Please don't confuse her with the cricketeer by the same name!
Melinda "Mel" Jones is the wife of Charlie Jones and the mother of Coraline Jones who is constantly seen as being very busy and having little time for her daughter, as per her job as a gardening catalogue editor (movie job only).
She was voiced by Teri Hatcher.
Plot Appearance[]
Movie[]
- An excerpt from the main article: Coraline (filmography)
From what has been depicted, Mel leaves the cooking to her husband Charlie Jones (though he is not good at it) and she does the cleaning. Being the busy mother and wife she is, she barely gives much attention to her daughter while keeping up with her responsibilities as a gardening catalogue editor at the start.
As begged by Coraline, Mel was the one who opened the door first, out of the annoyance from her daughter whom was pestering her and wouldn't stop unless Mel opened the door. However, after unlocking it and discovered a brick wall covering the pathway, she went back to work. Mel later locked the door again and hid the key after finding rat feces near it.
After Coraline escaped from the other world, she and her husband were kidnapped by the The Beldam (Other Mother) and were trapped in the other world. They asked for Coraline's help through the mirror in the hallway of the real world and was later revealed to be trapped in the snow globe on the other world's mantle piece. After Coraline saved them, they came back in the real world without any recollection of the events that took place.
In response to the promise she made with her daughter, Mel bought Coraline the colorful gloves she wanted in Linden's Uniform from the time they went shopping for Coraline's school clothes. She later becomes more attentive of her daughter as depicted in the last moments of the film.
Books[]
- An excerpt from the main article: Coraline (books)
Mel spends most of her time at home, working on an unnamed job on her computer. We learn that Mel is somewhat neutral to Coraline, and doesn't really mind what Coraline does so long as she doesn't make a mess. She suggests to Coraline that she should go visit her neighbours downstairs (Miss Spink and Forcible). She also tells Coraline that the wooden door leads to nowhere, and it might have lead to another apartment when the house was first created, hinting to the truth to the passage that leads to the other world. When Mel goes shopping with Coraline, she more or less ignores the wants of Coraline, preferring to buy the normal uniform for school and some hair-clips. Once they get back, Coraline asks about the entrance to the other world (not technically revealed yet), she just tells her that it would probably just be empty rooms, and it would be inaccessible, before going to the shops to go buy some lunch. The next time we see Mel, she's trapped with her husband in the mirror, and she ends up calling Coraline to action, fogging a patch of the mirror and writing ƧU ꟼ⅃ƎH, before disappearing Once the Other Mother is defeated, both of Coraline's parents are brought back, without any memory of the events that perspired. She pays more attention to Coraline afterwards, and gently wakes Coraline up from one of the chairs in the drawing room. She comments on the sudden appearance of the cat, before telling Coraline that dinner would come in 15 minutes, and getting Coraline to clean herself up.
Video Game[]
- An excerpt from the main article: Coraline (video game)
This section requires expanding with knowledge derived from the video game.
Personality[]
Although very busy with her work as a gardening catalogue editor, Mel loves Coraline very much despite the lack of time and attention she gives her daughter as depicted when Coraline shared to her that she almost fell in a well. As a mother, she cares deeply for her daughter and even tried to make it up to her by telling Coraline that she could pick something she liked in the grocery store, but was very dismayed when Coraline was still upset with her and denied.
Quotes[]
- "I don't have time for you right now."
- "We made a deal. Zip It."
- "We've been through this before; your dad cooks, I clean, and you stay out of the way."
- '"You only dreamed you ate all that chicken."
- "If the real Charlie Jones wants his pages edited, he better wrap them up ASAP."
- "Maybe she should buy all your clothes."
- "Oh no, you’ve broke my favorite snow globe."
- "What’s gotten into you, Coraline?"
- "You were right, Coraline. I really hate dirt!"
Trivia[]
- Mel hates wasting time.
- Mel cleans while her husband cooks.
- On Mel's cell phone, the ghost children can be seen on the screen.
- Mel owns five snow globes from several places in Michigan such as Detroit Zoo (her favorite), Mackinac Island, and Lake Michigan.