Honestly, it’s been nearly two decades since Henry Selick’s Coraline hit theaters, and we still haven't found a creepier visual in children's animation than those flat, black, soul-stealing buttons. You know the ones. They sit there on the "Other Mother’s" face, shiny and unblinking, reflecting a warped version of everything Coraline wants but shouldn't have. It’s a design choice that sticks in your craw. It makes you feel slightly nauseous even though you’re looking at a puppet made of silicone and wire.
But there is a specific, terrifying logic to coraline with button eyes that goes way beyond just being "spooky." When the Other Mother—or the Beldam, if you want to use her real, ancient name—offers to sew those buttons into Coraline’s skull, she isn’t just asking for a fashion change. She is asking for a deed to Coraline's soul.
The Brutal Truth Behind the Sewing Kit
If you’ve watched the movie or read the Neil Gaiman novella, you know the scene. The table is set. The food looks incredible. Then, the Other Mother brings out that small, velvet-lined box. Inside are two large, black buttons, a needle, and some thread.
She tells Coraline it won’t hurt.
That is a lie.
In the world of Coraline, the eyes aren't just for seeing. They are the "windows to the soul," a literal gateway. By removing a child's eyes and replacing them with inanimate plastic or horn, the Beldam effectively severs their connection to the real world. She "bottles" the soul. The ghost children Coraline meets in the closet—the ones who already fell for the trap—are empty shells because their "eyes" (their souls) are being held captive in the Other Mother’s collection.
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Why Buttons, Specifically?
You’ve probably wondered why it's buttons and not, say, coins or just empty sockets.
Think about what a button does. It’s a fastener. It’s meant to hold two pieces of fabric together to keep something closed. In the Beldam’s world, the buttons serve as a permanent seal. They "fasten" the victim to her reality. Once those buttons are sewn in, you can’t look away. You can’t see the "gray" reality of the real world anymore because you are literally stitched into her colorful, artificial fabric.
Also, it’s about the doll connection. The Beldam uses a doll with button eyes to spy on Coraline. The doll is a scout. By making Coraline look like the doll, the Beldam is essentially saying, "You are my toy now." It is the ultimate act of dehumanization.
The Animation Magic (and Nightmares) of Laika
The technical side of how they pulled off coraline with button eyes is actually just as intense as the story itself. LAIKA, the studio behind the film, didn't use CGI for these effects. They did it the hard way.
- Hand-Sewn Details: For the puppets that actually had buttons, the animators had to ensure the light hit them just right to make them look "dead" but also somehow watchful.
- The Replacement Faces: Coraline alone had over 207,000 possible facial expressions. Every time her expression shifted, her face was literally popped off and replaced with a new 3D-printed piece.
- The Scale: Most people don't realize these puppets are tiny. The main Coraline puppet is only about 9.5 inches tall. Imagine trying to sew microscopic "button eyes" onto a face that small.
Henry Selick has mentioned in interviews that he fought to keep the movie in stop-motion because it has a "shaky" life to it. It’s imperfect. That imperfection is exactly why the button-eyed characters feel so "uncanny." They look almost human, but that slight mechanical vibration of stop-motion makes them feel like something that shouldn't be alive.
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What Most Fans Miss About the Cat
The black cat is the only creature in the "Other World" that doesn't have buttons for eyes. Why? Because the cat is real. He’s a traveler.
There’s a popular fan theory that the Beldam actually needs the buttons to see through her creations. When the cat eventually scratches the Other Mother’s button eyes out during the climax, she goes completely blind and starts screaming. It suggests that her power is tied to these objects. She doesn't have "sight" in the way we do; she has a manufactured perception that relies on her "toys" being intact.
The Symbolism of "Looking Closer"
The film constantly plays with the idea of vision. Coraline’s real parents are often "blind" to her needs because they’re staring at computer screens or work papers. The Other Mother, conversely, is too focused. Her button eyes are always on Coraline. It’s an obsessive, predatory kind of sight.
When Coraline uses the "seeing stone" (the little triangular stone with a hole in it), she’s using a different kind of vision to find the lost souls. It’s the antithesis of the button eyes. While the buttons represent being trapped in an illusion, the stone represents seeing through the "web" to the truth.
Real-World Takeaways for Your Next Rewatch
Next time you sit down to watch Coraline, keep an eye on how the characters with buttons behave compared to those without.
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- The Loss of Expression: Characters with button eyes can’t "speak" with their eyes. Their emotions are limited to their mouths and body language. This makes their "kindness" feel scripted and fake.
- The Mirroring: Notice how the Other Mother starts looking less like Coraline's real mom and more like a spider as the movie progresses. As Coraline refuses the buttons, the "mask" of the Other Mother’s face (and eyes) begins to crack.
- The Soul Choice: The movie is basically a giant metaphor for the danger of choosing an easy, "perfect" lie over a difficult, messy truth. Taking the buttons is the "easy" way to stay in the fun world, but it costs everything.
How to Handle the "Coraline" Aesthetic
If you're looking to recreate the coraline with button eyes look for cosplay or art, don't just glue buttons to your eyelids. That’s a one-way ticket to an ER visit.
Most pro cosplayers use "theatrical buttons" attached to glasses frames or use spirit gum to fix them to the brow bone—never the actual lid. The goal is to capture that hollow, flat look that made the movie a masterpiece of gothic horror.
Understand that the power of this imagery comes from the contrast. Coraline’s bright yellow raincoat and blue hair stand out against the black, void-like buttons of the Beldam. It’s a fight between color and darkness, between a real girl and a needle-fingered ghost.
To truly appreciate the lore, you should look into the "ghost children" scenes again. Each child represents a different era—one from the 1920s, one from the mid-century, etc. It shows that the Beldam has been doing this for a long time. The buttons aren't just a quirk; they're her "harvest."
Your next step: Take a look at the original illustrations by Dave McKean in the Coraline novella. They are significantly darker than the movie and give a whole different perspective on how the "buttons" were originally envisioned as something much more organic and terrifying. Comparing the two will give you a much deeper appreciation for why this story remains a pillar of modern horror.