| “ | But the little sister loves me... THAT's what's important. It gives me purpose, makes me feel alive, don't you understand? It existentially transcends my corporeal reality as a mere plaything. Besides, I'm good at it. | „ |
| ~ Molly to Bumpy in "To Sleep Perchance to Burp". |
| “ | 'Comfort Schmumfort', I'll show those alien chauvinist pigs who's "harmless"! Sometimes a comfort doll's gotta do what a comfort doll's gotta do! HOLD on guys! You're about to be rescued by Molly Coddle, commando doll!!! | „ |
| ~ Molly in "Comfort Schmumfort". |
Molly Coddle is one of the deuteragonists (alongside Squishington) of the cartoon Bump in the Night.
She was voiced by Gail Matthius, who voiced Kelly in the cartoon Bobby's World.
Appearance[]
Molly is a red-headed stuffed doll with various mismatched parts. Her left arm appears to be plastic with articulated joints, while her right arm is made of stuffed cloth. She wears a red and white striped stocking on her left leg, while her right leg is bare.
She wears a blue dress designed with yellow polka dots and a red patch, a white ruff collar, a blue hairbow, short white bloomers, and black Mary Jane shoes.
Her limbs are detachable, often falling off when her owner Little Sister handles her. Her left eye is an oval, which can inconsistently vary between having an animated pupil, or an expressionless static 'x' that gives the impression of a stylized button.
Personality[]
Adventurous and lovable, Molly is a sweet, caring, intelligent, at times resourceful, charming comfort doll who tries to cheer the toys up whenever they feel glum, serving as a loving mother figure who casually admits to being a people pleaser.
She admires the Cute Dolls and tries to imitate their cute mannerisms, but is often evaded by them. Molly wants to fit in with the Cute Dolls, but often feels self-conscious and has some amount of low self-esteem whenever they show disdain for her.
She can sometimes have a sassy, bold, feisty attitude at times, especially towards the silly Bumpy.
Despite this, she was more than willing to save Squishington's life before (even when she realizes she's not a doctor that she aspired to be), went out to rescue her friends Bumpy and Squishy when they got abducted by aliens even when Molly wasn't considered to be harmless, and sometimes keeps Mr. Bumpy in check when Bumpy acts as a troublemaker in season 2, thus making her a disciplinarian for Bumpy. In fact as of season 2, she became more disciplinary by enforcing the rule "don't make this comfort doll uncomfortable" in the episode "Love's Labor Bumped".
Whenever her owner, the little girl, feels distressed, Molly is there to brighten up her day. Molly is not afraid to show affection for her best friends Mr. Bumpy and Squishington, and help them out of any predicament they might be in.
Relationships[]
Mr. Bumpy and Squishington are Molly's best friends. She cares for them very much, just as they do for her. Bumpy calls Molly his "favorite gal", implying his preference of her over the Cute Dolls and other female residents of the house (most likely because they are too "girly" for his liking). Bumpy and Squishington are shown to be highly distressed whenever they fear that something terrible has happened to Molly.
They both have also shown affection for her (e.g., Mr. Bumpy calling her "Toots" and Squishington complementing her legs in "Farewell, 2 Arms"), but the affections are arguably not romantic; Bumpy and Squishington might act chivalrous to Molly to show how important their friendship is. Molly has been the recipient of crushes from both Destructo and a stinkbug named Odiferous J. Stench.
Ironically, she has garnered more attention from males than the Cute Dolls, who are supposedly more attractive than her. Molly is shown to be very maternal towards younger characters, such as Yellow Bunny and the babies in "Baby Jail". She is even shown to be friendly towards the Closet Monster. The majority of the characters show admiration for her - even the Cute Dolls on some occasions.
Episodes[]
- S1E1 (10/9/94) - "Made in Japan" / "Dr. Coddle, M.D."
- S1E2 (17/9/94) - "Gum Crazy" / "Baby Snail"
- S1E3 (24/9/94) - "Hide and Go Freak" / "Better Homes & Garbage"
- S1E4 (1/10/94) - "Not of This Boy's Room" / "To Sleep Perchance to Burp"
- S1E5 (8/10/94) - "Danger: Unexploded Squishington" / "Loss of Face"
- S1E6 (15/10/94) - "Sock It to Me" / "Comforting the Uncomfortable"
- S1E7 (22/10/94) - "Baby Jail" / "Night of the Living Bread"
- S1E8 (29/10/94) - "Party Poopers"
- S1E9 (5/11/94) - "A Sneeze in Time" / "Hocus Dopus"
- S1E10 (12/11/94) - "Adventures in Microbia" / "Not a Peep!"
- S1E11 (19/11/94) - "Penny for Your Thoughts" / "Farewell 2 Arms"
- S1E12 (26/11/94) - "I Dream of Silverfish" / "Story Problems"
- S1E13 (3/12/94) - "All You Need Is Glove" / "In The Bowl of the Squishy Prince"
- S2E1 (9/9/95) - "Long Long Day" / "Destructo's Flipside"
- S2E2 (16/9/95) - "Love Stinks" / "Love's Labor Bumped"
- S2E3 (23/9/95) - "It Sang from Beyond the Stars" / "Journey to the Center of the Lungfish"
- S2E4 (30/9/95) - "Auntie Matta" / "Bumpy the Untrappable"
- S2E5 (7/10/95) - "It Came from the Closet"
- S2E6 (14/10/95) - "Comfort Schmumfort"
- S2E7 (21/10/95) - "Bump and Roll"
- S2E8 (28/10/95) - "I Got Needs" / "Beauty and the Bump"
- S2E9 (4/11/95) - "When the Music Starts"
- S2E10 (11/11/95) - "Neat and Clean" / "Nothing But the Tooth"
- S2E11 (18/11/95) - "Water Way to Go" / "Cold Turkey"
- S2E12 (25/11/95) - "Made in Japan II"
- S2E13 (2/12/95) - "Not a Leg to Stand On"
- Special (9/12/95) - "Twas the Night Before Bumpy"
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Molly Coddle was named after The Mollycoddle.
- Molly starred in her own children's book called Molly Coddle, M.D. (taking its name after the episode), illustrated by Renzo Barto.
- Molly, Squishy, and Bumpy originated in cartoon bumpers (seen here), which were so popular that it spawned its own cartoon, with the trio being the main characters.
- Molly is similar to Woody from Toy Story; they're loving and protective towards their respective owners, but never reveal that they are in fact alive. Mr. Potato Head also shares her ability of having removable limbs.
- Molly has appeared on all Bump in the Night merchandise (including figures, plush toys, and subway figures) made of her and her friends Mr. Bumpy and Squishington. Some of the merch depicts Molly in her original design, with the button eye.
- Molly's character design may have been inspired by Raggedy Ann, and also by Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas; most Bump in the Night characters were inspired by MAD magazine and the comic books of Robert Crumb, Ken Pontac, and David Bleiman, who devised the concept of Bump in the Night.
- Before "Farewell 2 Arms", she could be considered a completely pure-hearted and selfless character, but she becomes evil in that episode. The episodes after that depict a change in her personality; she becomes more sarcastic and mean, though not as villainous as in "Farewell 2 Arms", which is her hostile peak. Although, she does change back to her own kind and sweet-hearted of ways by the end of the episode and her power hungry persona gets destroyed.