- "Être petite ne m'a pas arrêtée d'être courageuse ! (Being small didn't stop me from being brave!)"
- ―Madeline tells her backstory to Madame LaCroque's prisoners in Madeline: Lost in Paris
Madeline, also known by her full name Madeline Fogg, is the main protagonist and title character of the Madeline series.
Biography
Background
Paris
Throughout most of her childhood, Madeline has attended the boarding school in Paris, France under the care of Miss Clavel. She made a major impression on the other girls through her imagination and bravery.
At some point Madeline had appendicitis and required surgery. She spent the next few weeks recuperating in the hospital, visited often by her friends and showcasing her scar from the surgery.
Dog Name Genevieve: She once fell off a bridge into the River Seine and was rescued by a stray dog named Genevieve whom she adopted. Madeline grew quite attached to Genevieve before Lord Cucuface and the head of trustees of the school, forced Genevieve leave. Madeline was quite upset and searched everywhere for her. Genevieve found her way back home eventually, to everyone's surprise gave birth to a litter of puppies.
Madeline Christmas: One Christmas everyone in the boarding school fell sick, leaving Madeline to care for everyone alone in depression. She befriended a local citizen person who was thought to be angel. She look after the students and their teacher's health and cleaned up the whole house while Madeline exhausted fell a sleep. She encourages Madeline not to loose hope: A Guardianship is always close by. Christmas Eve: she left the school to spend time with her family however Boarder Dorm Parent's at the same time showed up in surprise. Took-Over in place of the Guardian until they whole school got better.
Madeline and the Magic Rug: Madeline had a dream and met a flying Rug named Em See. She needed Madeline's help to search for a magic Lamp before Daylight Comes. The Magic Rug flew over the Seine Town, and River with Two bad Hats: Pepito and his Cousin. Location to search all over the city and back before the night is over. Only a best friend could free the Genie: Jeanette from the lamp, even when Madeline did so much for them already.
Bad Hat: Later the Spanish Ambassador and his family moved into the neighboring house. Madeline initially disliked their son Pepito due to his constant, mean-spirited pranks and his cruelty towards animals. However, he changed his ways after one of his prank backfired and soon became close friends with Madeline.
Madeline and the Gypsies: The two shared an adventure across outside Paris-France, Terrible Storm: Stuck on a Ferris-Wheel: they traveled with a caravan of Gypsy Entertainers. Ms. Clevel and the Children travel by train eventually returning them home; safe and Sound..
The Unfortunate New: After Christmas; Madeline received the unfortunate news that her great-grandfather had passed away in the United States. She traveled to Texas with her class to hear his Last Will and Testimony. The class meanwhile had a fun time learning about America and enjoying the perks of Madeline's Newfound Wealth. In the Spring they vacationed in Rome for a few days and met a girl named Caterina. Helped her rescue a number of stray cats and gave them up for adoption to dozens of tourists.
Madeline and the Haunted Ghost: In the fall: Pepito returned to Paris and helped Madeline in a bid to help a ghost/ A hidden Orphan child that live in the basement of old Boarder house, the students would not dare go down-stairs. They help him retrieve his telescope and he met a Head Master of a Boys school who would take him in. Never to haunting the Old Boarder Dorm School for Girls ever again.
Appearance
Madeline is the shortest in her class, standing several inches beneath the others. She has black eyes and fair skin, with short, red hair framing her face and cut above her shoulders. Like the others, she wears a blue dress with white accent and a yellow hair ribbon, or a yellow dress with white gloves, collar, and socks, worn with a yellow hat that has a black ribbon on it to match her shoes.
Personality
Despite her small size, Madeline is the bravest among her classmates. This has been shown through several instances, such as standing before a tiger and simply saying "Pooh, Pooh!", or proudly showing her appendix scar to the others while recuperating at a hospital. In spite of her small stature and apparent innocence, Madeline has a penchant for mischief, often making Miss Clavel nervous of her and the other students' well-being, though this has considerably been toned down in the animated series, being portrayed as more proper and obedient. While initially indifferent if not outright hostile towards Pepito at first, the two did develop an amicable relationship afterwards. Madeline is well-liked by the other girls, due to her ability to take charge and sunny disposition.
Abilities
Madeline is very fit and athletic for a girl of her age, capable of performing handstands, cartwheels and backflips with ease. She has also shown to have excellent balance. Madeline is the most talented ice skater in her class (this talent was downplayed in Madeline and the Ice Skates).
Trivia
- In a 2014 interview, John Bemelmans-Marciano revealed that Madeline was originally going to be American, upon discovering several manuscripts and sketches for the then-unpublished book.
- Although depicted as having black eyes in most media, she is described as having blue eyes in The Golden Basket.
- Madeline's hair is described as being "copper red" in The Golden Basket. While this is true in the specials and early in the tv series, in later seasons her hair darkens towards auburn. This may be explained as natural color changes with aging.
- She is the inheritor of her great-grandfather's fortune. This includes the King Ranch in Texas, an active gold mine, an oil field capable of producing one million barrels per day, and a share in the Neiman Marcus department store in Dallas.
- Originally, Madeline was not portrayed as an orphan. Madeline's portrayal as an orphan in the 1998 film and Lost In Paris may have led to this misconception. It should also be noted that many fans consider the 1998 live-action movie to be a standalone film–thus making it non-canon with the animated series. Also, Madeline was the only known orphan in the school.
- She and Yvette seem to have an on-and-off rivalry. This was seen particularly in the episode "Madeline and the Show Off" during the third season of The New Adventures of Madeline.
- Madeline's last two voice actresses, Andrea Libman and Chantal Strand, voiced two girl characters in the TV series Dragon Tales (as Emmy and Cassie, respectively). Both actresses also voiced characters in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.
- In Madeline's Birthday at the Zoo, seven candles are seen on her birthday cake. In Madeline and the Ice Skates, ten candles are seen. Interestingly Birthday at the Zoo is depicted in warm weather while Ice Skates is depicted in the wintertime.
- Madeline has two favorite colors: yellow (as stated in Madeline's Birthday at the Zoo) and blue (as stated in Madeline and the Show-off).
- She plays the violin in Madeline and the Old Violin and Madeline and the Ice Skates.
