’Coraline’: Book vs. Film

Welcome to the twentieth day of my daily October posts! Throughout these next 12-days, I will be posting different spooky fun facts, tricks and treats. I have been SOOOO excited to make this post!! Today, I will be pointing out the differences between Neil Gaiman’s novel, Coraline (2002) and Henry Selick’s stop-motion animated film, Coraline (2009). Enjoy!

• The Genre - For starters, the book is significantly more horrifying and scary than the film. The film portrays the story from an artistic and rather spirited perspective, whereas the book is something more sinister in its entirety.

• The Door - The door in the film is rather large compared to the door in the book. Gaiman’s door is similar to Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865) rabbit hole-size. This makes it impossible for anyone larger than a child to enter through it. In the film, the door is quite large—it reminds me of an entrance to a small attic.

• The Lovat Family - The Lovat family—a.k.a. Wybie and his grandmother do not exist in the book! Selick, upon making the film, realized that Coraline spoke to herself quite often and needed something or someone to fill in that role. Thus, Wybie was created! Although there are some sinister aspects of the Lovat family... For one, the grandmother’s twin sister is placed into the story as one of the ghost children that fell victim to the Beldam. This causes Wybie’s grandmother—who owns the Pink Palace, to set a rule that no one can rent a place in the home if they have children. However, she dismisses this rule to allow the Jones family to stay there. Most Coraline (2009) lovers—this writer included, believe that she did this to ensure that the Beldam did not take Wybie, but used Coraline as a sacrifice instead—VERY DARK!

• Coraline’s Personality - Coraline in the book and Coraline from the film are almost two separate characters entirely! Coraline from the book is a steady, rather mature and level-headed character. She is also respectful toward her elders which we do see in both the film and the novel. Whereas Coraline from the film is portrayed as feisty, witty and at-times can be quite mean. However, she does make it up to the characters that she wasn’t the nicest to… a.k.a. Wybie, in the end! I think that Selick did this to ensure the goal of her character development throughout the film which was wonderfully reached.

• Coraline’s Relationship With Her Parents - In the film, Coraline’s parents seem to be neglectful of her, but in the book they are actually not that bad. In fact, they are just busy parents trying their best to give their young daughter the space and time she needs for her own creativity and imagination to grow! A child would not understand the impact of this privacy until they are grown—which is obviously showcased throughout the novel.

• Coraline’s Appearance - Coraline is small for her age with long black hair that falls over her hazel eyes. She is pale in complexion and usually wears a blue coat with the hood up, yellow Wellington boots, and a red scarf. In the film, she has short blue-dyed hair—originally light brown, and has a freckled face. She wears a yellow rain coat pairing with her iconic Wellingtons and a dragonfly hair clip.

• The Ghost Eyes - There are no technical “ghost eyes” in the novel. Unlike in the film, Coraline is tasked with finding the ghosts’ souls. Specifically, the ghost eyes seem to be a representation of their souls in the film—most likely to keep it light.

• The Theater Dogs’ Monologue - Within the film, the dogs are silent—besides their “never-ending yapping”, but in the novel they have their own monologue. Unfortunately, the film prioritizes barking dogs over speaking dogs. 🤷‍♀️

• The Fear Factor of The Beldam's Creations - In the film, the other father tries to help Coraline escape. However, in the book, as he is one of the Beldam’s creations, he is also quite sinister. Their fight takes place in the cellar rather than the garden which is just eerie in itself. The other father was trapped there as punishment from the Beldam as he slips up on his words—similar to the movie, and gives Coraline accidental clues. He turns into a monstrous bread-like beast with button eyes. Upon finding him in the cellar, Coraline outwits him and removes his button eyes—ultimately killing him and freeing the ghost children’s souls.

• The Beldam’s Appearance - From the first meeting with the other mother, Coraline realizes that she is off (uncanny valley, anyone?) compared to her actual mother. The other mother looks similar to Mrs. Jones, but is taller, thinner, with a pale complexion, black hair that moves on its own and red nails—rather than just the button eyes and red nails from the film. Coraline’s distrust of the Beldam is there from the start of the novel due to this.

Honorable mention: The Different Endings - In the film, Coraline is informed by the ghost childrens’ spirits that the Beldam’s hand is loose in her world searching for the key to the door. Coraline then goes to the well to dispose of the key, but is attacked by the Beldam’s hand and is saved by Wybie—cementing their friendship! However, in the book, Coraline is aware of the Beldam’s hand on the loose in her world at the start. She sets a trap to catch it which adds to her intelligence and character development. She creates a picnic scene, laying the key in the middle over the old well. When the Beldam’s hand finds it, it falls into the well with the key to be trapped for all eternity.

Thank you for reading and make sure to come back for tomorrow's post!

Sincerely,

        your 21st century poet <3