How Coraline Imparts Real-Life Lessons (2024)

Despite its often innocuous appearances, stop-motion animation isn't just intended for kids. This time-intensive and intensely creative form of storytelling pulls viewers deep into impeccably designed imaginative universes. Audiences come face-to-face with not only clay interpretations of people and detailed dioramas of different settings, but also quirky creatures and monstrous antagonists as well. This unique sense of memorability is often responsible for the way these films seem to stick in our minds for years to come.

Coraline is one of the most cherished stop-motion films in recent history, and it's received this reputation for several good reasons. The titular character comes across a strange hidden door in the wall of her new apartment, opening up to a brighter and more beautiful interpretation of her life that conceals dark secrets. Although the film is promoted towards children, audiences and critics tend to agree that it's not internally as happy-go-lucky as it may look. A review from Empire called it "as creepy as it is charming," yet "a true horror movie." Coraline enchants viewers with important epiphanies as interpreted through the eyes of a brave young girl facing scary circ*mstances.

Family Relationships: True Love vs. Transactional Love

From the start of the film, it's clear that Coraline and her parents are disconnected from one another. She marches to the beat of her own drum and finds ways to push their buttons as they continue their grueling work-from-home grind after moving to Pink Palace Apartments. They seem much too busy for her antics, sighing and hurrying around as she tries to get their eyes fixated on what should be their main priority – her. As soon as she enters the Other World through the little door in her wall, which quite literally exists in her dreams, it's apparent to Coraline that this family is extremely different from the one she knows. Coraline's Other Family, puppeteered by her Other Mother, lives and breathes to please her and make her smile, something she's been yearning for.

But of course, it's revealed that the Other Mother wants Coraline to stay with her forever, and pressures her to let her sew buttons into her eyes. This condition opens up a toxic idea: "If you really love me, you'll do this for me." Thankfully, Coraline realizes that this isn't what actual love looks like. As a CNN review of the film reads, "Any parent will immediately recognize that this "other mother" and "other father" are too good to be true." After she sees that her real parents are trapped, she knows her duty is to rescue them and reunite her real family at all costs. She fights for this more genuine version of familial affection, despite the occasional arguing and demanding schedules that any family can get absorbed in.

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The Impact of Individuality

Coraline's unique personality sparkles amidst the darkness of the devolving world around her, especially as things start to intensify in the Other World. Dakota Fanning's voice acting gives life to this character, capturing the petulance of a girl that age from the perspective of someone currently in that phase of life. Coraline's brightly colored fashion staples, like her loud yellow raincoat and her blue bobbed hair, are visual proof of her individualism. During one scene, while she and her mother are shopping for school clothes, Coraline circles around her, waving to get her mom's eyes on her and the striped pair of orange gloves she's found. "The whole school's going to wear boring gray clothes," she begs. "No one will have these."

Coraline's one-of-a-kind spirit is what drives her to save her parents and put a stop to the Other Mother's evil reign. Besides the direction of the cat and Wybie's limited involvement, it's really up to her to play the Other Mother's games until she can free her true family from her clutches. And making this choice is what empowers Coraline the most. By deciding that she wants her real life back, she steps into the most courageous version of herself, growing up a bit in the process while still staying true to the fiery personality she's always been.

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The Grass Isn’t Always Greener

Coraline always seems to be longing for something better than her current situation, a common complaint found within many coming-of-age stories. When she first moves into her new home at Pink Palace Apartments, she misses her old life and friends back in Michigan, adding a new level of frustration to her already brash persona. The Other World appears to be a perfect, mirrored version of her problems: a place where her parents love and pay attention to her; her external surroundings are beautiful and exciting, and her old friends talk to her through their picture frame. Why would she ever want to leave?

For Coraline to learn that things aren't as beautiful as they appear, things have to turn ugly before she truly understands. She internally seems to realize that what she already has isn't all bad; in fact, it's much better than the alternative, which is to be held captive by a spider-woman with button eyes for eternity. Once this turn of the story occurs, she quickly realizes what she has to fight for – the imperfect, "boring" reality that she was already living in. Many people in the real world never really learn this lesson until it happens to them personally, and Coraline offers his opportunity by giving viewers a front-row seat to this form of growth.