ARCHIVE POST: Down the Rabbit Hole project: Coraline (2009)

NOTE JANUARY 2025: NEIL GAIMAN IS AN ABUSER, I WROTE THIS PIECE FAR BEFORE ANYONE KNEW. PLEASE READ THE SIDE OF NEIL GAIMAN HIS FANS NEVER SAW, BY LAUREN STARKE (TRIGGER WARNINGS APPLY)

NOTE: This is a piece comparing this film to the down the rabbit hole trope and Lewis Carroll’s Alice novels.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS AN ANALYSIS  OF THE 2009 FILM, NOT THE ORIGINAL NOVELLA.

ALSO, SPOILERS.

Coraline in relation to the Down the Rabbit Hole Trope

Where in the world do I begin with this?  

The film does conform to the archetype for the most part, with Coraline visiting the Other World and eventually being called upon to save her family. But what separates this film from its nearest cousin, Spirited Away (2001) is that whilst the Spirit World portrayed in that film is harsh and disorientating for the protagonist, the world that Coraline visits literally wants to entrap her. Yes, what we have here is one of the most darkest variants on this archetype. What really brings this home is that (unlike the novel) Coraline visits the Other World various times before it shows its true colours, and the Other Mother’s intentions are made clear. After that the film explores the dark undercurrent of the down the rabbit hole archetype. 

Coraline’s identity

Interestingly, all of the films I have looked at in this series of posts all seem to involve the protagonist loosing their identity. It is true of the archetype codifier, Carroll’s Alice novels, where Alice looses her identity twice in the two books (Once in Wonderland when she wonders who she is, again in the Looking-Glass World whilst in the Wood where things have no names)

But if Carroll’s novels merely suggest this, the films inspired by Alice’s adventures have undoubtedly taken this to its extreme. This pattern of storytelling reaches its logical conclusion in this film, in which Coraline’s very soul is at stake. When she is offered to stay in the Other World by her Other Mother, a pair of shiny black button eyes is presented to her. 

To stay in this world, she’ll have to sacrifice who she is and her identity. And eyes of course, have long been associated with the soul. 

The Ghost Children are souless, and without their souls they are unable to escape their prison. Their stories are almost identical to Coraline’s except that they gave in to the Other Mother. 

Alice’s portals

Coraline significantly reaches the Other World in three different ways, all of which link in with Carroll’s Alice novels. The first (unique only to the film, not in the novella) is by dreaming. Coraline reaches the other world the first two times when she is asleep, although these dreams later are proved to be real. 

Alice’s adventures in both Wonderland and the Looking-Glass World prove to be nothing more than bizarre dreams. 

The second portal is via a small door in the drawing room, which is meant to be bricked up. It slightly recalls the small door leading to the Queen of Hearts’s Garden in Wonderland that Alice wishes to go through at the beginning of Alice’s adventures in Wonderland. 

Alice opened the door and found that it led into a small passage, not much larger than a rat-hole: she knelt down and looked along the passage into the loveliest garden you ever saw. How she longed to get out of that dark hall, and wander about among those beds of bright flowers and those cool fountains, but she could not even get her head though the doorway

But similarly to Coraline, once Alice is through the door, the beautiful surroundings hide a darker presence. In Alice’s case, it turns out to be the garden of the tyrannical Queen of Hearts. The garden that Coraline finds in the Other World turns dangerous once she refuses to give up her identity. 

Lastly, although not an entrance to the Other World, Coraline enters a small room containing the Ghost Children when she is put through a mirror. 

Alice enters the Looking-Glass World famously through a looking-Glass. The difference here is that Coraline enters the Ghost Children's realm out of punishment, whereas Alice finds her way into Looking-Glass House completely voluntarily.

A disappearing Cat as a guide or ally. 

Coraline even has its own variant on Carroll’s Cheshire Cat, the Cat in Coraline is a sarcastic guide and only ally to Coraline in the Other World apart from the Other Wybie. Just like Carroll’s famous cat, the Cat can disappear at will.

In Carroll's Alice similarly the Cheshire Cat is characterised as a slightly infuriating guide as he offers information about the nature of Wonderland and directs Alice to the March Hare's House. 

Excerpt from Tomihko Mori's Night is Short, Walk On Girl (translated by Shosetsu.Ninja)

Slight treat here. As an aperitif to the June English translation of Tomihiko Morimi's Night is Short, Walk On Girl, I have found a fan-translated excerpt from a chapter. 

Some context: In this scene Sempai (Who is trying to find the Alice-like student Otome) is at a strange university festival, where he comes across a bizarre instillation. 

You can read this here!

Alice in Wonderland by Atrika

Wonderland Exebition Book: A brief review (With Links!)

Many of you know last year on the old blog I did as much coverage of ACMI's world premiere Exhibit Wonderland as I could.

I also mentioned that an exhibition book had been published. 

Although the book is hard to get hold of, as a now proud owner of a copy I can say it is 100 percent worth getting if you're interested in Alice's film journey across the years. It is also an invaluable resource for examining the Alice novels culturally (If, unlike me, you're interested in '60s psychedelia, there's a whole essay about how Carroll's work was appropriated by that subculture) 

The book also contains essays on 1903, 1910, 1915, 1931, 1933, 1949, and 1966. 

1903, 1910 and 1915 are all in one essay which focuses on the process of silent movies and is really interesting.

1932 examines the history of talkie cinema and the movie's creator. Good but not as interesting as it could have been, with too much on the director's other work for my liking. 

1933 takes a feminist approach and argues '33 Alice is a young woman trying to assert her rights in an often male dominated Wonderland. Its well argued but I'm not sure if I agree entirely.

1949 is an exhuming and lament for a version which was cut to pieces and has never seen the light of day in its true form. This analysis is sympathetic and engaging and features rare stills. 

There is also an invaluable and rare interview with Jan Svankmajer for fans of 1988, which contains utterly awesome stills and some great insights. 

Less good are the 3 (!) interviews with people involved in the 2010 and 2016 
non- Carroll Disney franchise. I don't know why there are three. Maybe because both movies are in recent memory?? 

The first with Mia Wasikowska is fair and serviceable, and talks about the weight of Carroll's works and the impact this had on Wasikowska's characterisation of Alice. If, unlike me, you actually like the Disney franchise, this would most likely be extremely interesting to you. 

The second is with costume designer Colleen Atwood who evidently has either never read Carroll's novels or hasn't read them for a while. When asked about Carroll's books, she frequently gets things completely wrong! A bit of a waste of an interview frankly, and I don't think a fan of the Disney franchise would get much out of it either.

The third is with screenwriter Linda Whoolverton, in which she explains why she decided to not adapt carroll's books. Interesting for 2010 and 2016 fans, not so for anyone else. 

For the more unusual Alice seekers there is an essay on the unfinished Marilyn Manson project Phantasmagoria. Not my thing personally but the essay is extremely well written. Related is the essay which compares Alice to a rare 70s italian horror. Curious, but not entirely convincing. 

A good overview on the Quay Brothers's Alice and Svankmajer influenced shorts is included, which is an avenue I hadn't explored before and now want to. 

There is also an essay which looks at the rare Down the Rabbit Hole trope movie Alice or the Last Escapade and gives an overview as to why the 1970s were ripe for Alice homaging. Great to finally get an essay on this movie.

Lastly there is a look at the advert Superflat Monogram, which was a japanese 2000s digital homage to Carroll's Alice. The advert itself is a delightful oddity and so is this essay, which I think is the first on this advert. 

Overall, a solid decent effort of a book but one that positively DEMANDS a follow up. 

NOTES:

You can read some essays from this book online!

1903, 1910 and 1915 Alice

1931 Alice

1933 Alice

1966 Alice