renting the apartment. She especially forbid her grandson Wybie from entering the apartment's premises and whenever he explored near the premises, she would often yell his name and demand him to return home.
In 2009, Charlie and Mel Jones, who have a daughter named Coraline, move from Pontiac, Michigan to Oregon, where they decide to stay at the Pink Palace Apartments, despite the no child policy (although it's theorized that Charlie and Mel simply forgotten to mention their daughter, considering how little they pay attention to her). Coraline frequently explores the apartment alone, especially the garden, due to her parents busily working on their gardening catalog. During her stay, Coraline encounters Wybie and a mysterious black cat, simply known as the Cat, and is annoyed at both of their presences. In reality, the Cat was trying to protect both Wybie and Coraline from the Other Mother, due to his detailed knowledge of the Other World, which he can freely enter through various portals. Its also revealed that the Cat can speak in the Other World. Because of this, the Other Mother harbours immense hatred towards the Cat and desires to rid all cats, which she refers to as "vermin", from the Other World.
Despite the Cat's attempts, the Other Mother retrieves the button-eyed ragdoll she used to lure the Sweet Ghost Girl and modifies it to resemble Coraline. The doll later ends up in Mrs. Lovat's trunk and discovering its eerie resemblance to Coraline, Wybie decides to give it to Coraline as a "gift". Initially creeped out, Coraline nevertheless plays with the doll whilst exploring the apartment. As Coraline explores the living room, she discovers that the doll lying in front of the small door by itself. Requesting her mother to unlock the door with the button key, Coraline is disappointed to discover that the door has been bricked up, most likely by Mrs. Lovat.
At night, Coraline is awaken by a group of rats, who lead her to the door downstairs. She discovers that the bricks have been replaced by a colourful corridor, which she curiously crawls through. In the Other World, Coraline meets the Other Mother in the shape of Mel Jones. She finds her more warm and attentive than her real mother and eventually meets the rest of the button-eyed duplicates of her neighbours, including the Other Wybie, who is mute. Afterwards, the Other Mother offers her a chance to stay in the Other World forever by giving her a present.
Coraline opens the box, which contains a pair of buttons, a spool of thread and a sewing needle. Realising what the gift means, Coraline refuses the offer and plans to return to home. She tries to leave the Other World in a inconspicuous manner, but finds all the exits blocked. Eventually, Coraline confronts the Other Mother in the living room and demands to go home. However, the Other Mother "disciplines" her by throwing her into the dark chamber behind the mirror. Inside, Coraline meets the ghosts of the Other Mother's previous victims, who recount their stories and plead to her to find their real eyes.
Coraline tearfully promises to find their real eyes moments before the Other Wybie drags her out of the chamber, whose mouth is stitched into a horrific grin by the Other Mother for failing to smile. She relieves his injuries and despite being aware of what would happen to him, the Other Wybie sacrifices himself to assist Coraline in escaping, which is ultimately successful.
Confrontation[]
Defeat[]
Relieved that her parents returned home safely, albeit with no memory of what happened to them, Coraline dreams of the Ghost Children, who are finally freed and have their normal eyes in the afterlife. They tell her that the Other Mother is angry with her and is looking for the black button key, the only way she could have access to her and possibly other victims in the future. Coraline plans to throw the key in a well in the garden of the Pink Palace Apartments as she believes it is a place where the Other Mother would never find it but as she walks to the well, the Other Mother's severed hand emerges from the door and follows Coraline.
Moments before she could throw the key down the well, the Other Mother's hand latches onto her neck and briefly strangles her as it tries to drag her back into the Other World. Wybie arrives in his motorbike and blares the horn, stopping the hand in its track. He grabs the hand off her neck but the hand attacks his face, causing him to stumble off his motorbike and nearly fall down into the well. Coraline manages to smother the hand with her towel but the hand rips it apart as Wybie crawls out of the well and smashes it into pieces with a rock just in time.
They throw it together into the depths of the well and cover the well with a lid, ultimately sealing the Other Mother's fate. The film and novel don't specify her fate, but the Other Mother is presumed to have starved to death alone in the Other World.
Powers and Abilities[]
| “ | She has this other world where everything is better, the food, the garden...the neighbors. But it's all a TRAP! | „ |
| ~ Coraline to Wybie about the Other Mother. |
The Other Mother demonstrates many abilities; more mundane ones include excellent cooking and sewing. She is quite strong, able to rapidly climb up a gigantic spiderweb when she chasing Coraline and banging on the door between worlds so hard that the passageway physically shortens. The Other Mother is capable of changing into any appearance she desires. She can even transform herself into a normal human being without button eyes. She can also detach her hand; it is able to exit the Other World and is strong enough to drag people over long distances. It is presumed that the Other Mother uses her disembodied hand to send the button-eyed ragdolls to the real world. The strength of the Other Mother's powers depends on how much energy she has left from feeding on the flesh and souls of her victims. These powers also keep the Other World and its inhabitants in the state she wishes, and the less energy she has, the more they revert back to their true forms.
Near-Omnipotence in the Other World
The Other Mother wields immense power over the Other World, but this has limitations. She cannot create anything from scratch, but only recreate and modify objects that already exist. She also has control over the weather in the Other World as she is able to make lightning appear, which appears in the shape of her hand, when she talks to Coraline about the rain and is able to completely cover the entire moon with the shadow of a button and to completely disintegrate into a blank void.
Creating the Inhabitants of the Other World[]
The Other Mother demonstrates the ability to create life, which appears to be hand-crafted in the manner of a sculpture artist or a seamstress; the Other Mother created the Other Wybie from saw-dust and the Other Father from a pumpkin (in the film) or a worm (in the book). However, like with the Other World itself, she can only recreate things that have already existed.
The Other Mother does not appear have complete control of all Other World inhabitants. Her range of control stems from the from the free will she gives her creations; plants and animals are completely loyal while human dopplegangers are given more free will to make the illusion of their loving and friendly personalities more "genuine". The Other Bobinsky, Other Spink, and Other Forcible sided with the Other Mother whereas the Other Father and Other Wybie sided with Coraline, the only obvious factor to this decision is how attached the other creation is to the child victim.
Control of her creations appear to be loyalty instilled by either punishment or rewards; the Other Mother punished other Wybie for failing to smile all the time by sewing his mouth stuck in a smiling position and had to kick other father's leg to prevent him from scaring Coraline.
Binding Victims[]
The Other Mother is to obtain the souls of her victims by claiming their eyes; she accomplishes this by sewing buttons into them. Ownership of the childs' eyes prevents their spirits from entering the afterlife. She is also able to kidnap and imprison people inside objects, as demonstrated by trapping Coraline's parents in a snowglobe.
Novel Differences[]
In the book, the Other Mother is described as a taller and thinner version of Mel Jones, with button eyes, skin white as paper, black hair that seems to move by itself, and skinny fingers with long red nails. Her blood is also described as like "black tar".
The Other Mother's twisted love is much more emphasized in the novel, where Coraline briefly gets Stockholm Syndrome by sympathizing (at the very slightest) and allowing her to care for her as if she were her daughter. It is very parasitic and she sees them as nothing but objects and pets, who are ready to be discarded if they "bore" her. Her self-centered love is eventually what causes her downfall as she seeks to destroy everything, including the world that she rules over, until she could get what she wants--Coraline's soul. To somehow prove that her "love" is all that her victims need, the Other Mother convinces them that their parents have neglected and abandoned them and even induces hallucinations of this occurring.
In a scene that only occurs in the novel, the Other Mother recounts to Coraline about how she murdered her own mother and buried her alive in a grave, giving credence to the possibility that the Other Mother has human origins. Her modus operandi is also slightly different as she does not use button-eyed ragdolls to lure victims into the Other World, but immediately by sends out her rats instead.
None of the Other Mother's past victims are related to Coraline whatsoever, forcing Coraline, along with the Cat, to fight the Other Mother herself. Nonetheless, the confrontation between Coraline and the Other Mother is less intense, although the Other Mother's severed hand stalks her for several days, disturbing Coraline every night. Coraline manages to outsmart her by hosting a fake picnic on top of an old well. A blanket was used for the fake picnic, which attracted the severed hand. As it landed onto the blanket, it instantly crashed into the well, sealing the Other Mother's doom.
Quotes[]
[]
| “ | You're just in time for supper, dear! | „ |
| ~ The Other Mother's first words to Coraline. |
| “ | We've been waiting for you, Coraline. | „ |
| ~ The Other Mother's foreshadowing quote. |
| “ | See you soon ... | „ |
| ~ The Other Mother as Coraline goes to sleep. |
| “ | Welcome back, darling. | „ |
| ~ The Other Mother to Coraline during her second visit to the Other World. |
| “ | I thought you'd like him more if he talked a little less. So I fixed him. | „ |
| ~ The Other Mother about the Other Wybie. |
| “ | You do like it here, don't you, Coraline? You could stay here forever , if you want to. | „ |
| ~ The Other Mother enticing Coraline to stay in the Other World forever. |
| “ | Oh, but we need a yes, if you want to stay here. *kicks the Other Father for commenting about how sharp the needle would be* There now; it's your decision darling, we only want what's best for you. You're welcome. And I-we aren't worried at all darling. Soon, you'll see things our way. | „ |
| ~ The Other Mother after Coraline rejects the "choice" to have buttons sewn over her eyes. |
| “ | You could stay here forever... if you want to. | „ |
| ~ The Other Mother telling Coraline she can stay in the Other World forever. |
| “ | There's one tiny little thing we need to do. *shows a box of buttons* For you, our little doll. Black is traditional. But if you prefer pink, or vermillion or chartreuse, though you might make me jealous. | „ |
| ~ The Other Mother offering Coraline the "choice" of having buttons sewn over her eyes. |
| “ | They say even the proudest spirit can be broken, with love. | „ |
| ~ The Other Mother mocking Coraline's determined attempts to return home. |
| “ | I swear it. I swear it on my mother's grave. Oh yes. I put her in there myself. And when I found her trying to crawl out, I put her back. | „ |
| ~ The Other Mother recounting the murder of her own mother (novel only). |
| “ | Gosh, I have no idea where your "old" parents are. Perhaps they've grown bored of you and run away to France. | „ |
| ~ The Other Mother lying to Coraline about her missing parents and Coraline not buying it. |
| “ | Shhh! The garden squash need tending, don't you think, pumpkin? | „ |
| ~ The Other Mother to the Other Father after he says too much. |
| “ | Everybody likes games. | „ |
| ~ The Other Mother admitting to liking games. |
| “ | What kind of game would it be? (Coraline: An exploring game. A finding things game.) And what is it you’d be finding, Coraline? (Coraline: My real parents.) Too easy. (Coraline: And the eyes of the ghost children.) | „ |
| ~ The Other Mother asking Coraline what she’d be finding for their “game”. |
| “ | In each of three wonders I've made just for you, a ghost eye is lost in plain sight. | „ |
| ~ The Other Mother's clue to Coraline about the location of the eyes of the Ghost children. |
| “ | So... you're back. And you've brought... vermin with you? | „ |
| ~ The Other Mother, upon seeing Coraline with the cat. |
| “ | You know I love you. | „ |
| ~ The Other Mother expressing her twisted love to Coraline. |
| “ | So? Where are they - the ghost eyes? | „ |
| ~ The Other Mother asking Coraline to hand over the ghost eyes. |
| “ | (Coraline: We aren't finished yet, are we?) No, I suppose not. After all, you still need to find your old parents, don't you? Too bad you won't have this. | „ |
| ~ The Other Mother before burning the triangle candy in the fireplace. |
| “ | You're wrong Coraline, they aren't there... now you're going to stay here forever. | „ |
| ~ The Other Mother declaring her victory. |
| “ | YOU HORRIBLE CHEATING GIRL! | „ |
| ~ The Other Mother before transforming the floor into a spiderweb. |
| “ | NO! Where are you?! You SELFISH BRAT!!! | „ |
| ~ The Other Mother, after Coraline avoids being crushed by her. |
| “ | YOU DARE DISOBEY YOUR MOTHER?! | „ |
| ~ The Other Mother to Coraline. |
| “ | DON'T LEAVE ME! DON'T LEAVE ME! I'LL DIE WITHOUT YOU! | „ |
| ~ The Other Mother's last words. |
Trivia[]
- The name "Beldam" is a reference to a fairy-tale being, also known as "La Belle Dame sans Merci" ("the beautiful lady without pity") from the poem of the same name by John Keats. The poem tells the story of an unnamed knight wandering in a barren and haggard land, who encounters a beautiful and mysterious woman with bright and wild eyes who draws him to her secret grotto with claims of love, then puts him into an enchanted sleep. The knight dreams of ghostly beings who warn him that he is under la Belle Dame's thrall; when he awakens, the woman and her home have vanished, leaving him back on the barren hillside. The word "Beldam" is also an archaic word meaning "Witch" or "Hag".
- The Other Mother was originally the oldest (both from a "character's age" and "studio" standpoint) Laika villain (the former role being surpassed by The Moon King).
- Ashland, Oregon, the town that the Pink Palace is located in, was founded in 1852, approximately the same time the Pink Palace Apartments was initially constructed. It's also implied that the Other Mother is as old as the apartment itself.
- The Other Mother's desire to consume Coraline's soul is foreshadowed during the initial dinner scenes. Whilst Coraline and the Other Father eat regular food, the Other Mother has nothing on her plate and instead, looks at Coraline with delight. The only time the Other Mother is shown to eat is when she eats live cocoa beetles. This not only indicates that the Other Mother only wants human souls but that she prefers to eat them whilst they're (her victims) are still alive.
- The song that the Other Mother hums while she is in the kitchen is the same song that played during the opening credits.
- When talking to Coraline, the Other Mother sometimes refers to herself as "Your (Coraline's) Mother".
- In that way, she is similar to Mother Gothel, whose film, Tangled, was released a year after Coraline.
- In the film, the side of the door facing both the real world and the Other World do not have door knobs. It was most likely built this way because once locked, it would effectively trap the victims forever (given that the key is hidden).
- The Seamstress in the film 9 was a nod to the Other Mother in Coraline, due to their metallic hands. Both films were created by Focus Features.
- The Other Mother is one of the two Laika villains to be considered pure evil, alongside Archibald Snatcher.
- In Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe, on the DC Universe perspective, a doll of the Joker can be seen. Like the Coraline doll that the Other Mother is shown creating at the start of the film, the Joker doll has buttons for eyes.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ Amanda Troop. Internet Movie Database. Retrieved on July 17, 2019.