Madeline and the Soccer Star is the fifth episode of the first season of Madeline animated series.
Summary[]
Madeline's country cousin, Andre, comes to visit while his farmhouse is undergoing an extensive overhaul.
Plot[]
The Girls head out one morning to practice with their soccer team, Les Tigers. Ms. Clavel can't join them as she is working on her vegetable garden. They meet Pepito and the other guys on the team at his house. Pepito's dad coaches the team which is one of the best in the school league. On the way to the park, they discuss their strategies as they will be playing a team called Les Rois in the championship game. Currently, they're two for two against Les Rois, so they're looking to notch up a third victory.
The team practices all day. Everyone's skills are sufficient, but there's no real expert among them. In the evening the Girls head home. Unfortunately Ms. Clavel has had a rough day as her garden is quite unhealthy. She gives Madeline a letter she received. It's from her cousin Andre who lives on a farm outside of Paris. His family is renovating his house and he is asking if he can stay in Paris at the school. They start getting the old house ready for Andre to come as a guest. Madeline has not seen Andre since the both of them were three years old. She remembers he was very handsome.
The Girls imagine what Andre might be like. They expect him to be tall, strong, handsome and well dressed. On the day of Andre's arrival they wait outside the school for him from eight-thirty to almost noon. They get annoyed and impatient that Andre's making them wait so long. He then arrives, on an old wagon drawn by a weak horse. He's nothing like the girls imagined, he's short, skinny and homely. He humbly asks if he has the right address. Madeline greets him and he gives her a very droopy bouquet of flowers. Madeline doesn't mind though and admires the thoughtful gesture from her cousin.
Later that night, Andre is shown to be quite a shy fellow. He doesn't speak at dinner. Madeline helps him unpack in his room. He doesn't have much, and not for traveling light. The two Fogg kids catch up, with Madeline laughing as Andre tells funny stories about his family. Meanwhile the other Girls are in their bedroom not laughing with Andre, but rather at him. They make fun of his stature and that he has baggy pants. Madeline hears this from outside and comes charging into the room enraged and red in the face, and the laughter from the others immediately stops. She defends Andre and asserts that he is a wonderful person. The other Girls dismiss her, calling Andre a country bumpkin before laughing again. Furious at the continuing disrespect for her cousin, Madeline starts a very aggressive pillow war with them. Eventually, everyone calms down, and the Girls take back what they said about Andre. Madeline hopes she can get them to officially accept Andre.
Andre turns out to be excellent with agriculture. He quickly turns Ms. Clavel's weak garden into a thriving farm. A few days later Madeline invites Andre to soccer practice, but he says he has too many chores to do. Madeline pushes more and Andre reveals that he cannot play soccer. Madeline departs with her friends, leaving Andre upset and alone.
Madeline feels bad during practice that she left Andre behind, so she hurries back to the school to check in on him. She finds him grumbling in the garden, furious with being seen as a simple bumpkin. In his rage, he gives a pumpkin a sharp kick, sending it flying over the wall. Madeline is astonished and invites Andre to play on the team, but Andre is too shy to attempt the game.
Andre's gardening is more than superb, but it begins to annoy the other girls. By now plants are growing everywhere, and the old house is starting to look like an overgrown jungle. The Girls are fed up with eating nothing but vegetables and tell Madeline she has to do something about Andre. Madeline relents and assigns Andre to be the equipment manager for Les Tigers. He does well at this and everyone starts to like him more.
The day of the championship game has arrived and everyone boards a bus for the game's venue in Versailles. Andre finally gets a tour of Paris as they pass all of the landmarks on their way out of the City. At Versailles there is a country fair accompanying the game. Madeline tries her hand at a game and wins two teddy bears.
Later it's time for the game to start. Les Tigers are intimidated when Les Rois arrives as everyone on the team has grown significantly and are in top form. The game starts and quickly Les Rois takes the lead. Madeline convinces the Ambassador to let Andre try playing, assuming his pumpkin kick will translate to a soccer score. Unfortunately Andre is quite weak at soccer and causes embarrassment for the team. Madeline gets another idea and paints an orange blotch on the soccer ball. Andre's now able to visualize the ball as a pumpkin and starts kicking a number of goals. Les Tigers pull ahead and win the game 13 to 12. The team is quite happy to have won and credit Andre for the victory.
The next day it's time for Andre to head home as his dad needs help running the family farm. He departs and all the Girls are sad to see him go. Chloe admits he is more sophisticated than she thought, and Nicole even thinks he's kind of cute. This could be a hint that Nicole developed a small crush on him. Whether or not that is true is up for debate as Andre is never seen nor mentioned again after this episode. Rather unfortunate. But there's one thing they agree on to be happy about Andre leaving, NO MORE VEGETABLES!
Errors[]
- When the Spanish Ambassador's own soccer team had won with André became their ace player of the game, his hair was mistakenly drawn bald with short black hair in each sides. He was comnonly seen in a full head of hair in later seasons.
Song[]
Video[]
Madeline 105 - Madeline & The Soccer Star