Trivia: Until 2016 Coraline was the longest stop motion film to date, running at an hour and 40 minutes. The new record holder became Kubo and the Two Strings.
Trivia: In the dream sequence at the end, when the ghost children (now golden angel-like figures) thank Coraline, watch the background - it is a nice visual compliment to Vincent Van Gogh, the great Dutch painter, whose masterpiece "Starry Night" inspired the swirly blue and yellow lights. What makes the compliment a bit quirky: Van Gogh painted "Starry Night" while he was a patient at the mental asylum in Saint Rémy, and he committed suicide 13 months after completing the painting. (01:28:40)
Trivia: On average, it took an entire week of production to complete 1.5 minutes of film footage.
Trivia: During the Other father piano song scene, the other father's slippers are Monkeybone slippers. Monkeybone is another film directed by Henry Selick.
Trivia: This is the first stop-motion film to be shot in 3-D.
Trivia: When the other mother is making Coraline an omelet, pay attention. The egg yolk is in the shape of Jack Skellington's face. This is a reference to The Nightmare Before Christmas, another film directed by Henry Selick.
Trivia: Laika had to hire a professional to sew the clothing for the puppets. Why? Because the knitting needle was as thin as human hair.
Trivia: The decoration Mr. Bobinsky wears is a Hero of Chernobyl medal, issued to those who displayed gallant action in response to the April 1986 nuclear disaster in the Soviet Union. That might explain why his skin is like that.
Trivia: The blossoms on the trees are actually painted popcorn pieces. The crew spent over 800 hours painting 250,000 of them. (Source: Wired magazine).
Chosen answer: Coraline urges Other Wybie to escape with her. He shows her that he can't - he is not a person, just another puppet of the Other Mother. What is blowing away is the sawdust Other Mother fills her puppets with.
Ioreth
He's just a temporary distraction.