Coraline Explained - Scene 6 | The Fangirl Scene-ic Saturdays

I don't usually say "wait for the end" but I think there's a LOT to unpack in this Coraline scene from start to finish, so watch it all! We're going from finding the little door to going through the tunnel!
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#coraline #laika #horrormovie #movietheory #filmstudies #stopmotion #TheFangirl #othermother #otherfather #beldam #otherworld

[@anniesharp4871]

Ooh, I've never noticed the puncture marks on Mel's hand! How interesting! Funnily enough, in the book Charlie is a very good cook. The reason Coraline doesn't like his food is because it's too gourmet for her childhood palate; she wants plainer foods such as roast chicken, but without the fancy seasoning and sauces that her dad tends to put with it.

[@TheFangirlWatches]

Yeah, I feel like the movie REALLY wanted her parents to resemble the parents from Matilda. Coraline really feels like a bratty kid in the books.

[@anniesharp4871]

@@TheFangirlWatches that's so true!!

[@tynehazel007]

Im seeing beetles and flowers on the wallpaper 😂

[@magnificloud]

Same!

[@maem7462]

So am I. With that one specific shot when she asked one spot looks like an upside down face

[@calliemyersbuchanan6458]

7:37 it's unmistakable in this shot. so clear

[@teddyhh9947]

Same. Which fits into the gardening theme of the movie Ofc there's also a insect theme in the movie, and the beldame is supposedly a spider. Her having pictures of insects might be the same as a human having pictures of food.

[@darkstarmoonshadow8892]

I do as well

[@geddyw]

11:30 the puncture on Mel's hand may be a remnant from a deleted scene where Coraline tosses a spider behind her and it lands in Mel's mug. They might have planned to have the spider bite Mel just to make her even crankier.

[@TheFangirlWatches]

Oooh I will have to look for the deleted scenes to cover at the end of the movie! Thanks for the tip!

[@mistingwolf]

As someone who lives in a house that is about 100 years old, just seeing the style of the lock on the door is actually enough to give away what kind of key you need. My house still has all of the old interior locks that requires a similar type of key, so it's actually quite intuitive of Mel to take a key that looks like it should work. A keyhole that large is going to need a big key, and none of the other modern keys in that drawer would ever fit; they're all far too thin.

[@therealopaartist]

Yep! My grandma had this REALLY old cabinet that used a similar key. Modern keys were too thin even at a glance.

[@BusterAnimations]

I feel that Mel was genuinely reacting to the key. I mean, it's not everyday that you see a button key sitting in your drawer. Not to mention a weird tiny door in your living room. Also I do believe that the door was used for a crawl space. But yknow, it is very unusual for it to be in the living room, bricked up. I do wonder why they didn't put a doorknob on the outside of the door. Maybe it was taken off?

[@TheFangirlWatches]

That is a good point that, if they wallpapered over the small door, they could have taken off the knob on the outside! The weird thing, though, is that we see the indentations for the door and keyhole, but there's nothing to show any screw holes or marks from where a knob used to be.

[@sorsuke570]

Those are definitely beatles on the wallpaper along with flowers. I also feel that the seed packets Coraline put on the window hint at the garden in the other world. Has anyone else talked about that?

[@WCYUM]

6:24 not the beldame. I think the fact that she knew what the key was for means their landlord told them that. The landlord that rented it to them specifically because they had a kid and was trying to protect whybie. I think this is proof that she was trying to use coraline as bait so whybie wouldn’t be like her sister

[@lineawinther3383]

Fun fact. In the book, the dinner scene plays out a lot difrent. Coraline does not like her dads cooking, since its sort of underbaked and has lots of vegteblels in it, so she goes and heats up some frozen lasanga instead. Just to say that coraline in the book is way more bratty and dismissive in unfair ways then in the movie.

[@Thrakus]

Very old homes had little doors, so you could get inside the walls , The mark on the moms hand shows up on the same spot where she did touch the key. Maybe the keys are like worlds , semi like Locke & Key.

[@jackappleton2795]

If the parents were still awake and weren't in bed I'm surprised they didn't hear Coraline wandering around.

[@trixxart777]

Honestly if they weren't in bed they probably where working soo iver way they probably wouldn't be able to hear it espesially shown in the scenes where Coraline was trying to get her attention and they are too concentrated on there work to pay attention to her

[@denisejeffries2675]

In the deleted scenes a spider had gone into Mel’s coffee cup in the morning. She was bit by the spider that morning explaining the puncture marks on her hand. So, with that in mind knowing that in the future scenes of this story the Beldam takes on a spider form it can be understood that Mel was already found/influenced by the Beldam.

[@MysticSparkleWings]

I've usually interpreted the drawer full of keys as a typical "this is just a house/family that has a dedicated key drawer," whether that was because it was left like that from previous tenants or that's just how Coraline's parents operate. If it was left that way from previous tenants, it would make sense of the Lovats went along with that being the "key drawer" and intentionally left any keys the tenants would need in the drawer...Which they would probably tell new tenants "you'll find the key(s) you need in this specific drawer" before moving in. Especially if there was some kind of access panel for fuses or something, Mel may have just assumed the newest looking key was most likely to be the key she was told about, and then thought the design of the key itself was really weird. I also just kind of assumed Coraline being interested in the door is "just a kid thing," especially if she's the type of kid who is really interested in fiction-A mysterious door in an old house could lead to adventure, a funky shaped space good for imaginative play, or maybe just some long-forgotten collection of something that could be fun to dig through. That's definitely where my mind would have gone if I found a strange door in an old house at Coraline's age-In essenence, it would have looked like a big flashing "CURE TO BOREDOM" sign, which was exactly what Coraline was looking for. Also: Coraline's parents could be the type of people that are pretty strict about eating dinner and then going to bed straightaway anyhow, so they're not milling around the house because in the time it took Coraline to get ready for bed (especially if she knew she was going to bed early and had no reason to rush through her routine), they finished dinner, cleaned up the kitchen, and were already in their own room winding down for the night. Or, alternatively, while it doesn't seem like Coraline has been in bed trying to fall asleep for long, that's a pretty notable opportunity for us viewers to think it hasn't been that long when in reality Coraline has been asleep for a couple of hours before she wakes up and chases after the mouse. And a final note that I don't read too much into the swirling sky-I see that as more of a subtle indication that the Beldam's magic can now "leak" out more freely than before-Possibly because the door between worlds has finally been literally cracked open. Same thing with the mice and the bricks-they can emerge that way now because the door was cracked, but for whatever reason the bricks cannot disappear and the full portal present itself until Coraline makes the _choice_ to open the door fully.

[@fantasylover4evr371]

No way Mel is the Beldam. She probably just grabbed the random key. Also, the wallpaper had to be at least 30 years old since the bedlam takes a child every 50 years and Mrs. Lovatt is 60 years old.

[@pipermclean9190]

Nothing beats getting to the end of the week after college and watching Coraline videos by The Fangirl.!!!!!!!

[@davidfitzpatrick6535]

1:21 So about the Beetle flower debate. Im actually seeing both! If u look right to the right of the picture frame theres a clear flower and then to the right and up of the flower u can see a beetle so I think its actually meant to be like a garden scene with flowers and beetles.

[@jordanpaz8635]

the beetles are faint whereas the flowers are a bit more prominent

[@keirajenner8310]

I think with the key, the grandma prolly tell her about it. When they come in for a house tour. Even tho, the story implied that the grandma doesn’t rent to people with kids but bc wybie born. She need to plot sth to keep her grandson safe and that’s why she rent the house to coralline parents in hope that their kid will wonder to the other world and save her grandson from being kidnap.

[@bellerosecrafts8014]

I've been waiting all week for this! I really hope you get more subscribers and views your stuff is amazing and you deserve it! ❤

[@ange7034]

So people used to collect keys from hotels around the country. The random numbers on the keys could represent that

[@aoki556]

I’d say the keyhole makes it kind of obvious that it could only be that key that fits 😆 but I do love how it appeared in the drawer

[@darkstarmoonshadow8892]

The Beldam is telipathic and through different parts of the house it reads in on Coraline's life

[@dylanheidlauf3063]

I feel like the grandma was scared to be around the house after her sister went missing and that's why the house is so unkempt

[@mokarokas-1727]

13:18 This is way late, but I think you're underestimating the technology of the mid 00's. It doesn't seem to be fantastic quality, so I'm thinking it's taken with a digital camera (possibly with a timer) and printed out on photo-paper. I did that at least once back then, also as a gift to a friend.

[@denisejeffries2675]

There are a combination of beetles and flowers on the wallpaper. Answer to the question: D, the Beldam. Great detail on Mel’s hand! Maybe a spider bite? I don’t know.

[@why2goatdagame]

The drawer resembles the other mothers button drawer. Parallelism. Hence, why the Botton key was found by the mom &nd she got a vibe. Additionally, the snake/ spider bite is prob to do w/ the neck brace. If she was bit in a garden (very likely) &nd she tried to go get help. Could have got into an accident via the car or just falling. Which is prob why she is also crabby. Healing can hurt &nd make u grumpy.

[@TherealGisselle]

I love that parallel you noticed!

[@moonchild4648]

All the keys in the drawer are flat, except for the button key, thus it was the only one that would fit the little door. I don't think it suspicious that Mel would figure out that was the right one.

[@williamswonderland3636]

00:40 well as someone who works with buttons to make dolls I have seen these types of buttons before so this is an actual button no idea what there for or the name but if they were ment to be a node to the cat I would expect some more cat shapes near by for example triangle shaped buttons (Wich are a really thing)for the ears

[@WCYUM]

13:48 could’ve been a going away gift tbh

[@BBMacsWorld]

First, I didn't notice the key had a button on it or that it just appears out of nowhere! Second, I don't think Mel has been replaced with The Beldam at this point. Can The Beldam evenleave the other world without the door? We know she can change the doll, but we don't actually see her leave until the end when she tries to burst through the door before Coraline can lock it. (Unless we do and I don't remember?) That could be why the door was locked and covered with wall paper in the first place?

[@christinaharris]

What if Mel was being unconsciously lead by the other mother to find the correct key, that could also explain why she’s so irritable and on edge.

[@lineawinther3383]

Is it possible that Mel sees the key and is influenced by the other mother in some way, to belive it is the right key? It is later shown that the other mother makes a doll of Coralines real parents at some point, so could it make sence that they could already be there along with the Coraline doll. Though containing cotton and not 'soul sand' og 'sawdust', so they may not have so much power they can proporly move around.

[@trixxart777]

Also the star light reminds me of her star jumper

[@KimberleyGames06]

The chair you're talking about that should be in the kitchen at 10:32 I believe is the chair in Coraline's bedroom where the doll is sitting at 12:36. Correct me if I'm wrong

[@nope2191]

Heya from Michigan. "Lopers" are lower peninsula residents, and "Yoopers" are upper peninsula residents (living in the U.P. )The peninsulas are joined by the Mackinac Bridge, so folks who live "under the bridge" (lopers) are also called "trolls" - lol The Detroit Zoo snow globe is accurate - that's of the Rackham fountain, and I have a snow globe just like it.

[@fantasylover4evr371]

The Beldam taps her fingers when she's excited to play games

[@TheFangirlWatches]

Actually, not just during games! She also taps her fingers at dinner when she's getting a little bit annoyed.

[@fantasylover4evr371]

@TheFangirlWatches "Thought we'd play a game/What exactly would you be finding Coraline?" She taps her fingers because she's excited to play. Only Mel her real mother tapped her fingers because she was irritated. The other mother was her opposite

[@JustinScholle-ci3ip]

Hello, I just want to say I have been watching your channel for a long time and absolutely love your theories:) I just subscribed because we usually watch on my husband's account and never realized I was not, lol. In this particular video, when discussing the keys in the drawer, I feel if the button key was just lying under the other old keys, the animators would have put it there to begin with. Just like you have brought out in other videos, everything in this movie is deliberate. The button key just appears perfectly lying under the keys when swiped aside, as if it magically appeared. I feel if the animators wanted you to believe that key was there, it would have been visible, possibly peeking through. It's too clean, just like you said. I am so excited to make a comment on here, lol. I have never actually commented on a KZbin video until now. Keep up the awesome videos!:)

[@aaronkaczmarek5032]

Perhaps the weird weather outside was seen by mrs lovat and that’s what prompted her to look for the doll? If she recognised the same weather phenomenon as when her sister went missing and never since?

[@hoodwinkedwriting4237]

The little door always reminding me of a dumbwaiter door. Maybe that's what it is? I mean the house is like 150 years old. That's old enough to have people still use dumbwaiters in their houses

[@beth_ff]

What if the button key was planted by one of the mice? Like placed for the Beldom, as you said mice can go through very small gaps so it wouldn’t be all that surprising if they managed to squeeze in the drawer the night of the doll arriving? As the Beldam could be watching through the doll to make sure Coraline is exposed to the key? Loving the videos as always ☺️💞

[@VelvetCondoms]

I think Mel was in cahoots with the Beldam. She knew which key was right. Also, in this version, there is no 4th apartment. All the apartments are on different levels. So her suggestion that they must have bricked it up when they divided the house doesn't make sense. But a creative lie would cover for that. If she was just the Beldam, she would not have left the key. She would have made sure the key was in a place that only she knew where it was and the rats could recover it safely. She's not dumb enough to leave it in the real world.

[@RandomGhostDragon]

Its both beetles *and* flowers on the wallpaper actually!

[@sammiemartinez3280]

Perhaps when choosing the key Mel gets a suspicious feeling. Maybe it’s bad juju or Beldamn magic (because she needs the door open) Later Mel closes the door stating she thought it would make Coraline feel safe…

[@orleansartist6095]

So the tunnel was wallpapered over long ago. Perhaps in Ms Lovats childhood time. But the key is there in the drawer.

[@muhammadaziz5848]

Fan Girl i am waiting your video since yesterday. Got used to watch Every week Saturday night after fresh upload. Thanks for video😊

[@TheFangirlWatches]

I apologize, my Saturday this last week was super busy and I had set this to "scheduled" release at 8:30 am on Saturday, but it didn't work for some reason!

[@selenaazpeitia3222]

At 12:25 you can see the turtle shell on the white box, the tank next to the squid on the green box, the dog stuffed animal on the floor in the corner next to the shelf, and her clothes on the chair here in her real room before she went to sleep. When she gets up to chase the mouse into the other world, her clothes aren’t on the chair anymore. And when she wakes up, the turtle shell and dog stuffed animal is in their same place, but the squid is on the shelf, the tank is on the floor, and her clothes are still not on the chair but in her now open trunk. This is further proof that she maybe didn’t get back to the real world as the beldam didn’t copy her things in the exact same spot, or possibly that someone moved her things while she was asleep before she even went to the other world. My theory is that her mom opened the door portal, but her consciousness went through it in her sleep while she was astral projecting like in the movie Insidious, and is in the further dimension (the other world). I also believe she’s still there when she “wakes up” and didn’t go back home because she didn’t get back through the portal and because her things are out of place! In the other world or dimension, the beldam can manipulate and change anything because it’s like a dream. Like for example when she makes the storm happen suddenly, and when the writing magically appears on the cake. But she does her best to make a copy of the real world, through her spying through the dolls eyes, but it isn’t perfect. She does this to put Coraline at ease.

[@williamswonderland3636]

11:31 the marks on her hand might be from the x-acto knife likia animators use to move there puppets thats my guess

[@TheFangirlWatches]

That could be true - it might have been an accident on set! But it looks red and a little swollen to me as well!

[@williamswonderland3636]

@@TheFangirlWatches maybe 🤔 personally I don't see any red but that might just be my screen

[@cityman2312]

I suppose the button key is enchanted and that's why it can suddenly turn up, never tarnish, and give Mel an uneasy feeling at the same time.

[@williamswonderland3636]

Oooh they keys must be for the farm think about it tractors 🚜 garden houses or they could befor outher buildings out side like the green house / aviary And she chose that key because its the only skeleton key type key in that cupboard the rest are more for pad locks and cars not for the doors in a old mannor like the pink palec

[@georgebee3090]

I always make it to the end. I can’t not 🥰🥰🥰

[@TheFangirlWatches]

Thank you so much for telling the algorithm to keep me around! 💕

[@georgebee3090]

@@TheFangirlWatches the algorithm will never love you as much as we do!!! Happy Halloween for tomorrow 😚🖤💚🧡

[@dollsartbyartynyan206]

about photo frame - maybe those friend really take it & gifted to coraline! just before they left

[@yelloworange3125]

The wallpaper has both, the commenter just thought you were looking at a different part

[@davidfitzpatrick6535]

11:30 Im guessing the reason Charlie cooks but cant cook is because both Mel and Charlie cant cook so its whoever can cook better out of the two.

[@AdaraFukuchi]

i think mel associated unique key w unique door. no more, no less.

[@dollsartbyartynyan206]

I actually see on wallpapers flowers & bugs!

[@user-rd1nl1qf3p]

I see both bugs and flowers in the wallpaper.

[@YasmeenMO]

I see the bettle on the wallpaper, also with the doll reappearing near the door then disappearing behind coraline and her mom when we get to see the door open for the first time. Also I want to know how the Dad cook a cassorle and it doesn't look good at all sorry Charlie

[@trixxart777]

Personally I think she picked the buttton key because it was the most bezar looking for such a bezar door

[@tbjoshua8941]

Well its both you see flowers and beetles on the wallpaper

[@skyspring7704]

A Cora-Door.

[@TheFangirlWatches]

beautiful! 👏👏👏

[@user-vq9qw8uu2z]

When the house was being built, could it have been some kind of chute or dumweighter that went down to the basement maybe? Like when they were building they had inadventally designed it there without realizing and by the time they did they couldn't change it for some reason or the original owner was just that esscentric; or it could've been an ahead system of its time, since cellars were sometimes underground and adjacent to the basement or the basement could've orignally been a cellar and instead of waiting for the person to go out, down the stairs, down the cellar stairs and back again, they could've installed it to save time by putting the wanted food on the weighter and sending it up to the living room which would've been next to the kitchen for a quick trip. Do we know exactly what room Ms. Spink and Forcibles apartment was under? I just know it wasn't far from the front door

[@renee_is_pink]

No theres definitely beetles and a few flowers

[@reanybean4878]

Just as a Michigan resident we would say he was a state fan instead of Michigan fan! As university of Michigan is the big competitor saying he’s a Michigan fan confuses the blue and gold vs green and white haha ! 😂 not that I care much haha I don’t like sports.. but just a funny note

[@sighingsaichania7033]

I made it to the End!😃

[@TheFangirlWatches]

Thank you!

[@DandyLion728]

The beldam 😱

[@SuperCaptain38]

Hay I don't know this is just me or not but why do the doll look like it is smiling? like the bell dam is smiling through the doll? from watching Mel cutting the door out of the wallpaper? so it is just me or Did anyone else notice that as well?

[@orleansartist6095]

The button key is black. It doesn't look new. It's oxidized and it's a skeleton key. I can see the lock so, so could Coraline's mom. It plainly is an old lock, and looks like one with a skeleton key. Js

[@shanevance3433]

You were supposed to upload this yesterday,

[@TheFangirlWatches]

I know, I'm sorry! I had it scheduled to auto-post and then it didn't, so I don't know what went wrong! 😫 I humbly beg your forgiveness!

[@shanevance3433]

@@TheFangirlWatches Maybe you set the auto post for Sunday.

[@phoebevaughan5095]

​@@shanevance3433We got the video that's all the matters. People do have lives and we should be grateful for the content whenever it arrives.

[@christopherb501]

Flowers Who is dense enough to think that's the Beldam _already,_ I mean really???

[@TheFangirlWatches]

There has been a ton of debate about it, a lot of which revolves around "how else would she know which key to grab."

[@fearthebunnyboo7927]

What if Wybe isn't mis lowvats grandson but her son who went missing years ago but for what ever reason the beldam uses him to yo lore other kids in now

[@Mr.NoOneSpecial]

D.

[@gracekim25]

I think it’s D😅

[@Cfabulous990]

d

[@Yak1312]

👎🏻

[@TheFangirlWatches]

Uhhh... okay..?

[@Violet0513]

Don’t be a GIT she’s trying her best!!!!

[@heyits_kat]

I also see both beetles and flowers, just in different spots, like a pattern that has both 🪲🌸