Madeline [G]

In an old house in Paris that was covered in vines, lived twelve little girls in two straight lines. 

Based on the book and the animated series of the same name, Madeline is a sugary sweet little film that really is for the junior audience. I remember loving this movie as a child but, like A Simple Wish, it just didn’t stand up when I revisited it as an adult. 

In an old house in Paris that was covered in vines, lived twelve little girls in two straight lines. In two straight lines they broke their bread, and brushed their teeth, and went to bed. They smiled at the good and frowned at the bad. And sometimes they were very sad. They left the house at half past nine, in two straight lines in rain or shine. The smallest one was Madeline. 

Little Madeline, orphaned at a young age, has found a family with Miss Clavel and the twelve little girls who go to school with her. But her family is threatened when Lord Covington, the owner of the school, decides to sell it. Now, Madeline is at war with the adults, trying to make her voice heard, and she will even go so far to ask the nasty little boy next door, Pepito, for help. 

Obviously the basic idea of kids against adults is something that brings the junior audience in to see this film. I remember thinking that this movie was fun, action-packed, and funny, but watching it as an adult, I am grateful that my taste and general observation skills have matured. 

The film is basically a montage of episodes of the cartoon series, including the introduction of Pepito, how the girls came by Genevieve, and when Madeline has her appendix taken out. And then there is the added dramatic element of Lord Covington trying to sell the school and the kidnapping plot next door. Ultimately, this movie is really just a sugary sweet kids’ film and nothing more. It holds no joy for adults, except possibly to admire what cute and innocent actors all the children are. 

Hatty Jones, who plays Madeline, was very cute and she had that vivacious, outspoken, and irrepressible spirit that the heroine of the book always had. Also, scarily enough, she reminds me a bit of one of my cousins…it’s actually rather scary. 

Starring Frances McDormand, Nigel Hawthorne, Ben Daniels, Stephanie Audran, Chantal Neuwirth, Clare Thomas, and Kristian De La Osa, Madeline is a cute little film, but it’s really one for the kids. Filled with slapstick comedy, drama, innocent wars, and two straight lines, I’m glad to have revisited it, but unfortunately I do think I’ve grown up a bit too much to enjoy it.