Madeline Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Madeline's Winter Vacation
Vital Statistics
Season 1
Writer(s) Susan Amerikaner
Original Release November 14, 1993
Previous Episode Madeline and the Singing Dog
Next Episode Madeline in Hollywood

Madeline's Winter Vacation is the tenth episode of the first season of Madeline animated series.

Summary[]

Genevieve, Miss Clavel, Pepito, and the girls visit Miss Clavel's aunt Hilda and nephew Hans in the Swiss Alps.

Plot[]

It's winter in Paris and the Girls are going on break to the Alps. Pepito is coming too and as always is a little late. They take a taxi to the train station before riding a train to Switzerland. Ms. Clavel has family who lives in the Alps who have invited the Group to their chalet in the mountains. Everyone is excited to play in the snow, but Pepito warns that they could encounter an abominable snowman. Everyone's unnerved by the description so Ms. Clavel and Madeline tell Pepito to knock it off. Everyone rests as the train continues its journey into the Alps.

They eventually arrive in rural Switzerland and are disappointed to see that there isn't much snow. Ms. Clavel's nephew Hans meets them at the station with a horse carriage to take them up to the chalet. On the way up Hans demonstrates his yodeling which attracts a crowd of goats who follow the carriage. The Girls like this, but Pepito is annoyed.

The Group arrives at the chalet which is a cozy isolated cabin up in the mountains. They meet Ms. Clavel's aunt Hilda. In the evening she makes them hot chocolate and tells them stories. Pepito and Chloe ask her if she's ever seen the abominable snowman. She slyly 'admits' she has and tells them she once encountered it outside the house. It stomped on her foot which caused her to scream and it ran away. Since then, her toe can sense whenever it is about to snow. She predicts a monster storm that night. This is confirmed when Hans turns on the radio which announces two feet of snow to be expected in their area. The Girls are very happy, but aunt Hilda is concerned that there could be too much snow.

After a gingerbread dinner everyone goes to bed. But the Girls hear strange noises outside in the storm. Ms. Clavel comes into their room to find everyone huddled in the middle. They hear something outside clomping in the snow. They then see a large figure at the window. Madeline investigates and quickly realizes it is just Pepito wearing stilts and a heavy coat. Everyone has a laugh and goes to sleep.

The next day the Girls frolic in the deep snow. They go ice skating at a nearby pond with Madeline and Genevieve performing well. Ms. Clavel tries to skate but falls. Everyone helps her up and she goes back to the chalet to rest. Hans takes charge of the group and leads them up to the mountain to go sledding. Near the top they hear another strange sound. Hans realizes it's an avalanche! He tells everyone to stay calm and to get into the sled. They sled downhill, managing to outrun the avalanche and get out of its way.

They arrive safely at the chalet, but now the road out has been blocked by the snow. Hans goes to telephone for help, but the lines are dead. Two days go by, the chalet is well stocked and aunt Hilda has no shortage of interesting stories to tell. They then see two search and rescue aircraft fly over the area, but they don't spot the chalet. Madeline suggests they try yodeling so someone will hear them. Unfortunately it doesn't work, but it attracts a number of goats to the chalet. Madeline then gets a new idea. They use their ice skates to carve out the international distress signal SOS on the pond. The planes fly by again, but no action is taken and the planes depart.

That evening aunt Hilda makes everyone more tea. Chloe begins to despair, thinking they will be trapped forever in the mountains. Madeline tells her everything will be okay. Nicole asks how Madeline never seems to be afraid of anything. Madeline reveals that she does in fact feel scared sometimes, but she never gives up hope that it will work out. Suddenly the Group hears heavy footsteps approaching the cabin. The door opens and two very large figures enter the house. Pepito screams that is abominable snowmen!

Fortunately it's in fact the mountain rescue patrol. They've brought supplies and a snowplow. It turns out the SAR pilots did see the SOS and called in to the patrol to send help to the chalet. With the Group officially rescued, the patrol departs. Everyone is happy that the vacation has been so much fun.

Song[]

Give Us Snow

Trivia[]

  • Aunt Hilda breaks the fourth wall in the episode by winking to the audience that she is going to tell a tall tale to the Girls.
  • Aunt Hilda is the one who ends the episode with the trademark ending line, "That's all there is. There isn't any more." This is, in fact, at least one episode where anyone but the narrator says it.
Advertisement