Neil Gaiman is a writer known for his fantasy stories that have often come in the forms of novels and comic books. One of his most notable works is the fan-favorite series Sandman, which was published through DC Comics. That being said, he's also created stories that have been released as live-action and animated films. One of his most popular works was the children's novel turned stop-motion animated film, Coraline. While the film embraces its strange and scary side, the origin of the titular character's name is anything but.
Coraline follows a young girl whose family moves into a new home with peculiar neighbors. Because her parents are too busy to pay attention to her, she is lured into a strange parallel universe called the Other World, with everything she could ever want from delicious meals to alternate parents who cater to all of her wishes. But as she begins to stay longer, Coraline learns that not everything is as it seems, and she may be in danger.
Aesthetically, Coraline has a style that is reminiscent of Tim Burton. However, where most of Burton's films play it safe with their whimsical style, Coraline has an edge that only the animators at Laika can produce. The film and story embrace its gloomy exterior, and it's hard not to believe that the idea for the style wasn't bolstered by the peculiarity of the main character's name, Coraline. While it sounds like a name that's been used before, it's actually not the most common. This is because it was born out of an accident by Neil Gaiman.
According to Gaiman, while writing the book, he meant to name the titular character Caroline. Gaiman stated, "I had typed the name Caroline, and it came out wrong. I looked at the word Coraline and knew it was someone's name. I wanted to know what happened to her." In other words, it was a typo that he decided to keep. His stumbling onto her name also works well with the story, as it inadvertently mirrors how Coraline stumbles into the Other World. Like the heroine, Gaiman's curiosity compelled him to dig deeper into the character.
Coraline's name perfectly encapsulates the essence of the narrative themes as well. Like the film's main antagonist, the name Coraline is representative of a web or a trap. The name looks familiar and can quickly put a person at ease. However, upon further inspection, it becomes clear that something is off, and before it's safe to go back and analyze the peculiarity from a distance, the trap is set. This is exactly what happens to Coraline when she tries to escape the Other World.
At its core, Coraline is a story about falling down a rabbit hole to quench a person's curious side. It also shows how sometimes the most important things come when no one expects them. For Neil Gaiman, this was in creating Coraline's name, but for Coraline, it's about her going on an unplanned journey that helps her grow as a person.
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