| Madeline and the Costume Party | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Vital Statistics | |
| Season | 1 |
| Writer(s) | Martha Moran |
| Original Release | December 26, 1993 |
| Previous Episode | Madeline and the Missing Clown |
| Next Episode | Madeline and the Old Violin |
Madeline and the Costume Party is the sixteenth episode of the first season of Madeline animated series.
Summary[]
The girls come down with a case of chicken pox and are quarantined in the Old House.
Plot[]
One afternoon the Girls are in the backyard playing hopscotch when they feel a ground tremor. It turns out to be a large truck leaving the Embassy. It has dropped off a large tent and a number of decorations. Madeline calls to Pepito, asking what is going on. Pepito slyly suggests a number of grand events that could be in preparation. He finally states that the Embassy is having a ball and will be inviting many foreign diplomats. It's going to be a costume ball, so he frankly has no idea who will be attending, much to Madeline's annoyance. Still, the Girls are quite enthused about the ball and ask if they're invited. Pepito has some fun by pretending like he's not sure if they can come. This is interrupted when his mom hands him a stack of invitations he "forgot" to send to the school.
The Girls read there will be a grand prize for the best costume. They quickly get competitive over this prospect and rush inside to make their own costumes. They use materials from all over the school to make a bunch of wacky outfits. However, Madeline can't find one that satisfies her. She tries a fairy-godmother, a flamenco dancer, Pocahontas, and a sheikh. By the evening, after pondering alone, she comes up with a new idea. She comes back into the bedroom with her costume, intending to surprise the Girls with a costume honoring Joan of Arc, one of France's greatest heroes. Everyone is surprised alright, but for an entirely different reason. Madeline's face is covered in red spots!
She races to the mirror and is both confused and horrified by the strange ailment! As it turns out, all the other girls are poxed, too! They race downstairs in a frenzied panic to Ms. Clavel who is reading in the living-room. Sizing up the situation, she immediately puts them to bed and calls Dr. Cohn, who tells her he’ll be there first thing in the morning. As promised, he arrives the following morning to examine them and deduces they have the common childhood illness of chicken-pox. While they'll recover in a few days, Dr. Cohn says the Girls must be quarantined so as to not spread the illness. Ms. Clavel can stay with them as she had the chickenpox herself as a child and is therefore naturally immune. Unfortunately, there is worse to come. This quarantine effectively nixes their morning walks, trips around the city, and worst of all, their attendance at the costume ball. The Girls are quite sad about this.
Over the next few days the Girls stay in bed feeling miserable. They have nothing to do and are suffering dreadfully from the incessant itching of their ungainly spots. Ms. Clavel takes care of them as best as she can, sympathizing with their mood, but she also tells them to remain positive. The vast majority of the Girls decide to make the most of a bad situation by catching up on some sleep and settle in for a nap. Madeline, Chloe, and Danielle, however, are too sad to sleep. Soon, Pepito comes by and asks them to come out and play. They tell him that, while they’d love to, they can't due to their pox. Pepito is worried for his friends’ health, but he can’t help laughing at their predicament. This causes an indignant Chloe and Danielle to go back inside in a huff, and Madeline crossly chews him out for being so insensitive. Realizing he offended the Girls, Pepito apologizes and promises to make things right. Upon his return, he shows off his costume for the ball. To be fair, he was only trying to cheer the Girls up after realizing he'd offended them, but his plan to do so ultimately backfired. While initially impressed with his costume, this makes the Girls even more depressed, and they run back into the bedroom from the balcony in tears. Not realizing that he had caused the girls’ depression to worsen, he returns home feeling very confused.
A few more days pass and the Embassy gets prepared for the party. Madeline's boredom reaches its peak and she declares they can no longer sit in bed sulking and wallowing in self pity. She proposes a game where they all draw patterns on themselves using their spots on their tummies. This heightens their spirits and passes the time. Ms. Clavel comes in later on and is thrilled that the Girls are on the road to recovery, but she proposes baths when she sees they have doodled all over each other.
The next morning the Girls' symptoms (primarily the itchiness and their fevers) have largely dissipated, so Ms. Clavel calls Dr. Cohn. Dr. Cohn observes the Girls have a lot more energy and report feeling much better. He determines they are no longer contagious and consents that they can attend the ball that night. However, they still have lingering spots from the chicken pox. Pepito has a good laugh at their continued condition (so much so he falls off the garden wall-HA!), and the Girls fret about attending the ball before agreeing to an indignation meeting later on. Fortunately, in a stroke of pure genius, Madeline improvises a new idea on how they can adjust their costumes for the ball to make the spots work.
That night, the costume ball gets underway. All the diplomats are wearing fun costumes, including the Ambassador and his wife who are dressed as Conquistadors. Suddenly there is a spade of animal noises coming from the bushes outside. The guests are frightened by the commotion and hide near the back of the tent. Suddenly the Girls charge into the tent wearing animal costumes (using their spots as camouflage) and acting like wild things. They calm down when they get to sample the food. The guests are impressed with the group costume and welcome the Girls to the party.
Madeline asks where Pepito is. His Mother takes them up to his bedroom. It turns out that, in an ironic twist of fate and karma, Pepito is taken ill with chickenpox too and is now bedridden so he can rest and recover. He expects the Girls to laugh at him as payback for being cheeky, but Madeline, being a good sport, decides to forgive him. The other Girls also take pity on him and resolve to stick around with Pepito to keep him company so he's not lonely (as they cannot catch chicken-pox again) as the Party sets off fireworks outside. The Ambassador comes upstairs and tells the Girls they have won the prize for best costume. The Children celebrate and watch the fireworks.
Errors[]
- When Pepito makes fun to the girls who were suffered chicken pox, Madeline's light teal ribbon is missing. This also happens to both Chloe and Danielle who were with Madeline at the time where their light teal ribbons are gone missing as Pepito revealed his bullfighter costume that he will wear for the costume ball before all three girls are running away back inside, crying.
- Chloe's dog drawing from her tummy during their play of connecting the dots, mistakenly saying that drawing resembles Genevieve who is an Irish Setter and the dog drawing on her tummy, resembling a Norwegian Terrier.
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Gallery[]
Video[]
Madeline & The Costume Party - Madeline - WildBrain - Movies for Kids