Coraline

Coraline is a modernized faerie tale because the basis of the protagonists' story is easy for kids to relate to. Coraline is an average, young girl who has recently moved to a new and unknown place. With no friends to hang out with and nothing to do all day, Coraline is left feeling lonely and must find a way to be happy on her own. She lives in a modernized world where instead of enchanted castles there is haunted houses. The dream world serves as her fantasy land of the 'perfect' life she wishes for but soon realizes its not anything she thought it would be. Coraline goes through a coming of age as the movie progresses and when she finally defeats the Beldam, Coraline learns to appreciate all that she has in her life. The story is influenced by Romanian and faerie folklore.

The other mother, referred to as the Beldam by the ghost children, is an allusion to the Romanian myth of the Beldam which is an English word translating roughly to "hag" or "witch". In Romanian folklore, the Beldam lived in the forest, alone, in a tiny abandoned house. The Beldam had the power to shift forms and lure unfortunate children into her domain, killing them and enslaving their souls. At first, the children would see the Beldam as a friendly, beautiful woman who charms the victim. After the victim is under her influence, the Beldam's form changes into an ugly and gigantic monster that eats the heart of the child. The Beldam would only attack at night and never left the domain of her forest.

This folklore is very much connected to the other mother in Coraline. When Coraline first meets her, she takes on the appearance of Coraline's mother with a better hair cut, no bags under her eyes, and buttons where her eyes should be. The appearance of the other mother is a bit different from the folklore because she doesn't take the form of a very young and beautiful woman but rather a quote on quote "better" version of the child's mother. Turning into the mother helps the Beldam's victims to trust her - as shown by the three ghost children that came before Coraline.  Another difference between the movie and the lore is that the other mother does not live in the forest but rather near one and she does not live in a tiny house but rather within the Pink Palace Apartments. The other mother does however make a point to lure children into her dream world and manipulate them into leaving reality all together.

Once the child has spent enough time in the Beldam's world, her true form begins to come out. When the Beldam reaches her final form (an arachnid-human hybrid in the movie) she is able to take the child for herself. Rather than eating the hearts of her victims, the Beldam in Coraline gouges out the eyes and sews buttons in their place. She then takes the soul of the child and locks them up in a dark room, never to see the light of day again. Another important difference to point out is that the other mother in this movie is a seamstress and knits dolls of the children she wants to kill. These dolls are sent out into the world and used as a surveillance device into reality for the Beldam in the dream world. The Beldam in Romanian folklore is not described as using any sort of surveillance.

In faerie lore, spells are used to make people, places, and things seem more glamorous and desirable than they really are. The dream world is exactly the same environment as the real world except it is much brighter, inviting, and pleasing to live in. It is likely that the other mother was using magic to make herself and her surroundings appear more desirable to Coraline and the victims before her. Additionally, it is said that you should never eat the food of faeries as nothing good will ever come of it. By eating the food of faeries, you could be trapped in their world forever or never desire human food again - causing yourself to die of starvation.

In Coraline, the dream world is more beautiful version of the Pink Palace Apartments of the real world. This version of her life makes the dream world very tempting to visit. The food that the Beldam cooks is also incredibly delicious and much more desirable than anything her parents would make in reality. Coraline of course divulges on the feast which causes her to fall underneath the Beldam's spell even more. Although Coraline definitely puts its own sadistic twist onto the lore, the basis of the lore's aspects stay the same.