The Other Mother
| The Other Mother | |
|---|---|
| Coraline character | |
| First appearance | Coraline (2002) |
| Created by | Neil Gaiman |
| Based on | Witches and changlings from children's literature |
| Adapted by | Henry Selick (for film) |
| Designed by | Georgina Hayns, Deborah Cook, Brian McLean, and Tadahiro Uesugi (for film) |
| Voiced by | Teri Hatcher |
| Information | |
| Alias | The Beldam |
| Gender | Female |
| Significant other | The Other Father |
| Origin | The Other World |
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The Other Mother, also known as the "Beldam," is a fictional character created by English author Neil Gaiman, appearing in the 2002 children's novella Coraline, and the 2009 film of the same name. She is the primary antagonist of both works and is depicted as a supernatural, shapeshifting entity who inhabits an alternate world accessed through a mysterious door in Coraline Jones's home. The Other Mother initially takes the form of an idealized version of Coraline's mother, attempting to win Coraline's affection by creating a more exciting and attentive version of her ordinary life. Her most recognizable physical characteristic is a pair of black buttons in place of eyes, which distinguish her from Coraline's real mother. In both mediums, she is referred to as the "beldam" by other characters, a term associated with an old woman or witch. In the film by Henry Selick, she is voiced by Teri Hatcher.
In the story, After Coraline and her parents move into the Pink Palace Apartments, Coraline discovers a locked door that initially appears to lead to a bricked-up passage. When the passage later opens, it leads to an alternate version of the house inhabited by The Other Mother and The Other Father. The Other Mother has constructed this world as a distorted replica of Coraline's own, altering its inhabitants and surroundings to make it appear more entertaining and appealing to her. She provides Coraline with elaborate meals, games, gifts, and attention that Coraline feels are lacking from her relationship with her busy parents. Her apparent generosity, however, is intended to persuade Coraline to remain in the alternate world permanently. The Other Mother's treatment of Coraline consequently shifts from affectionate and inviting to increasingly controlling and threatening when Coraline refuses to accept her conditions. The Other Mother is portrayed as increasingly monstrous as her attempts to control Coraline fail. In the novella, her physical appearance becomes progressively less human, while the film depicts her transformation into a tall, skeletal, spider-like creature. Her changing appearance has been associated with her gradual revelation as a predatory figure rather than the maternal character she initially pretends to be. The character's design also incorporates recurring imagery of buttons, dolls, spiders, needles, and webs, which contribute to the story's themes of deception, confinement, and the loss of individual identity.
The Other Mother has received unanimous praise from literacy and film critics for her distinctive design, unsettling characterization, and role as a subversion of the traditional maternal figure. Her character has also been examined in relation to fairy tale depictions of evil mothers and the themes of childhood fear, parental relationships, and the tension between an idealized fantasy and reality. The character has been the subject of literary and cultural analysis, particularly in relation to the representation of mothers and witches in children's literature. Scholars have connected the Other Mother to the tradition of the evil mother or stepmother found in fairy tales, as well as to the concept of the monstrous feminine. Other interpretations have focused on The Other Mother's role as a distorted counterpart to Coraline's real mother, initially embodying an idealized form of maternal attention before becoming a source of control and danger.
Storyline
Novel
The Other Mother first appears after Coraline Jones discovers a mysterious door in the drawing room of the Pink Palace Apartments. The door normally leads to a brick wall separating Coraline's flat from the empty flat next door. After Coraline unlocks the door while her parents are away, however, she finds that the wall has disappeared and has been replaced by a long passage leading to another version of the Pink Palace. There, she encounters a woman who looks like her mother but has black buttons in place of eyes. The woman introduces herself as Coraline's "other mother" and tells her to find her "other father." The Other Mother has created a replica of Coraline's home and fills it with exaggerated versions of familiar people and objects. Unlike Coraline's real parents, The Other Mother and Other Father give Coraline considerable attention and prepare food that she enjoys. The Other World also contains animated toys, a theatrical performance by the Other Miss Spink and Miss Forcible, and a mouse circus performed by The Other Mr. Bobinsky Coraline initially finds the Other World more exciting than her own. The Other Mother eventually offers Coraline the opportunity to remain there permanently, but only if Coraline allows buttons to be sewn over her eyes. Coraline refuses and returns through the passage to her own home.
After returning home, Coraline discovers that her parents have disappeared. She initially searches for them throughout the house before discovering, with the help of a black cat, that they have been imprisoned by The Other Mother. Coraline sees their reflections inside a mirror, where they appear to be trapped and communicate a message asking for help. Realizing that The Other Mother is responsible for their disappearance, Coraline decides to return to the Other World despite her fear. When Coraline confronts The Other Mother, she refuses to accept the explanation that her parents have abandoned her. The Other Mother becomes increasingly hostile toward Coraline and attempts to prevent her from leaving. After Coraline challenges her, The Other Mother imprisons her in a small, dark space behind a mirror. There, Coraline encounters the ghosts of three children who were previously captured by The Other Mother. The children refer to The Other Mother as the "Beldam" and explain that she had previously lured them into her world, persuaded them to accept buttons in place of their eyes, and eventually abandoned them after losing interest in them. Their souls remain trapped in The Other Mother's world, preventing them from moving on. They ask Coraline to find the lost pieces of their souls and free them. The Other Mother eventually releases Coraline from behind the mirror and proposes that she remain in the Other World. Coraline instead challenges The Other Mother to a game. Coraline proposes that if she can find the souls of the three ghost children and locate her missing parents, The Other Mother must allow all of them to leave. If Coraline loses, she agrees to remain with The Other Mother and allow buttons to be sewn over her eyes. The Other Mother accepts the terms of the challenge.
Coraline searches the Other Mother's world for the three souls. With the assistance of the lucky adder stone given to her by Miss Spink and Miss Forcible, she discovers that the children's souls have been hidden in different parts of the Other World. The Other Mother attempts to obstruct Coraline throughout the search, transforming the replicas of the familiar residents and environments into increasingly threatening versions of themselves. Coraline nevertheless finds all three souls. After Coraline completes the challenge, the ghost children warn her that The Other Mother is unlikely to honor the agreement. Coraline therefore devises a plan to escape with her parents and the key to the passage between the two worlds. She tells The Other Mother that she believes her parents are trapped in the passageway behind the door. The Other Mother, unable to resist proving Coraline wrong, opens the door. Coraline then uses the opportunity to throw the black cat at her, seize the snow globe containing her parents, and flee through the passage. As Coraline closes the door behind her, The Other Mother's hand becomes trapped on the other side and is severed when the door closes. Coraline escapes to her own home with the snow globe and the key. Coraline's parents are subsequently returned to the real world, although they have no memory of their imprisonment.
The three ghost children later appear to Coraline in a dream and tell her that The Other Mother's hand has escaped into the real world. They warn that it will attempt to recover the key to the passage and reopen the door. Coraline realizes that she must prevent the hand from reaching the key. Coraline takes the key to an old, deep well near the house. She uses a picnic as a distraction and places the key near the covered opening of the well. The Other Mother's severed hand follows Coraline and attempts to take the key, but falls through the covering and into the well. Coraline then ensures that the key and the hand remain at the bottom of the well, preventing The Other Mother from reopening the passage between the worlds.
Film
The Other Mother is first introduced through a button-eyed doll resembling Coraline Jones. The doll is secretly controlled by The Other Mother, allowing her to observe Coraline and learn about her life before attempting to lure her into the Other World. After Coraline moves into the Pink Palace Apartments, she receives the doll from Wybie Lovat, who found it among his grandmother's belongings. The doll eventually leads Coraline toward the small door in her family's apartment.
Later that night, after Coraline enters the Other World, she meets The Other Mother, who initially appears identical to Coraline's real mother but has black buttons instead of eyes. She introduces Coraline to the Other Father and shows her a version of the Pink Palace that has been recreated to be more exciting and entertaining. The Other Mother provides Coraline with elaborate meals, games, and attention, while the Other Father and the other residents of the Other World are designed to make Coraline feel welcome. In the following nights, The Other Mother eventually asks Coraline to stay permanently and have buttons sewn over her eyes. Coraline refuses, causing The Other Mother to become increasingly hostile toward her. After Coraline rejects her offer, The Other Mother begins to morph into a tall, spider-like creature, and traps Coraline behind a mirror, where she encounters the ghosts of three children who had previously been captured by her. The children explain that The Other Mother had lured them into the Other World and eventually trapped their souls. With the help of Other Wybie, Coraline escapes and returns to the real world, only to discover that The Other Mother has captured her parents as well.
With the help of the cat and an adder stone given to her by April Spink and Miriam Forcible, Coraline returns to the Other World and challenges The Other Mother to a game. If Coraline can find the souls of the three children and rescue her parents, The Other Mother must let them go. Coraline searches the Other World and recovers the three children's eyes while discovering that her parents have been imprisoned inside a snow globe. As Coraline succeeds, The Other World's appearance begins to deteriorate. The Other Mother abandons her human appearance and transforms into a tall, skeletal, spider-like creature. Coraline manages to retrieve the snow globe and escape through the door to the real world. She closes the door behind her, trapping The Other Mother's hand on the other side. The Other Mother, however, continues to threaten Coraline after her hand escapes into the real world. The hand follows Coraline and attempts to recover the key to the door. With Wybie's help, Coraline defeats the hand and throws it, along with the key, into an old well.
Reception
The Other Mother has generally been regarded as one of the most effective elements of Neil Gaiman's novel. Contemporary reviews emphasized the character's ability to appear familiar while remaining deeply unsettling. In a post by The Guardian, Philip Pullman described The Other Mother as “sinister” and found the matter-of-fact way she introduces herself to Coraline both disarming and terrifying.[1] He also praised Gaiman's decision to leave the character's exact nature and origins mysterious, arguing that the story's ambiguity allows for multiple interpretations rather than providing a single explanation for her existence.[1][2] The New Yorker also described The Other Mother's world as an idealized version of Coraline's own home, praising Gaiman's emphasis on the idea that the apparent comfort is ultimately an illusion.[3]
Anita L. Burkam, reviewing the novel for The Horn Book Magazine, praised the story's frightening imagery and described its danger as convincing, but argued that The Other Mother's identity and motivations could have been given more development. Burkam specifically noted that the novel provides little explanation for what the Other Mother actually is or why she has established herself in Coraline's home. Despite this, she considered the danger posed by the character effective within the story.[4]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Pullman, Philip (2002-08-31). "The other mother". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
- ↑ Gaiman, Neil. "Neil Gaiman's Journal". Retrieved 2026-10-06.
- ↑ Goodyear, Dana (2010-01-17). "Neil Gaiman Writes Horror for Everyone". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
- ↑ Burkam, Anita L. "Neil Gaiman Criticism: Review of Coraline - Anita L. Burkam - eNotes.com". eNotes. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
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