#coraline analysis

[squeakintothevoid]

I love your post! It got me thinking...

The cat is so sure of its identity that it doesn't need a name. This secure sense of self probably helps it be a good guide to Coraline, being like her witch's familiar. I wonder if the cat ever uses names. (I've only seen the movie). It calls Coraline "you people." Maybe it doesn't use names because it's wise enough to see others as they really are, like the mice that were actually rat spies.

The cat also knows a lot about the other world and can move between the worlds at will. It's kind of a representation of clairvoyance. It doesn't have button eyes either, it can see things clearly.

The cat is kind of like Coraline's sense of inner knowing in a way, popping up around her when she needs it. It also can't talk in the real world, the same way our inner selves are masked to others by an outer ego, our outer egos being the part of us that has a name. The Jungian inner self is also called the anima, or shadow, which lines up well with a black cat.

In Coraline, there’s a recurring theme with names and identity, and I personally don't think it's talked about enough. 

(As a note, this is dealing largely with the book, not the movie, although there are some hints of this theme in the movie as well)

Coraline’s neighbors constantly get her name wrong, calling her “Caroline” and not “Coraline”, to which she persistently corrects them. Despite her attempts, they never get it right, until chapter 10, in which Mr Bobo (Mr Bobinsky) finally gets it right.

"It's Coraline, Mister Bobo," said Coraline. "Not Caroline. Coraline." "Coraline," said Mr Bobo, repeating her name to himself with wonderment and respect. "Very good, Coraline."

It should be noted that, until this chapter, Coraline did not know Mr Bobo’s name either. In fact, it had never even occurred to her that he had a name. Up until then, she had just been thinking of him as “the crazy old man upstairs”, not as a person with a name. This moment, with her learning his name and him getting her name right, is a moment of genuine understanding and connection between the two, humanizing them both to each other.

Coraline’s other neighbors get her name wrong, which is representative of them not listening when she says anything, really, such as her telling Miss Spink and Forcible that her parents are missing and them literally not even acknowledging it at all??

"How are your dear mother and father?" asked Miss Spink. "Missing," said Coraline. "I haven't seen either of them since yesterday. I'm on my own. I think I've probably become a single child family." "Tell your mother that we found the Glasgow Empire press clippings we were telling her about. She seemed very interested when Miriam mentioned them to her." "She's vanished under mysterious circumstances," said Coraline, "and I believe my father has as well." "I'm afraid we'll be out all day tomorrow, Caroline lovely," said Miss Forcible. "We'll be staying with April's niece in Royal Tunbridge Wells."

Mr Bobo gets her name right after being corrected (only after being corrected alongside her using his name, mind you, showcasing her making an effort to listen to and understand him as well), which is representative of him actually making an attempt to listen and understand her. This point is further illustrated by a conversation Coraline had with the Other Mr Bobo in chapter 10.

As Coraline entered he began to talk. "Nothing's changed, little girl," he said, his voice sounding like the noise dry leaves make as they rustle across a pavement. "And what if you do everything you swore you would? What then? Nothing's changed. You'll go home. You'll be bored. You'll be ignored. No one will listen to you, not really listen to you. You're too clever and too quiet for them to understand. They don't even get your name right."

He equates those in the real world not getting Coraline’s name right with them not listening to her, and fundamentally not understanding who she is. So, somebody getting her name right, then, shows them actually listening to her, and being willing to understand who she is.

The mice in the real world know more than they should be able to know, and they also get Coraline’s name right.

"The message is this. Don't go through the door." He paused. "Does that mean anything to you?" "No," said Coraline. The old man shrugged. "They are funny, the mice. They get things wrong. They got your name wrong, you know. They kept saying Coraline. Not Caroline. Not Caroline at all."

They seem to know about the other world, somehow, on some level, and the dangers it presents. Them getting her name right represents them knowing more than they should know, more than they are told. Animals in general seem to have this type of quality in Coraline, actually.

The cat does not have a name. It says so in chapter 4, that cats do not need names. It says that this is because cats know who they are. But humans need names, because they do not.

"Please. What's your name?" Coraline asked the cat. "Look, I'm Coraline. OK?" The cat yawned softly, carefully, revealing a mouth and tongue of astounding pinkness. "Cats don't have names," it said. "No?" said Coraline. "No," said the cat. "Now, you people have names. That's because you don't know who you are. We know who we are, so we don't need names."

The cat shook its head. "No," it said. "I'm not the other anything. I'm me." It tipped its head on one side; green eyes glinted. "You people are spread all over the place. Cats, on the other hand, keep ourselves together. If you see what I mean."

This shows that, in humans, names are connected to our identities and who we are. Names are used to individualize and distinguish ourselves from each other. But cats do not need names to recognize each other, or be recognized.

"Oh. It's you," she said to the black cat. "See?" said the cat. "It wasn't so hard recognising me, was it? Even without names."

With or without names, it is still the same cat.

During the Other Miss Spink and Forcible’s performance, in chapter 4, they begin quoting Shakespeare. The specific quotes that they use are interesting to me when looked at under this lens of the importance of names, especially Miss Forcible’s.

"What's in a name?" asked Miss Forcible. "That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."

"I know not how to tell thee who I am," said Miss Spink to Miss Forcible.

Now, of course, this is just them quoting Shakespeare. But. Why these quotes specifically? They’re at the very least notable when discussing Coraline’s recurring theme of names. Especially the quote about the rose. It makes me think of what the cat said earlier, about how cats are sure of who they are so they don’t need names, about how Coraline didn’t need the cat’s name to be able to recognize it for who/what it was.

But, of course, this does not apply for humans. We need our names to be able to know ourselves, to be able to tell others who they are.

In chapter 6, Coraline wakes up and is disoriented. This disorientation is compared to the feeling one might experience upon being suddenly pulled out of a daydream. In this comparison, forgetting one’s name is equated with forgetting who one is and where one is.

Sometimes Coraline would forget who she was while she was daydreaming that she was exploring the Arctic, or the Amazon rainforest, or darkest Africa, and it was not until someone tapped her on the shoulder or said her name that Coraline would come back from a million miles away with a start, and all in the fraction of a second have to remember who she was, and what her name was, and that she was even there at all. Now there was the sun on her face, and she was Coraline Jones. Yes.

The ghost children have also forgotten their names, and with it most of who they were. In chapter 7, when Coraline is locked behind the mirror in the Other World, one of the ghost children says that names are the first things that one forgets after death.

"Who are you?" whispered Coraline. "Names, names, names," said another voice, all faraway and lost. "The names are the first thing to go, after the breath has gone, and the beating of the heart. We keep our memories longer than our names. I still keep pictures in my mind of my governess on some May morning, carrying my hoop and stick, and the morning sun behind her, and all the tulips bobbing in the breeze. But I have forgotten the name of my governess, and of the tulips too." "I don't think tulips have names," said Coraline. "They're just tulips." "Perhaps," said the voice sadly. "But I have always thought that these tulips must have had names. They were red, and orange-and-red, and red-and-orange-and-yellow, like the embers in the nursery fire of a winter's evening. I remember them."

The ghost children may have their memories, but they have largely forgotten who they were. They may remember their tulips, and certain strong memories, but there is very, very little left of them, and they have forgotten who they once were, they have forgotten their names.

"That is why we could not leave here, when we died. She kept us, and she fed on us, until now we're nothing left of ourselves, only snakeskins and spider-husks. Find our secret hearts, young mistress."

"She will take your life and all you are and all you care'st for, and she will leave you with nothing but mist and fog. She'll take your joy. And one day you'll awake and your heart and soul will have gone. A husk you'll be, a wisp you'll be, and a thing no more than a dream on waking, or a memory of something forgotten."

The Other Mother stole their hearts and their souls and their selves. She stole who they were away from them, their identities and names and the names of those they loved, leaving nothing in her wake.

The same ghost that talked about the tulips and the names of the tulips struggles to answer when Coraline asks their gender, as well, and when they do eventually give an answer they seem somewhat unsure of it, as shown by the word choice of “perhaps” and “I believe”

"A boy, perhaps, then," continued the one whose hand she was holding. "I believe I was once a boy." And it glowed a little more brightly in the darkness of the room behind the mirror.

(I personally take this quote, specifically it "glow[ing] a little more brightly" after coming to this conclusion, to mean either that the ghost is happy at realizing that he was once a boy, or even to mean that he has become somewhat more tangible upon this realization; upon remembering something about his self, and his identity.)

As an aside, it's noteworthy to me that we never learn the Other Mother’s true name. She is simply “The Other Mother” and “The Beldam.” Never is an actual name applied to her, only titles. We do not truly know who, or what, she is. Beings without names are shrouded in mystery (or should i say mist-ery). The ghost children are benevolent mysterious beings, the cat is an ambivalent-leaning-helpful mysterious being, and the other mother is a distinctly malevolent mysterious being.

"Who are you?" asked Coraline. "I'm your other mother," said the woman.

"She?" "The one who says she's your other mother," said the cat. "What is she?" asked Coraline. The cat did not answer, just padded through the pale mist beside Coraline.

But in conclusion, names in Coraline are extremely important. I’m sure there’s probably more that I'm missing, and feel free to add onto this, but basically—

People need names to know and remember who they are, and forgetting one’s name is the first step to losing the rest of who one is. Names humanize a person; with a name, they are less shrouded in mystery, more clear.

Knowing somebody's name helps one connect to and better understand that person; it is the first step in getting to know them and see them as a full person, the transition from “the crazy man upstairs” to “Mr Bobo”. Names, to people at least, are one of the fundamental building blocks of who we are.

[soulsoffairlight]

Can we talk about how they would be good friends rq

- Both of them had a false perspective of their parents that scared them off. (Raz believing that his dad hated all Psychics and looked down upon him, Coraline believing her parents don't care.)

- Both of them have a foggy relationship with their family. (Raz believes he's a disgrace to his entire family, Coraline doesn't feel like her parents care.)

- Both of them face an evil version of at least one of their parents. (The Evil version of Augustus we see in Raz's mind at the end of Pscyhonauts can be compared to Coraline's Other Mother.)

- Both of them run away from their family in one way or another. (Coraline escapes into the Other World, Raz runs away from the circus.)

- Both of them feel they don't fit in at their 'homeplace' (Coraline feels like the community at the pink palace is extremely boring, Raz doesn't feel destined in the family circus)

- Both of them experience an alternate universe of some type that they need to fight through. (Raz goes through all sorts of minds that he needs to fight through in order to save the world, and Coraline needs to fight through the Other World to get the real world back.)

- Both of them are resourceful and creative problem solvers. (They both think outside of the box with their areas of expertise.)

- Both of them have some sort of odd companion that helps them navigate. (Coraline has the talking cat, and Raz has Ford Cruller (at least in the first game.))

- Both of them have someone who has a crush on them theyre uncertain about at first but come to like later, whether or not that means actually getting together with them. (Coraline and Wybie, Raz and Lili.)

- Both of them are sharp witted and well humored, often lightening tough situations with humor and having clever comebacks. (They are both BADASS and ICONIC and POP OFF)

- Both of them were forced to fend for themselves in a world where everyone but themselves and their companion disappeared. (Everyone from the Real World disappeared in Coraline, while in Psychonauts, everyone but Raz had their brain stolen.)

- Both of them end up rescuing fellow children from an evil force. (Interesting to point out that they are both returning a vital organ to these children: Coraline returns the eyes of the ghost children while Raz returns the stolen brains to the Whispering Rock campgoers.)

- Both of them get traumatized as shit. (The events in both Coraline and Psychonauts likely had some sort of long term affects for them.)

- the Psychonauts art style is reminiscent of the Tim Burton style (need i explain this?)

- The two medias they're from share a similar aesthetic.

[santacoppelia]

I just finished reading Neverwhere, and I’m about to fall into an intertextuality rabbit hole through Neil Gaiman’s tropes, themes and phrases.

Don’t wait me up, children. This is going to take some time.

I’ll just say that I've just read about an angel living in a trendy district with antique shops and places to eat, who is named after a place, who drinks a very fancy wine… And he is a perfect bastard who loves old music. If you haven’t read or listened to Neverwhere, you don’t need any more spoilers.

No. Not a single thought in my head, really. I won’t spoil anything more. I guess that I’ll spend part of my “birthday holiday” writing this (and reading some more stuff, obviously).

[poetslore]

Things I noticed on my most recent “Coraline” rewatch: part 1

1. THE COMPUTERS: at the beginning of the movie we see that Coraline’s parents are ignoring her for their work, more specifically a gardening catalog they have been working on. That’s when I notified the computers. Coraline’s mother has a lap top, it appears to be brand new mostly because around the time this movie was made laptops were just becoming popular, while Coraline’s father has a 90s style box computer, he even appears to be using an older program to write his section of the catalog. How I interpreted this is that Coraline’s mother seems to be more sophisticated or materialistic. We see that she dresses far nicer than her husband and of course the Lap top. Coraline’s father is far more laid back, his clothes are messier and he seems to enjoy Coraline’s presence far more than her mother.

2. THE DOLL: the first night at the house, Coraline lies down in bed (the dinner transition) glanced at her poison ivy rash and then talks to the picture of the friends she left behind in Michigan, when the camera pans over we see that the doll is looking at Coraline as she lays on the bed, later, when Coraline wakes up at the sound of mouse, the doll is no longer looking at her, this is because the other mother is using the mouse to spy on Coraline and guide her, not the doll like she does during the day.

3. ONE NOTE PIANO: when Coraline first enters the other world she meets the other mother and she is then told to go fetch her other father who is in his study, for dinner. When Coraline enters the study we can see that the other father is tapping on a singular piano key, almost as if he’s in a trance, he had no purpose because Coraline isn’t around him, then about two or three seconds later he notices Coraline’s presence and acts giddy and excited and plays the “making up a song about Coraline” piece. I took this as the other mother “activating” the other father the second Coraline was near him.

4. NO FOOD?: the iconic dinner scene. On Coraline’s first night in the other world, the other mother cooks her an elaborate welcome dinner. During this dinner Coraline piles the food onto her plate (it’s appearance and likely taste is far better than her fathers tragic cooking in the real world) and then we see the other father, who also piles food onto his plate, but there’s one outlier here, the other mother. The other mother doesn’t pile food onto her plate, despite spending time on an elaborate dinner, which you’d then expect she’d want to feast on her labors, she sits there, her porcelain plate empty as she watches the others eat. I interpreted this in two way. First, the other mother is ancient, she doesn’t need to eat to survive. At least, she doesn’t eat food to survive, she eats the souls of children. Secondly, she is far more focused on Coraline, pleasing the blue-haired eleven year old girl and manipulating her rather than the food, and eating it like a regular “human being”

5. SMART COOKIE: once again this takes place during the dinner scene. Coraline has just received her welcome home cake when the other mother offers for them to play a game. At this point Coraline is growing a little suspicious for a number of reasons. She likely got a gut feeling that something a little malicious and uncanny was happening, the other mother and the other father knew she was coming based off of what the cake said (there’s no way they should’ve known she was coming, without magic of course), then the other mother asks to okay a game Coraline’s mother in the real world hate games. But we really see her first grow truly uncomfortable when the other mother taps her fingers against the table, something that Coraline’s real mother does quite frequently. It is clear that the other mother made this movement in an attempt to make Coraline feel comfortable, to make her feel like she was around her actual mother, but the girl doesn’t fall for it. She actually finds it strange and it just tacks into the pile of strangeness that has taken over the dinner. Then the lightning strikes after Coraline says there is no rain and at this point Coraline is deeply unsettled. She’s one smart cookie if you ask me.

6. “SEE YOU SOON”: despite the fact that Coraline showed extreme discomfort at dinner and on the way up to her bedroom the other mother and the other father say “see you soon” as she falls asleep. I interpreted this as: The other mother knew that the talking stuffed octopus and the chomping turtle wouldn’t convince Coraline something weird wasn’t going on there or wouldn’t ease that discomfort, but she did know that creating false versions (Coraline doesn’t know this) of Coraline’s “best trolls” aka her best friends from Michigan would comfort her and make her more open to coming back. She knew that Coraline would come back, she knew that she won this round simply based off of bringing Coraline’s “best trolls” to life.

This is where I stopped. I got tired lol. I will continue watching and update more on what I notice

[scarabjewels]

Why I Think Coraline Was NECESSARY To Be Published and Made into a Movie

I watched Coraline so many times, it's my top comfort film, beating Tim Burton Classics, White Chicks, and Jennifer's Body. I watched the trivia videos, theories, and analysis videos of this film, but two video dissections of it did caught my eye: CinemaTherapy's and Karsten Runquist.

I knew about predatory manipulation tactics, but I did not realize how ingrained that concept was in Coraline. I see now that this film SHOULD BE watched by the intended audience: children.

Remember how Coraline would've never been published if it weren't for Neil Gaiman's literary agent's daughter lying to her mom about the book not being scary?

Honestly, she and her mom deserve a lot of credit for making Coraline the cult following for the late millennials and early gen-z's.

Now, here's why I really thought Coraline should be exposed to children, and why made up horrifying tales of scaring children made sense before and even now (honestly, it is needed now more than EVER)

Let's start with the underlying concept of Coraline, explained by Runquist's video: The Coraline Bug Theory

I kinda do not want to sum up everything from this video essay as it is a GREAT watch on its own. But one thing I did get from the video that I clicked in my head regarding the film, the concept of control.

The Beldam, popularly known as The Other Mother, is a manipulative predator. The Other World is the manipulated reality she uses to lure the children in, the bugs and pests are "called upon to do impossible tasks" for her and her own tactics of training her victims into her control. She makes everything attractive that would keep the children and her servants in line so that when she asks for what she wants from them, they don't bat an eye.

The concept of control do not just exist in manipulative settings, even in the emotionally neglectful households.

Mel Jones, Coraline's mother, is the editor of both her and her husband's job, in the first 10 minutes of the film, Mel is revealed to have gotten into a little accident , therefore what looks like a comically large turtleneck to a child is a neck brace. Her family had just moved and is working over time on a deadline. The stress is unimaginable, and while I do think Mel is already a matriarch, keeping her family at bay, the added stress may have made her snarky attitude heightened. She is a ticking time bomb, quite sarcastic, childish, and for lack of better word, bitchy (even by the end).

Though we know Mel is trying her best and her and Coraline are actually quite close, as Coraline feels safe enough to share her stories with her family and is openly expressive with them, Mel embodies an actual mother of a matriarchal family, leading and in charge out of love (doesn't make some of her behavior excusable , though she isn't super controlling at all, she lashes out like an older sister that took over the family when mom is away, but anyone can empathise and sympathise)

Now for Other Mother, she is not exactly Mommy Dearest, or Black Swan Nina's mom, mostly because she is not a mother, at all.

She is a puppeteer, a showman, or a performer. She dazzles the audience with her magic (creating a too perfect textbook giving and loving mother), luring them into a false sense of security. She gives them everything they want, then once she had spoiled them enough, she asks of them a favour, an uncomfortable favour.

This is further dissected in CinemaTherapy's video of Coraline.

Manipulators and predators usually use that kind of tactic, indulging the victims, and then ask them something uncomfortable. The guilt tripping would come into play. Those favours they ask would be a reward for the manipulator and predator for indulging them.

And this is why children should be able to watch this unsettling flick, best with their parents too.

Parents should also be able to detect these, and learn with their child as they watch this.

(I want to delve into even more deeper topics related but I'm afraid it could be too triggering and just writing the paragraphs above is already unsettling me, so I will stop here)

Now, Coraline as the prey looking bug but actually a predator, and while she is not the role model for any kid, she is one person we can all learn from in these types of situations.

While Mel kind of represents a gardener, the one who maintains and keeps everything in check, the Beldam as obviously a spider, manipulating her web to be the suspecting beautiful trap, Coraline's motif is the dragon fly, an insect that is surprisingly aggressive and classified as an apex predator.

What I love about film Coraline is her strong will and absolute individuality. She is just as bitchy as Mel, FOR SURE, and also an independent thinker. She questioned everything about the other world, and while she gave into the glamour of the Other World, she detected danger as soon as the Beldam asked her to sew buttons in her eyes. She may have been lured, but she is smart enough not to fall into manipulation.

I do not remember if it was discussed in the Bug Theory about Coraline's bug motif, I may have read or heard it in another Coraline analysis/theorist video. I distinctly remember her dragonfly symbol to be a big part of why she escaped from the grasp of the Beldam. Unlike Coraline, the previous victims were significantly and successfully manipulated and did not dare question or challenge the Beldam as she gave them a "better life."

The Beldam preys on children with gloomy lives, her victims, the ghost children (in the film), have been theorised to have been taken in these years respectively: 1921 ( The Tall Ghost Girl) ,1936 (The Ghost Boy) , and 1960 (The Sweet Ghost Girl).

( Disclaimer: I am not American nor have extensive knowledge of American History, I am at most an average Google researcher and at best, an overthinker)

So, in the 1920s to 1930s, it was the era of The Great Depression, the "worst economic downturn in history" that resulted in the rise of unemployment and hardships for lower classes. It is easy to see just from that description that life in general was hard, The Tall Ghost Girl mentioned "treasures", may be alluding to desires of wealth, as at that time, it was what everyone needed so much that it crashed the economy.

1939 was the year the second world war erupted. I figured the ghost boy's situation in wanting a better life is pretty understandable. The Ghost Boy mentioned "treats" as the three told about what the other mother lured them with. Rations were provided for children during that time, my guess is that the boy's family must've cut down on how much they can eat, so that they are able to eat the following days ahead, and seeing that the boy is quite scrawny, he must've gone hungry a lot.

Please be warned that race will be lightly discussed in this section. In researching about the 1960s, racial discrimination and segregation are present heavily. The Sweet Ghost Girl was Ms. Lovat's twin, who is confirmed to be of African-American descent as well as her voice actress of the same race, she also stated to have grown up in the Pink Palace , now owning it. She had stated "games to play" as the Beldam's main thing to lure her. The environment and society in the 60s may have only limited her to play inside the house with her twin, or their situation must've not even allowed them to play like normal kids.

The Beldam was given opportunity with those years' depressing circumstances and took full advantage of it, as it resulted in gullible children.

Coraline may have been set around 2007, in that time, the global financial crisis rose, that later led to the Great Recession. Upon researching the cost of a house and an apartment in Oregon in 2007, which is where the film was set in, it was significantly better to rent than own a house in Oregon. However, a possible main reason relating to why they move mustve just because of their work, as I couldn't find much of Potiac, Michigan's economic state in 2007. The Jones parents were writers, and Mel is an editor as well, and just to note, a writer's strike occurred in 2007. I could not get a grasp of how much the income of writers was at this time. What I do know is that strike was the largest sign they weren't paid enough. So, writer's strike and financial crisis? The stress to make ends meet must've been so immense for those two.

What made Coraline different from the previous children , aside from her feisty personality, was because despite hardships going on, being her parents were stressed, neglectful, and struggling to make ends meet, Coraline has a good safe relationship with her parents as well as her environment, despite everything being boring. Nothing imposed as a direct source of a horrible life, her life was just stressful at the moment, like any other 11 year old going through a drastically far move away from home (e.g Riley from Inside Out).

I would really argue Coraline's curiosity is what made the Beldam's tricks work but it was Coraline's common sense, fast thinking and fighting spirit (albeit bitchy, hey her mom is a bitch too) that led to her triumph and escape.

I guess Coraline is one of the aspired final girls of horror films, a smart fighter.

Conclusion:

This modernized dark fairy tale had trained me to look out for people like the Other Mother, I am so glad to be able to take that lesson and ingrained it in my life. I did not exactly understand manipulation, but I knew that I should be more careful around too kind strangers.

Coraline is THE CULT CLASSIC OF ALL TIME, so far. Other than the major moral lesson, it is a great watch for its own, a good thriller: unsettling and just scary.

And remember to actually learn from these kinds of tales, for kids and adults and especially parents out there. Scoff or appreciate, look beyond the veil and behold it's message into you heart and mind.

Please.

[captain-crowfish]

earlier this year I woke up one morning and realized, the first four LAIKA films each have at least one scene of some sort of performance in them, and said scene can be interpreted as a metaphor for the entire story. In this essay I will...

[loveaetingkids]

Missing Link(2019):movie review 

(Contains minor spoilers)

As a big fan of Laika films I was excited to see their recent stop-motion work.But after finishing it I felt kinda…let down?To understand as to why I was dissatisfied with Missing Link I decided to divide my impression of this movie into pros and cons.

Pros:

Animation

Is anyone surprised that Missing Link has one of the most pleasing color palette to look at?Pacific Northwest,California,the boat,Himalayas-every new location has its own theme with it.This film also emphasizes the space of each place the mains go to, so the audience does not get the impression that everything happens in one room, but in the existing terrain.In other words the design here looks convincing and artistic.As for the characters-we can easily depict their personalities from the geometric shapes that they’re based upon,like triangles for the main character-who comes off as bold and charming,or circles for the Sasquatch-good-hearted and a bit oblivious .So yes,they rightfully won the Golden Globe Award for their animation alone.

Action scenes

Inspired by the adventures of Indiana Jones and Sherlock Homes,it would only make sense if this movie would include well-written fights and escapes.And they sure did!Keeping in mind that the cartoon is made in stop-motion,the ship chase or the ice bridge battle looks even more impressive.The choreography (I don't know if this term can be used for the non-human objects tho) is excellent, so instead of static shots, we see various dangerous situations the characters find themselves in,which glues the viewers to the screen.

Cons:

Jokes

Missing Link presents itself as an adventure comedy,but the jokes in it come off as iffy.The reason for it is that gags about blowing raspberries and making noises don't fit well with the story, which takes itself quite seriously. There is a dissonance: the funny insertions seem to be intended for a younger audience, while the story itself is for an older one.It looks like the film crew wanted to add some funny phases here and there to lighten up the mood,but it didn’t work out as planned.

The main character 

Despite Mr Link being the symbol of this cartoon,Sir Lionel Frost is the protagonist,since the conflict revolves around his want to be part of “Society of Great Men”.Based on James Bond and similar heroes,Frost fits into the “self-sophisticated but nonetheless good” trope. However, for the majority of the running time he is simply rude and changes his views at the end of the film just because his companion Adelina gave him a talk.The audience rarely sees Lionels positive side,instead we witness his disrespect for Susan and his numerous advances towards Adeline, who might I remind you,is the widow of his deceased friend, and who responded to his flirtations with a no until the boat chase.It would’ve been a good opportunity to condemn or humor his bad actions,but even through Sasquatch and Ms Fortnight point it out a few times,most of the things the main characters says either gets brushed off or is shown in the neutral light.It felt as though Frosts problematic behavior was ignored before making him suddenly compassionate to progress the plot.

Overall,this movie felt like the weakest among the Laika stop-motion works to me.It’s not exactly bad,but it can’t be compared to ParaNorman or Coraline.Missing Link is alright to watch a few times just for the animation and overall aesthetic of an old explorer films,but that’s it.

(What was your impression of the movie?Feel free to write in the comments section!)

[alluraaaa]

klunkllura (but they're all girls) + horror ^_^

GOOD QUESTION

allura loves horror. keith likes it. lance is neutral towards it. hunk hates it. allura wants to spend one of their weekly movie nights watching a horror movie and hunk is immediately like “nope can’t do that! i wanna be able to sleep tonight” and since keith and lance can’t not 1) pick sides and 2) disagree with each other (it’s flirting. somehow) they are immediately staring an argument. keith is with allura, lance is with hunk.

while keith and lance are getting way more passionate about it than you’d think they would, allura shuts them up and turns to hunk with her big brown eyes like “i won’t make you but if you do get scared we can cuddle you and run our hands through your hair until you feel better ^_^” which does work on hunk. and keith and lance are obviously down for that because duh.

but hunk still can’t and won’t watch anything scarier than like. jennifer’s body. they all find a happy middle ground by watching classic earth kid’s horror. allura loves coraline as much as you’d expect her to. keith is genuinely creeped out by what happens to wybie but is so so chill about it. lance notices keith’s full body shiver and laughs but only a little bit before demanding to sit in keith’s lap and hold him close. and of course even if it isn’t that scary they all watch out for hunk during and afterwards because anxiety/paranoia are the worst. (hunk contemplates watching a super scary movie to get attention because his girlfriends are really really sweet to him)

(send a ship + a word for a headcanon)

[castingmysilver]

.....huh. I hadn't fully realized before *how much* Horror Ends In Hope sings for me but... the catharsis of passing through the fire into softness and safety is... actually a very core part of my love towards Coraline (book AND movie versions, but separately as their own things), Madoka Magika (original core series, scared if expansion will change that; bonus feature ends on a Fierce Light note), and Pricker Boy (Reade Scott Whinnem YA book, very reread-bait for me but I'll never forget the rush of the first go round when I didn't know for certain yet); and even a tangential reason for how hard I've bonded with parts of Wayward Children (the first book from Nancy's angle, and Cora's arc in Where The Drowned Girls Go).

And oh *lordy* is it the pure shiny heart of The Big Ba-Ha, which was my first immersive, gasping, whirlwind introduction to CSE Cooney.

That's... a potentially useful thing to know about my taste.

[embracing-the-ineffable]

What a wonderful idea!! I hope the right people see your question! Good luck!

Hi Tumblr void!

Anyone any input on using Good Omens for lessons in school? Or The Graveyard Book? Or Coraline? Which age group is best for those books? I'd love to read a Neil Gaiman book with my class but I feel like I need more input to make a case for it with my boss... Any experience or tips you like to share will be appreciated! 😊

[goryhorroor]

What are essay videos of horror movie you watch

oh my god yes, i have like an entire collection of them on youtube

how media scares us: the work of junji ito

what are we afraid of? societal fears reflected in film

the art of texas chainsaw massacre: making daylight scary

the importance of horror (why horror movies don't suck)

the grunge & ringu: what makes japanese horror creepy?

the vvitch - art of terror

how horror movies for kids dominated in the 90s

the shining analysis - tension, atompshere & mystery

creating suspence in a horror films

the art of scream: horror logic done right

wolf creek: australia's most infamous horror movie

why cosmic horror is hard to make

color theory in horror movies

society and queer horror

horror theory: the uncanny valley

the childhood horror of coraline

control, anatomy, and the legacy of the haunted house

elements of horror - don't look

the girlboss-ification of the horror genre

elements of horror - how eyes are used in horror movies

thai horror is so underrated

the history of insane asylums and horror movies

slender man (2018): misunderstanding ten years of the internet

the true history that inspired folk horror (part 1)

the true history that inspired folk horror (part 2)

the true history that inspired folk horror (part 3)

the history and evolution of jump scares

the complete history of horror movies

[spookierdeer]

OL EUA YUGQ G XGOYOT OT MXGVK PAOIK, OZ ZAXTY OTZU G MXGVK. NGVVE NGRRUCKKT! 🎃⚠️

(costume talk and yapping under the cut)

starting from back to the front:

stan and ford are handing out candy this year, stan dressed in his vampire costume and planning to scare kids and ford is wearing a mabel (turtleneck!) pumpkin sweater, about as festive as he's willing to dress up this year. ford was originally planning to hole himself up in his lab and work on data analysis or whatever nerd shit he has going on but stan invites him to help scare the hell out of kids. ford declines initially, better things to do, but after checking to see how stan's doing (badly), ford decides to help by bursting out of the bushes with a glowing laser gun, face cloaked in shadow. it's more fun than he expects or admits and he eventually fully joins stan.

soos and melody are trick or treating in a couple costume, soos as zelda and melody as link. melody wanted to cosplay link for awhile and you cannot convince me soos wouldn't jump at the chance to dress up as a badass anime elf princess who can fire lasers.

mabel, pacifica, and waddles are dressed as utena, anthy, and chu chu respectively. i have a headcanon that post working at the diner and slowly getting used to normal kid things, pacifica discovers anime. specifically shojo princess anime. she finds utena and loses her mind over it in private, with mabel eventually breaking down her walls and getting her to admit to the sin of liking anime. mabel gets pacifica to show her her favorites and mabel immediately insists they need to cosplay as utena and anthy for halloween, pacifica is a princess after all! (said in jest, but baby gay panic ensues on pacifica's end. mabel is pretty oblivious to her plight and doesn't realize why being pacifica's knight makes her feel so giddy until later on.)

dipper sees pacifica joining mabel as an excuse to flake out on trick or treating without being a total jerk, especially since they'll be joined by candy and grenda later. i know he's working on not trying to grow up too fast by the end of the series, but kids and teens are full of anxiety and doubts and i figure he would be pretty awkward about a lot of things still, even after learning otherwise. wirt doesn't want to dress up since the previous halloween ended with him in the unknown then waking up in the hospital, but greg still wants to go trick or treating. dipper tags along to help babysit greg despite it not really being necessary, wirt's just glad to have someone to chat with while he takes greg, especially someone who doesn't leap to finding him strange. greg is going as a ghost elephant and wirt assumes it's just the weird kid tradition of layering costumes over the years, but greg's logic is that he "died" as an elephant last year so now the elephant is a ghost. if wirt heard this he would probably end up freaked out, but kids are often more aware of things than expected. dipper is wearing wendy's hat since she traded with him at the end of the series.

putting wirt and greg in there could feel a little random, but these are my two favorite shows to watch during autumn and i associate them with each other. plus, it's otgw's ten year anniversary and it's so perfectly halloween, i think it makes enough sense to put them together. idk i love joy and whimsy, i am cringe and i am free.

i initally wanted to include other characters, candy, grenda, and wendy for sure but i was also considering coraline, wybie, and norman. felt way too complicated so maybe i'll draw something with those characters some other time.

[angstandhappiness]

INTERESTING

i've never understood the coraline fan theory that the shot of the garden at the end of the movie shows that it was built to resemble the other mother's true face instead of coraline's face as it was in the other world, and that this somehow indicates that the other mother was once the human owner of the pink palace or is still out there somewhere or something

because like, the garden shown at the end of the movie is still very clearly the same as it was in the other world?? its still very clearly coraline's face

it has the greenhouse in the corner that makes up her dragonfly hairclip, it's got the side-part in her hair whereas the other mother's true form had center-parted hair, the cheekbones and chin aren't as sharp as they should be if they were supposed to resemble the other mother, and it even has tree planters on either side of the face that in the other world held the glowing red trees that made up the blush marks on the cheeks

also, here's a photo of other world garden set from the laika exhibit at the portland art museum that shows it from a similar angle as the real world garden at the end of the movie, which really highlights how its the exact same set

there's also a bunch of concept art (click to enlarge, sources in image descriptions) of the other world garden that support this, and a blog post from one of the concept artists that flat out confirms it

anyway i blame this popular but incorrect fan theory on that one youtube channel that first made this claim ages ago, and it's super annoying that it keeps getting regurgitated as an official piece of trivia despite being very obviously not true

[oneforthemunny]

that modern!steddie x reader has been so heavy on my mind since the ask yesterday...

18+ below minors dni.

like steve was your professor and now you're in a throuple. you, him, and his crazy roommate eddie or @/munsterc0ck as you and his 1.2M followers on tiktok knew him as.

you ran into professor harrington at the bar, he was young to be a professor, you had his film class- an elective your advisor said was an enjoyable one. and enjoyable, it was.

you'd had a few amaretto sours, a little bolder than you usually were. your friends were squealing and buzzing with excitement at seeing eddie munson- the guitar hottie on the app- out in public, all curly bangs and tattoos, sitting at the bar in black leather. it was a stark contrast to the khakis and polos that professor harrington wore next to him, still keeping up appearances even in the dingy bar.

your friends snickered, daring you to approach him, ask him for extra credit, and who were you to deny them? deny their cackles and secret recordings for their private snapchat stories. "for the story" was your motto, and a story was sure to follow.

"hi, professor harrington." you let every syllable roll off your tongue in a low purr, a little woozy and wobbly from your drinks.

amber eyes flicked over to you, a sheepish smile on his lips as he greeted you back. "what're you doing here? not doing your film analysis on a friday night?" he jested lightly.

you shook your head, giggling nervously. "nuh-uh, always save those for sunday. 'm a last second kinda girl. don't hold it against me." you rolled your lip between your teeth, biting back a grin at his flustered flush.

"procrastinating can be bad for ya, baby. pretty girl like you should know better." the munsterc0ck spoke up, dark irises that cast down on you in the most delicious way. the rasp in his voice, the tone- so masterful yet casual, it had your thighs clenching.

"yeah," professor harrington added. "you should enjoy the films I assign. want to watch them over and over and over." he grinned when you laughed, a little nasally and wobbly.

"yeah, stevie here puts a lot of thought and care into those movies. very snobby film critic you have." eddie rolled his eyes hard, dramatic, you laughed.

"I do like the movies, professor harrington." you batted your eyes, swiping your drink off the bar, tongue chasing the black straw. you hadn't meant for it to be seductive, but you weren't mad at the way that the two men straightened up, flushing a little.

"yeah? which one's been your favorite?" professor harrington steve pressed, leaning towards you with a dazzling smile that had your tummy flip flopping.

"hmmm," you thought, sipping your syrupy sweet drink, lips twisting around the straw in thought. "coraline is my all time favorite movie, like ever. so that one?"

eddie's grin widened into something primal and dark. the girl he'd been chatting to before glared daggers at you when he turned, his body and attention fully on you. "yeah? you like creepy things like that? wouldn't have ever guessed that from looking at you." eddie smirked.

you shrugged, flirty and bold. "shouldn't judge a book by it's cover. sometimes there’s more than meets the eye." you quoted steve's lecture on inception from weeks before. he beamed with pride. "isn't that right, professor harrington?"

you'd smiled at him so sweetly, he thought he was going to melt into the bar floor. the effects of the alcohol mixed with the blood rushing to his twitching cock, had steve leaning in. "you can call me steve when we're not in the classroom, baby." he growled lowly.

you could feel the heat climbing from your chest and creeping up your neck. his full lashes batting at you, while he patted the barstool between them. "what're you drinkin'? let eddie buy you a drink." steve grinned.

eddie snorted loudly, shaking his head, but flagged down the bartender anyways. the three of you chatted over overpriced cocktails, yelling over the loud blaring speakers that screamed megan thee stallion and y2k classics to keep the energy. you talked about movies, hometowns, roommates (which eddie and steve had been since they got out of high school). they'd went to college at the university, though eddie dropped out his first semester was kicked out you'd later find out. steve got a film studies degree, just to make his dad mad, finished with a minor in business. he went to graduate school for that, to satisfy his dad (you were starting to pick up a pattern), got offered a teaching job after his ta experience while he worked on his doctorate.

"soon he'll be dr. harrington." eddie purred, shoulder rubbing yours while he leaned into your ear. "isn't that fancy sounding?"

"I like the sound of that." you giggled, starry eyed and loose from the liquor. "dr. harrington does sound pretty sexy." you hadn't meant to blurt that out, the playful banter was teetering on the line of teasing all night, and you'd just crashed right over it.

you worried he'd reject you, and you weren't sure how you'd ever pass his class- be able to show your face from the embarrassment.

instead, you found yourself in the back of eddie's camaro, steve's hands roaming your frame while eddie drove, speeding through back roads to get back to their place.

even tipsy your heart hammered, the liquid courage the alcohol brought was draining your system as you sat on your knees, perched at the end of their bed. both men before you, cocks angry and erect while they stroked them- intimidatingly big the both of them. you blinked up at them, rounded pretty eyes that looked oh so adorable to them.

you found yourself, thighs pressed to your chest while steve fucked you, deep, long strokes that had you crying out. eddie hovered above you, letting his cock slip between your lips, gagging your screams and cries of pleasure while you sucked him, letting him spill down your throat.

it was the beginning of something new. something strange. something exciting.

the three of you, a relationship bewilderingly beautiful, thrilling and a little scandalous blossomed to light in steve's bedroom.

[loveaetingkids]

Box trolls or how to make a villain JK Rowling would approve of

Recently I rewatched Laikas stop-motion cartoon Boxtrolls-not my favorite per se,but it definitely has its own unique style.And just as when I started to get upset that this film was not popular, one character (or rather the way he was handled by film crew) changed my mind and I was glad that it did not reach public masses.

This guy.

Archibald Snatcher is the main antagonist who set out to destroy every troll to obtain the White Hat, despite knowing that these creatures are harmless.Using propaganda as a mean to turn locals against boxtrolls,he is ready to kill kids in order to get into cheese-loving club.So yeah,crazy man.What is interesting however,is how exactly he brainwashes Cheesebridge: and he does it by using his female persona Madame Frou Frou,who apparently charms the audience by made up stories about vicious trolls,all the while flirting with Lord Portley-Rind (who’s married and has a kid,yeesh) to be in his good graces and influence him into giving his White Hat.

The reason as to why the whole “Madame Frou Frou drag” is problematic is that in cartoon, the villain is the only character who uses drag or changes into feminine clothes,that way making him as “the other”and associating his negative traits with appearance.Also it was stated that Lord Portley-Rind was romantically interested in Frou Frou,the latter used that as an opportunity to spread the ideas about destruction of trolls.That way we are shown that the relationship with a person with non-traditional presentation is toxic,unhealthy and involves manipulation.And finally: it depicts a harmful narrative that a person with masculine physical traits in women's clothes necessarily dresses like this to achieve their goals by “deceiving” others.So for anyone who might get uncomfortable while watching this,I recommend to switch to the better stop-motion cartoon,like Wendell&Wild,which has really good trans rep.

[embracing-the-ineffable]

I say that all the time - being brave means to feel scared but to do it anyway - and I had no idea it was from Coraline! How lovely to find another place Neil Gaiman has touched my life.

Aziraphale’s decision is probably the hardest one he has to make. And he’s probably scared, and yet he does it anyway. Reminds me of this quote from Coraline:

When you are scared, but you do it anyway, that's brave.