Melman

## Melman the Giraffe

Melman Mankiewicz III

* Films
* Foal

**Melman** is a deuteragonist of the franchise. He is a giraffe who formerly lived in the Central Park Zoo in New York City.

## Biography

Melman has been in the Central Park Zoo since he was a young giraffe and had always been in love with Gloria. He felt a bit insecure when Gloria said that the newcomer, Alex, was cute.

### Madagascar: A Little Wild

Melman appears as a calf in *Madagascar: A Little Wild* along with Alex, Marty and Gloria.

### The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper

Melman has a small cameo with his friends while celebrating Christmas and singing a version of "Jingle Bells" at the end.

### *Madagascar*

Melman had a residence at the Central Park Zoo, where he would receive constant medical treatment for problems that all were all a figment of his imagination. Melman would undergo MRIs, CAT scans, injections, flu shots, and be put into braces and crutches for no particular purpose at all.

In the Central Park Zoo, Melman received treatment and was so used to his cushy life taking pills and undergoing treatments (ex. acupuncture).

One night, Marty escapes from the zoo and Melman immediately informs Alex of this (one of his doctors is Dr. Munish). When they end up getting spotted by the humans along with the penguins and chimps, they all get tranquilized and when they reawaken they find themselves on a big ship headed to Africa. Unfortunately, they fall off of the ship and end up on the island of Madagascar all because of the penguins' driving.

The rest of the film is about how Melman (who is especially uncomfortable in the wild) and his friends get used to being stuck on this island, and in the end, they seem to be a bit used to it.

### *Merry Madagascar*

After being stranded on Madagascar for nearly a year, Melman and the gang build a hot-air balloon to fly them back in time for the holidays. When the lemurs cause them to land back in Madagascar by accident, a strange-glowing creature starts throwing coal at the island. Alex manages to knock down the creature, only to find out it is Santa Claus, who has amnesia from the bump on his head. Since he is too busy partying with Julien, the Zoosters decide to handle the job for him. Although it is a scary, nerve-wrecking endeavor, Melman is all too eager to help his best friends when it comes to saving Christmas - as long as they are there to pull him out of the chimneys when he gets stuck.

### *Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa*

The penguins and the chimps manage to repair Julien's plane and decide to fly the gang back to New York, with Julien, Mort, and Maurice joining them on their journey. When Gloria announces that she is going to sign herself up for the breeding program and start dating, he begins to feel a bit afraid of losing her.

During the crash, he screams that he is in love with Gloria, however she is asleep and does not hear this. They crash land in Africa, where Alex is reunited with his long-lost parents. Melman is horrified to learn that once a giraffe becomes sick, it has no way to survive and therefore must simply wait in a hole to die. He takes the position of the Savannah's Witch Doctor and introduces them to the miracle of modern medicine to cure sick animals, giving them longer and better lives. While he proves to be very good at this job and additionally mentions that his mother would be proud of him, he is informed by another giraffe that Melman has a brown spot on his shoulder, one which the previous Witch Doctor seemed to have gotten and "was gone" two days later.

Thinking he only has days to live, Melman doesn't tell his friends the bad news and initially waits in a hole, but then takes King Julien's advice and goes to declare his love to Gloria. He finds her on a date with another hippo and tells her date everything he loves about Gloria and that he should treat her right, which makes Gloria realize that Melman loves her for who she is and that she might return his feelings.

The next day, when the watering hole dries up and King Julien decides to sacrifice an animal for the Sky Gods, Melman offers himself. While being carried, Gloria chases him and tries to talk some sense into him. Melman confesses his feelings for her by telling her it was never the doctors or medicine that kept him going or made him happy back at the zoo, it was the thought of seeing her every day. Just as he is about to jump, Melman discovers that he isn't dying after all and the "brown spot" is natural for giraffes. Just as he changes his mind about jumping into the lava, the ledge cracks and Gloria rescues him at the last minute. Gloria picks up Melman and admits her newfound love for him. Marty then arrives to tell them about Alex's predicament and they go upriver to save him.

In the end, Melman becomes less neurotic because he has finally won Gloria's love. Now in a happy relationship with Gloria, Melman is having the time of his life.

### *Madly Madagascar*

It is Melman's first Valentine's Day with Gloria, and as such, he is determined to make it a perfect one, even if it means going a bit overboard, believing that recreating the Statue of Liberty in Gloria's image isn't too much. When the float is wrecked, Melman tries to use Julien's love potion to win Gloria back, but Gloria assures him that he didn't have to get her anything and the fact that we was thinking about her is enough for her. Sometime later, the penguins and the chimps leave for Monte Carlo, while the Zoosters and the lemurs decide to stay behind in Africa for a while.

### *Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted*

After spending a year in Africa, the group decides to go to Monte Carlo to find the penguins and convince them to help them return home. Unfortunately, the group gets spotted in the process and ends up becoming chased by animal control. They are purused by the evil Chantel DuBois, who wants to mount their heads on her wall. When they meet the chimps at the rendezvous with the plane, DuBois grabs Melman by the neck and is about to catch up the gang. Luckily, Alex manages to get her off their back (for now) and fly back to New York.

When the plane crash lands into some railroad tracks, the gang gives up hope on ever returning to New York. When the police arrives, the gang ends up hiding with Circus Zaragoza in order to try and keep from being captured by telling them that they are circus animals. The gang soon realizes that this circus just needs to earn a contract for an American tour for them to return home, so they purchase the circus in order to let them travel.

The circus arrives in Rome and everything is a total disaster. Stefano explains to Alex that Vitaly lost his confidence after an incident involving a hoop on fire. Realizing how much the circus is in danger, the group immediately begins to fine-tune the circus by coming up with new routines.

Gloria immediately wants to do a dancing routine with Melman, who is happy to do an act with his girlfriend, but is very self-conscious and nervous about his dancing abilities. Instead, Melman tries various tricks from juggling to tightrope walking, which creates an incident where he gets stuck on a tightrope and Gloria has to come and save him. It is during this incident that the two of them find their act, dancing on top of the tightrope, and with a few lessons from his girlfriend, Melman is ready to go.

In London, the gang puts on a great show and ends up earning the contract. Just then, DuBois arrives to capture them. The penguins take care of her, but the truth is revealed. Vitaly, Gia, Stefano, and the other circus animals are upset that their new friends lied all along, and the Zoosters feel guilty for what they did.

When the circus reaches New York, the circus gang feels incomplete without Alex and the gang and are ready to forgive them and let them back in their lives. Meanwhile, the Zoosters and Julien return to the zoo, only to find out that it is not as great as they remembered it. In fact, there is a big wall in between Melman and Gloria's enclosures, which shocks the two. Reflecting back on their adventures in Madagascar, Africa, and Europe, the group realizes that a life of freedom is a better life for them after all and decide to go back to the circus. But before they can go back, DuBois and her men knock them out cold. Luckily, Julien escapes and manages to get back to the circus (which is conveniently in the park) in time to warn the others.

Alex, Marty, Melman, and Gloria wake up and find themselves back in their zoo enclosures, but now they are surrounded by fences to prevent them from escaping again. Just as DuBois is about to get rid of Alex, the circus gang manages to save them and defeat DuBois and her henchmen, using their new abilities from their acts. Alex and the gang decide to spend the rest of the lives traveling with their friends. Melman won't argue with that because there's really no better life than touring the world with the one you love.

### Penguins of Madagascar: The Movie

Melman only appears for a few moments, dancing with the other Zoosters to Afro Circus/I Like to Move It.

## Personality

Melman is a very nice guy and loyal to his friends, but he is somewhat of a hypochondriac, having doses of medicine for meals and doctor's appointments frequently. He even complains about having brown spots on his neck (though he stops doing this after he realizes he is not dying). Apparently, he's loved Gloria since childhood, but has always felt too nervous to tell her, since it would ruin their friendship and it probably wouldn't work out. In Africa, after he confesses to Gloria about why he loves her, she returns his feelings and becomes less neurotic.