What Is the Beldam!? (She isn’t what you think!)

[@CinemaOverAnalyzed]

What do you think The Beldam is? All the videos referenced are in the card and description. All the best =)

[@BasicallyBaconSandvichIV]

A fairy, everything you mentioned are all characteristics of some Fair Folk. Fairy Folk are scarier than Demons. Take the Corridor, the Rats or the Mist. All of those are scarier than a demon or ghost. By the way, the Corridor and Mist both seem alive. And I think they are the reasons the Other-Mother is trapped there, needing the key to get out. Meanwhile the rats DO work for her NOW, but they seem to be nearing active rebellion. Also, the Pink Palace can't be that old. At most 4 centuries. Not an insignificant amount of time, but not as you said: "that means the Pink Palace is insanely old". I think that it is Victorian, so for a house, that's not very old. The house I live in is more than a hundred years old, it's only been “not new" for a short time. Of course, the Other-Mother may have been here for whoever knows how long, Fairy's are Immortal(or so long lived it's basically the same) after all. Lastly the motivation of these entities largely depends on who is writing/telling the story. Mostly this is also affected by the type of entity. Demon typically generic evil. Fairies tend to have their own motivations, but in this case definitely one of the more common ones: Sustenance and the sustainment of beauty. They tend to have their methods more in common with each other, like constructing a fake world, kidnapping people, a tendency to play games(they don't always play fair though), curses and deceitfulness. They are the classic Fairy-Tale villain (which makes sense). Undead usually want either power, revenge or company. Though it may differ per person. And unknowable entities are diverse and often, yet not always unknowable. I could go on longer about every single type, but I’ll leave that for now. The creator of the story can still just decide that their entity doesn’t follow the usual stereotype, by the way. So don’t take my words as fact, just observations and research results. Playing a DnD warlock actually helps with knowing these things, as you have to figure out your Patron, so you figure out a lot of these things. I love talking about fairy tales, researching them, and discussing them. If you, or anyone else, has any input, I’d love to discuss things like these stories. I hope this reply isn’t too long or too short, but JUST RIGHT. I may perhaps have answered not just the original question, but other questions in the video as well. I tend to do stuff like that. Anyway, have a lovely rest of your (mortal) existence! P.S. Yes, I do think all the videos are linked where you say they should be linked. Edit: For any Faeries reading, not reading or elsewise this, please note: I do not seek nor wish to offend someone as glamorous, charming, terrific and awesome such as thyselves. I profusely apologise if this does appear to be the case.

[@CinemaOverAnalyzed]

Mad respect to you my friend! This probably took some time to write so thanks for sharing your thoughts! I wasn't aware of all the fairy folklore. After reading and watching the film, I do feel The Beldam could be a myriad of different things altogether. In the film, she seems more sinister, well, in the book she's more playful. I think that's awesome that a story can do that! Everyone can have a different opinion about it, and we all can learn something new. That's pretty cool. So thank you again for sharing. Take care, my friend =)

[@strwberry_kittenz]

A fairy. Fairies are both demonic and benign, that might explain the other mothers creations being fairies, probably.

[@bdariamihaela]

One thing I really love about Coraline is that at the end we barely get any answers but unlike other films I don't feel at all unsatisfied. It's a tricky balance to pull off. I think the key is that even dough we don't get concrete answers we get enough aditional information to make our own theories and ideas

[@CinemaOverAnalyzed]

It's encouraging to see! It opens up the discussion, so a lot of different people can state their own ideas. Some ideas might clash, but most people are willing to listen to what the other side has to say. I wish more fandom were like this!

[@neonmajora8454]

Personally I think she needed the children's "lives" as they say in the movie in order to survive. It seems possible her appearance at the end of the movie was due in part at least to starving from not getting prey in so long. It's also fascinating wondering why some of the beldams' puppets rebelled and others didn't. Maybe some were acting out of fear, and the other Wybie and father realized they could never have a normal life and would be destroyed or worse as soon as Coraline was killed anyway, dark. Or maybe by the time Coraline got to the others they were so far gone from their original forms they lost their heads, or the beldam was controlling them. It really makes you think lol

[@CinemaOverAnalyzed]

I do think the Others have some semblance of consciousness. The Other Father has a song that warns Coraline to be careful, and Other Wybie does help her escape. They might be more than just puppets, but I do think they are a little afraid of what The Beldam is.

[@VisForVindetta]

I think the other characters she created started to feel bad once they totally understand what exactly they are helping to accomplish. I mean, the Other Father and Other Wybie don't start to rebel until Coraline was asked and denied the button eyes. With the other kids, it seems they immediately agreed to give up their eyes, so their alternative family members never would've been around long enough to feel bad about what they helped do, or if they did feel bad, they would've been destroyed quickly after the kids souls were taken anyway.

[@neonmajora8454]

@@CinemaOverAnalyzed I agree 100%. Maybe the other Wybie and father wanted to help her more because they spent more time with her

[@neonmajora8454]

@@VisForVindetta Yeah I think they got a real sense of urgency. The other father was trying to hint to Coraline what was going on I think but it'd make sense for the beldam would hide as much as she could from them. As for the ghost children I wonder if she made any puppets for them or if it was just her, I got the impression they agreed to the buttons rather fast too.

[@iluvdorx11]

I absolutely agree. This is one of my favorite movies and I watch it all the Time. Seeing how the Beldam changes over Time (and never eats) makes me think that she “ate up” the ghost children’s lives (as they say) and when Coraline isn’t ready to give hers up, the Beldam needs to rest and can’t hold the false shape of Coraline’s mother anymore. The Beldam’s wardrobe also changes over Time. It goes from being like Coraline’s true mother’s clothes to these darker, spidery clothes. And the Beldam looks more skeletal and gaunt as well. As for the other characters in the other world, it is interesting how they try to help Coraline. I can see it being either that they spent more Time with her and got attached or that when they realized what was really happening they didn’t want to be part of it. In the movie he’s all engorged and looks like a pumpkin and says “don’t want to hurt you, mother making me” and hands her the ghost eyes before sinking into the water. In the book it’s similar but also majorly different. In the book the other father is in the basement, he is engorged like a pumpkin there too, but he suddenly can’t stop from trying to attack Coraline. He apologizes and says he doesn’t want to hurt her but he can’t control himself because of the Beldam (haven’t read the book in awhile so I don’t have the direct quote) but I always remembered how much more controlled he was in the book Love both the book and the movie and all of this is making me want to read the book again and look for more similarities and differences!!

[@bdariamihaela]

I think that the beldam WAS human (importance in was), I think she was the first resident of the pink palace and she discovered the other world, she didn't make it, but made everything in it, 'cause the other world is alive, when reading the book the tunnel is described in a very interesting way, it's almost alive and I'm not sure how but I'm convinced that her becoming whatever she is linked to that fairy circle. I'm convinced that she was telling the truth about her mother 'cause we never see her actually lie. She cheats and manipulates of course but doesn't lie

[@neonmajora8454]

@bdariamihaela She did technically lie when she said "gosh I have no idea where your old parents are" but she said it so clearly sarcastic I don't know if she was even trying to convince her lol

[@bdariamihaela]

@@neonmajora8454 Yeah, sarcasm doesn't count

[@CinemaOverAnalyzed]

That's interesting! I do think that there is way more to the pink palace than what meets the eye. There has to be a connection between the pink palace and the other world somehow? Some sort of portal? I also, think the Beldam could have been one or more of the children's governesses in the real world? One of the children talks about the governess, it instantly reminded me of the other mother. But I do like the point you make about how she might be the first resident. The Beldam is a very interesting creature.

[@CinemaOverAnalyzed]

The movie version definitely makes The Beldam way more sarcastic...or maybe it's just how Teri Hatcher reads her lines.

[@michaellynes3540]

The Beldam could be a witch or a vampire or both. In Chapter 6, Coraline was looking at herself in the mirror when she felt something on her shoulder and it was the Other Mother, but Coraline didn’t see the Other Mother in the mirror.

[@thecookj454]

My personal opinion is that The Beldam a was once human who was bewitched. One thing that is interesting to me is that she has major limitations to what she can do. It doesn't seem like she can actually leave the world she's created. Almost like she was cursed. And in the world she has created there is very little she can create which I would think would be really lonely. I think that is why she likes to play with her victims before she kills them because if she is dying why wouldn't she kill Coraline on the spot? It could be that she may have been a mother at one point herself and has the obsession of play the role of a mother. Or she's literally just a demon who kills little kids and it ain't that deep

[@DANIELLE_BREANNA_LACY]

Henry Selick the director of this movie says the Beldam is supposed to be a cross between a skeleton, a spider, and an arachnid and her magical powers are similar to the magical powers of the residents of Halloween Town from The Nightmare Before Christmas. Like for instance, the way the Beldam creates the residents of her world out of sand comes from the idea of how Dr. Finkelstein created Sally out of leaves and her hand being broken off by Coraline so she could escape, then coming to life later on to attack her and retrieve the key to the door is much like how Sally let her arm rip off and come to life to hit Finkelstein on the head so she could escape being pulled away.

[@lilachan3567]

i have the theory that she puts the old kiddos ghosts into the dolls... i mean, i know she eats their souls and eyes but the ghosts that we see in the movie are only 3 children, and she probably killed more than just 3..., coz in the tunnel when coraline is escaping from the Beldam, we see kid's clothes, that were from the kids she ate before that tried to escape and that unlike coraline, didn't make it. So, it would make sense to me because the other wybie and the other father had their owns minds and decisions, they probably wanted to help coraline so she doesn't end like them, so yeah i think that the beldam can possess objects or her well known dolls with the ghosts of the children she eats (objects like the boring boy) ... letting her put the buttons in your eyes is like doing a demoniac contract where she eats your soul for a wish (staying there forever) and then the consequence is having to be her slave for the rest of the eternity and help her trick other kids into it. So she's prolly a demon, one that offers contracts targeting specially kids and young teenagers.

[@WillScarlet16]

If she's a sort of human spider or mantis, she's the type of creature that eats her own young. So she's sincere when she tells Coraline "I love you," because in her mind "love" means the same thing as "want to eat."

[@skyhaslam7209]

I like how you brought up the limbo Pink Palace, one KZbinr said the same thing ( The Fangirl ) she has a whole video on it

[@deadknight1402]

The thing with the idea that the Beldam is a Fairy is that in the book, she actually had a fairy locked away, but wasn't a fairy herself. The Theorizer claims that she may have been the owner of the Pink Palace when it was first built, but then an alien entity had crashed nearby (creating the well), she got stuck in it, and then started having to survive in there by whatever means necessary (abitfrank even goes so far as to compare her to a parasite living in the entity's digestive tract). In that same vein, pretty straight forward, I think she's a being of necessities. The Beldam is having to play the long game with Coraline because she needs her to succumb to her temptations, and she also needs to create new beings inside of the Other World, ones who can act of their own volition such as the Other Father and the Other Wybie. That degree of intelligence is an apparent risk, yet she uses it because she simply has no better options for those very necessary roles. Perhaps she is a Baba Yaga-esque witch who decided to take up residence inside of the being below the Pink Palace like a parasitic squatter. The Other World has four parts as I see it: the Tunnel, the Well, the Pink Palace copy created by the Beldam, and the void where her creation ends and begins, which is the entity of the Pink Palace in its purest state.

[@caseydavis3038]

A spider kills its own mother

[@0whatman]

in wildbow's Otherverse she'd be considered a Blackforester that became a Hag

[@Synthanarchist]

One small correction and some theorisation: The pink palace is stated to be 150 years old, or in other words, it was built in 1859, it couldn't have been That old as you stated. And to top this, the beldam in my opinion, is not a demonic entity, but a possessed human by an demon that was the inhabitant of the pink palace and fell to the well which is theorised to be the portal to the other world, and with the help of the kids souls managed to stay alive and develop the other world.

[@CinemaOverAnalyzed]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and theories! That's an interesting way of looking at The Beldam. I do love how this story has so many layers, it is always fun to see what others have to say about it!

[@dirtyblnd]

This is so unrelated, but I think you’re so beautiful. And your voice is so calming and relaxing too. ❤

[@CinemaOverAnalyzed]

Oh thank you!

[@hyper_ent0407]

You could like.. Read the book.. That has a Q&A.. And get some of the answers lmao coralline theories are cool for the movie but since the movie is based on the book and draws from it A LOT you cant disconnect the book completely

[@theluigifan1]

The timing of this video is perfect because I just recently watched Coraline with my girlfriend It was a movie I wanted to see in theaters when I was a kid but never got the chance to

[@CinemaOverAnalyzed]

That's awesome that you got to watch it! I never got to see it in theaters myself. However, I remember I was reading the book for a book report (I have no idea why I picked it for a school project?) before the film came out. It was horrible, the book scared me so much! When I wanted to escape and watch some cartoon I still could escape the horror of Coraline because I would see hundreds of commercials about it...haha!

[@angryferb1079]

The Sallie House is in my home state of Kansas. Which is cool when it's mentioned.

[@CinemaOverAnalyzed]

That's so cool! There I tiny part of me that would want to go visit it. The history is so interesting. I know when I get there I would be scared out of my mind. Also, I really don't want a demonic little girl attached to me...no thank you!

[@angryferb1079]

@@CinemaOverAnalyzed haha yeah no thank you. I would like to recommend a video, maybe haunted places across the US, or do a mini series about each state and their creepy places.

[@CinemaOverAnalyzed]

That's a cool idea! I like looking at the history of different haunted location. But I don't know if I'm brave enough to go adventure to them by myself...haha!

[@angryferb1079]

@@CinemaOverAnalyzed haha fair enough, I wouldn't be either! Maybe just review them haha and leave it to the professionals with more mental fortitude than us! Hahaha

[@deimos-jones]

I like spiders but not this one omg ;-;

[@gamerqueenleona5094]

Also the other father being very talkative only when the Bell dam isn’t there and eating like if he knows he’s not going to be eating the next time Caroline comes only makes my theory of the other father being a prisoner to the bell dam

[@AdrianThePerson]

Why did Coraline only have to get 3 eyes instead of 6

[@orangeiefromflorida]

Personal theory about the line from the book: I think the Beldam was once a girl and she saw the world as boring and cruel but when her mother tried to stop her, she tried to give her the Other World, "she tried to crawl back" meaning she tried to escape the Other World and knew what the Beldam was doing. But then the Beldam put her back in the Other World and killed her. This is probably why the kids, the other father, and other wybie are scared of her, she killed her own mom. The Beldam was then probably cursed with staying in the Other World forever with the guilt of killing her mom as well as feeling lonely probably why the cat says that she "wants something to love" so she doesn't feel so sad anymore

[@SoulShadowXY]

Its my crazy ex she did a ritual with the fairy circle and sacrificed her mother for power. Please help im still stuck here 🙏. Im sorry ill never cheat again

[@Arminius420]

The mythology is based on Slavic lore, the Beldam is referred to an old hag or witch. Almost like the famous Baba Yaga. But this version is more unique.

[@Jynx215]

In the book, it's heavily implied that the Beldam is just a projection of the other world

[@chrisrubin6445]

did the black death ever reach the pacific northwest? are they in europe in the book?

[@CinemaOverAnalyzed]

In the book, Coraline and her family live in England. As for your other question, I had to do a little research. The plague was introduced to America in 1900. A ship traveling from Hong Kong to San Francisco had two cases of the plague on board. The California governor tried to over it up but failed and that's how the plague was introduced to the States. Due to the introduction of the disease it never left, most cases are found on the west side of the country. From 1970 to 2020 there have been 19 known cases of the plague in Oregon, the state that Coraline the film takes place in. (the static comes directly from the Centers for Disease Control website) Although that doesn't sound like a lot, the disease is still out there and still unfortunately takes lives. Really appreciate the question, I learned something new from it =)

[@chrisrubin6445]

@@CinemaOverAnalyzed wow thank you so much for the answer, very fascinating !!!

[@CinemaOverAnalyzed]

No problem! Take care =)

[@GooberGTVR]

When you said you know it’s quite sharp, you didn’t say accidentally. I poke needles into a layer of my skin and sometimes use my finger as a pincushion. Edit: Only one layer, I don’t go five or more layers deep, but i may, I’m actually not sure.

[@CinemaOverAnalyzed]

I thought that would be implied. For the record "Kids DO NOT poke yourself with needles ON PURPOSE." Hopefully, that clears everything up.

[@jochenvanvugt5186]

My theory is based on yours. She is pure energy but she was created by a demonic thing and when the beldam found out how to become stronger it got stronger and killed her creator and got less powerful beings under control thanks to fear and after a while she started to lure kids to her

[@CinemaOverAnalyzed]

I see, so she is a demonic Frankenstein monster, who learns to become more powerful. That's cool! Thanks for sharing =)

[@fuzzytheduck]

You make a lot of very confident statements about the nature of demons and spirits and such and I'm not sure where any of its coming from. Who says demons are made of pure energy? How do you know demons aren't condemned to time? Aren't fairies a kind of spirit? Why are we entrusting literary analysis to the stories of people who claim they can see ghosts? Edit: also I HIGHLY recommend the analysis CJtheX made of coralline

[@CinemaOverAnalyzed]

Let me answer your question with another question. You assume that my confidence stems from the material talked about. How does one know that? Could that very confidence be a façade or tool to make the video more entertaining? And who's to say the topics touched upon aren't just there to shed light on a different perspective no matter how crazy? Theories are theories for a reason. I'd like to answer your question I really do. Unfortunately, the only person, who can explain their reasoning for this oddball line of thinking is my past self. I don't have a time machine to go and ask her. However, I do know one thing that both my past and present selves can agree upon. We succeeded in the point of the video (and the channel as a whole) To get people, like yourself, to question the material presented to them. To go against the status quo. For that, I applaud you for writing down your thoughts. Keep being curious my friend =) P.S. This message isn't intended to be sarcastic (through my writing style it sometimes comes across that way.) I'm genuinely grateful for your comment.

[@Braclin]

There is a spider in the corner of my living room 😂

[@lecxyblack1311]

I have another proof of this beldam is not a faries from the book. the key is described as made of iron. Fairies can't touch iron. it Burns them.

[@MAT7H8W]

still liked

[@GenesisRobles-u5z]

the belldam is a spider like demen which from hell

[@pibawww]

well amanda isnt a real medium, shes been proved to be fake