Madeline is a 1988 Canadian-American animated television special directed by Judy Rothman, and was co-produced by DIC Enterprises & Cinar. The special was originally aired on HBO on April 9, 1988.
The special is largely based off the first "Madeline" book, and it gave many other of the twelve little girls individual personalities.
The special was released onto VHS in 1990 by Hi-Tops Video, and has been released onto other VHS compilations by Golden Books Family Entertainment during the 1990's. In recent years, it has been released onto DVD compilations, released most noticeably on Bonjour, Madeline - The Original Specials in 2013.
Plot[]
The special begins in the evening with the narrator introducing the Boarding School in Paris; the Twelve little girls and their teacher Miss Clavel. Parallel to the book, they break their bread, brush their teeth and go to bed. They pretend to snore until Miss Clavel leaves. The girls have a friendly pillow fight. It gets quite chaotic before they are scared by a monster. (It's revealed that Madeline used shadow puppetry.) The girls eventually go to sleep, all in agreement that Madeline is the best prankster among-est them all.
The next day, the girls went out for a walk; they stop to be entertained by a local street performing clown. Madeline offers her hat to the clown while balance juggling. Later, the girls witness a police officer arresting a burglar and frown in anger at the criminal. Later still, during a light snowfall, they encounter a wounded soldier. They give him their balloons to make him feel better.
The next day, the narrator establishes the girls' daily outings. They leave the house every day at half past 9 AM, regardless of the weather. Most of the girls are well behaved, while Madeline often breaks away from her place in line. She sees something interesting and becomes very imaginative ("I'm Madeline"). To resolve this: Miss Clavel picks her up and carries her for the rest of the walk, as everyone laughs playfully.
Madeline meets two mice, who live in the holes. While the other girls are scared, Madeline befriends them and tells them (the girls) not to scare the mice. The scene transitions to winter as Madeline showcases her ice-skating talents. She befriends an anthropomorphic snowman. The scene transitions back to spring at the zoo. The other girls are quite scared of an aggressive tiger, but Madeline bravely says "Pooh Pooh" to the beast.
Later, as the girls cross a footbridge over the Seine river, Madeline runs up on top of the rampart suspension rail bridge, terrifying Miss Clavel. She imagines herself flying a small propeller plane over the city, viewing many landmarks ("Fly Air Madeline"). As she descends, she returns back to reality, with Miss Clavel gently pulling her back down onto the footpath.
Sometime later, it's winter. The girls are out for a walk. Strangely, Madeline seems upset and fatigued. She seems uninterested in all the things that usually make her happy despite encouragement from all her friends. She doesn't want to skate, she doesn't smile even for a little while when she watches her mouse friends dance, she passes by the juggling clown (twice), she doesn't enjoy the zoo, and she eventually had to be carried home by Miss Clavel, who assumes she stayed up late from the previous night, explaining why Madeline is "just a little tired" (so she claims). At dinner, Madeline has lost her appetite and discretely gives her entire baguette to the mice.
That night after the girls have gone to sleep, Miss Clavel wakes up, sensing that something is quite wrong. She rushes in fear to check on the girls, finding them trying to comfort Madeline who is sitting up in bed in pain and crying. Miss Clavel calls the local physician Dr. Cohn, who immediately rides his bike over to the vine-covered house to examine Madeline's condition.
He then calls the hospital to diagnose Madeline, as the problem was her stomach. The Surgeon needs to cut out her appendix immediately, as it seems she has appendicitis. The ambulance arrives, and Dr. Cohn takes Madeline (wrapped up in a blanket) to the hospital, wheeling her to the surgery room. The other girls and Ms. Clavel weep in fear and sadness (though Ms. Clavel tries to assure them it will be all right).
The next day, the other girls wonder if Madeline is okay, debating and wondering what an appendix is. Every time one of the girls says where the appendix is, Danielle worries that's where Madeline has a hole and cries (First, Chloe says it's in the head, then Nicole says it's in the arm [it appears to be the left one], but one later known as Yvette says it's in the tummy).
Meanwhile, after Madeline's bad appendix has been taken out in the night "without a pout," she wakes up several hours later in a hospital room that has a vase of flowers. A nurse brings her some mineral water (apparently still, as there don't appear to be any bubbles), and tells her that she'll have ice cream tonight. Madeline drinks the whole glass, and requests mice. At first, the nurse thinks she said, "ice." But when Madeline clarifies her request, the nurse screams in fright.
In Madeline's absence, the girls become disorganized and forgetful about their daily routine. First, they frown at the good and smile at the bad, as they don't know when to be happy or sad; later, they switch the second and fourth lines of their pre-meal verse ("And most of all, we love our butter."); then they decide to brush their bread and break their teeth.
Meanwhile, Madeline is drinking water and eating a sandwich, and then she turns the crank on the end of her bed, and a crack in her ceiling appears to look like a rabbit. She then looks out her window, and ten days later, Miss Clavel announces their visit to the hospital for Madeline. But she won't let them leave until after they have finished their breakfast.
Miss Clavel takes the girls on a bus to a local marketplace; where they buy some flowers and look for a present for Madeline. Chloe considers buying a carousel, but Miss Clavel advises her against such a large (and expensive) gift. She then advises Danielle against getting Madeline an ice cream cone because it drips. The girls are still trying to decide, and they freak out at the sight of a mouse. A man shows a wind-up key to prove that the mouse is not real, so they decide it would be perfect for Madeline. The man brings out a tiger, causing them to get scared and drop the mouse. When he offers it, Nicole decides it would be a much better present, to which Madeline would love to say, "Pooh pooh." It is never mentioned how much it costs, but they get it. At the hospital, they're so impressed by the toys, candy, and dollhouse sent by Madeline's father. Miss Clavel leaves the room to speak with Dr. Cohn about Madeline's eventual return to the school as soon as possible. Madeline enjoys her presents before showing the appendicitis scar in front of the girls, impressing them all even further. She then puts on a show for the girls about her scar. Miss Clavel has ended up hearing it all when she tells the other eleven it is time to go home. They promise to come again. It is now raining when the girls and Miss Clavel depart from the hospital on a bus ride back home to the vine-covered house. The girls become envious of Madeline's time-off from school, while they go through their normal evening routines, albeit with much less enthusiasm (as they say their usual premeal verse twice). Later that night, after the girls have gone to sleep, Ms. Clavel wakes up again and senses that something is quite wrong. She again rushes in to the girls' bedroom, afraid of something much worse: a disaster. To her relief; she finds that the other girls simply want to have the same operation as Madeline's. They have displayed fake scars on their tummies, (like a B on Nicole's tummy and a tree on Chloe's), although Ellie, despite claiming she also has a scar, doesn’t appear to have anything on her tummy. Miss Clavel kindly laughs, bidding them good night, to thank the Lord they are well, and go to sleep, and then she turns off the light and closes the door.
The narrator concludes the tale by saying: "And that's all there is, there isn't anymore." Before the credits roll, Madeline appears (in uniform) one last time to give a wink to the audience.
Video[]
Madeline (Original Special) (1988 TV Pilot Special Episode)
Differences from the Book[]
- The other 11 girls are each given more personality, with Chloe, Nicole, Danielle, and ALSO Yvette, Ellie, and Sylvie having spoken lines.
- Madeline's hair is different from the books.
- More French phrases are used throughout the special, both to build up the world and serve as an educational opportunity for the audience.
- Madeline slides down the banister, instead of taking the stairs in the school.
- The fourth wall is broken as the 12 girls say "Hello" in their language to the audience.
- The girls say grace before having dinner. "We love our bread, we love our butter, but most of all, we love each other."
- Madeline pranks the girls and Miss Clavel by pretending to choke on her dinner. She also incorrectly brushes her teeth, prompting Miss Clavel to correct her.
- The girls have a friendly pillow fight after being put to bed. Madeline then pranks them by using shadow puppets.
- They smile at a friendly street-performing clown, rather than a woman feeding a horse.
- Additionally, the girls actually say that they smile at the good and frown at the bad when they do so, and when they are very sad.
- The magician doesn't appear in the background.
- The girls give the wounded soldier their balloons.
- The clocktower bells are used to frame the girls as they leave the house.
- Madeline and the Girls sing "I'm Madeline", while imagining themselves on a number of adventures (at the circus and on a mountain hike) all while Miss Clavel is trying to keep them in line.
- An anthropomorphic snowman appears in the winter scenes.
- When Madeline scares Miss Clavel while crossing the Seine, she imagines flying across the Parisian skyline in a propeller aircraft, similar to Snoopy and the Red Baron.
- There's an extended sequence in the winter, leading up to Madeline's appendicitis, which makes it very clear that Madeline isn't feeling well, despite encountering all the things that she normally enjoys.
- Madeline is never fitted for new clothes.
- Ms. Clavel sings "Something is Not Right" when rushing to the Girls' bedroom.
- The girls feel bad over Madeline's absence and discuss in childish ignorance what an appendix is.
- It's officially stated that Madeline's appendix is removed.
- Madeline asks the nurse to bring her a couple of mice, scaring the poor woman.
- The girls' daily routine is way much disorganized without Madeline, so they made the wrong decision:
- They frown at the good and smile at the bad, as they don't know when to be happy or sad.
- They switch the second and fourth lines of their premeal verse.
- They brush their bread and (supposedly) break their teeth.
- The girls sing a song when heading to visit Madeline.
- An extended sequence of the girls searching for a present for Madeline, along with flowers and a vase.
- Ms. Clavel leaves the hospital room to have a talk with Dr. Cohn, telling the girls to behave.
- The girls play with a stuffed tiger they bought for Madeline.
- Madeline sings "Voila, my Scar."
- The girls brew over Madeline's perceived fortune to be out of school, in bed with toys, some candy, and a dollhouse.
- Ms. Clavel sings a reprise of "Something is Not Right" when rushing to the Girls' bedroom.
- The girls make elaborate decorations on their stomachs to mimic their appendix scars.
- Madeline winks to the audience via an iris-in, breaking the fourth wall again.
Foreign Language[]
French[]
- The Girls say "Bonjour" (Hello) to introduce themselves to the audience.
- However, "Bonjour" is only correct in the daytime; in the evening or at night, the word is "Bonsoir" (Good evening).
- The Girls say "Bonne nuit" (Good night) to Ms. Clavel. She responds "Bonne nuit, mes enfants" (Good night, my children).
- Nicole says "Mon Dieu" (My God) in fear when seeing the shadow.
- Madeline says "Bonjour, monsieur" (Hello, Sir) and "Merci" (Thank you) to the friendly clown.
- Madeline sings "Alors" (Well then), "Encore" (Again), and "Regardez" (Look) during the "Fly Air Madeline" song.
- Also mentioned are French-named landmarks, "Bronchon d'Alyssez," "Sacre Cœur" (Sacred Heart), and "Île de la Citté" (Island of the City) in said song.
- Madeline says "Non, non, pardon" (No, no, sorry.) and "Merci" when she's sick and can't skate.
- Madeline says "Oui, Oui" (Yes, yes.) to Ms. Clavel to let her know she's okay.
- Miss Clavel says, "Fatiguée" (the feminine form of "fatigué" which in turn means "fatigued") when replying to Madeline's answer.
- Madeline says "S'il vous plaît" (Please) when asking the nurse to bring her a couple of mice.
- Ms. Clavel says "Mes Petites" (My little ones) when they are going to the hospital.
- Madeline sings "Voilà" (Here it is), "Très Chic" (Very classy) when during the "Voila, My Scar" song.
Trivia[]
- In later animated products, some of the other little girls were given darker skin complexions.
- While both Cinar and DIC Entertainment produced the special, the VHS release from Hi-Tops only credits it to DIC Entertainment, while some others only credit it to Cinar.
- This special acts as the pilot episode.
- If one looks closely at Ellie when the girls are showing Miss Clavel their fake scars, she doesn’t have anything drawn on her tummy.
- Joe Raposo, the man who composed the music for the special, is notable for the songs he wrote on Sesame Street.