Madeline
Introduction
The Madeline series follows the adventures of a Merici College schoolgirl with red hair named Madeline. Based on the current student Maddie Bolas, Year 10. She often causes mischief for her teacher, Miss Clavel (Mrs.McLeod). Miss Clavel and all twelve of the pupils at her all-girls school live in "an old house in Paris, that was covered with vines."
The books, and the show, detail Madeline's daily adventures in 1940's France. Every day, she and her friends break their bread, brush their teeth, go to bed, and go for a walk in two straight lines. As well, each book shows Madeline's bravery and kindness, especially in the face of adversity.
Literary series
Madeline is a popular children's book series written by American author Ludwig Bemelmans of Austrian and German origins. The first book in the series, Madeline, was published in 1939. It proved to be a success, and Bemelmans wrote many sequels to the original during the 1940s and 1950s. The series continues to this day, written by Bemelman's grandson Mr. Bemelmans-Mariano.
Film and television adaptations
Madeline on the silver screen
The earliest appearances of Madeline in the cinema was in the 1952 animated short Madeline', produced by United Productions of America (UPA) and directed by Bobe Cannon. The film was nominated for the 1952 Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Cartoons), but lost to the Tom and Jerry cartoon Johann Mouse.
A live-action feature adaptation of Madeline, produced in France by Jaffilms but shot in English, was released in 1998 by Tri-Star Pictures. It starred Hatty Jones as the title character, and Frances MacDormand as Miss Clavell. and its script encompassed the plots of three of the books. Original music for the film was provided by Michel Legrand and has Carly Simon singing the theme song "In Two Straight Lines".
Madeline on TV
In the late 1980s, Cinar adapted the first six Madeline books into six animated television specials for DiC. In 1993, DiC began producing a Madeline Saturday morning cartoon for ABC. 26 episodes were produced for the series (Season 1). Legacy of Cinar's work can be found in these early episodes as they opened to "I'm Madeline", which was originally composed at Cinar. Additionally, Christopher Plummer, the actor hired to be the narrator on the Cinar specials, was recruited to narrate the series. Until recently the show was aired on the Disney Channel and Toon Disney in the US, and is still repeated daily on Disney networks and affiliates worldwide. In 1995, the show was renamed to The New Adventures of Madeline, and an additional 13 episodes was produced for the show (Season 2). The new episodes also featured a new theme song: "Hats off To Madeline". In 2001, another new batch of 28 episodes were produced (Season 3). The theme song was once again changed, this time to "Oh, Madeline!" (although overseas airings of the episodes still had "Hats off to Madeline" as the opening theme instead). In addition, Chirstopher Plummer was succeeded by Christopher Gaze as narrator of the series.
TV specials
DiC also produced two animated telefilms. Madeline: Lost in Paris (1999) featured Madeline being drawn into a scam by her supposed "Uncle" Horst, and finding out the true meaning to the word "family." The second cartoon feature, Madeline: My Fair Madeline (2002), puts our beloved heroine in a London finishing school as punishment for trying to stop two thieves from robbing the Louvre. When she finds out that the thieves are in London, Madeline does everything she can to stop them from stealing the Crown Jewels.
Soundtracks and audiobooks
Madeline audiobooks have been appearing since the early 70s in the form of vinyl records. The record typically consists of a mixture of stories and songs.
The first soundtrack for the TV series was Madeline's Favorite Songs, released in 1995. It contains 16 tracks of music from the Cinar specials (although "I'm Madeline" was also used by DiC on the 1993 episodes. The second soundtrack, Hats off to Madeline, was released in 1996. It contained 17 tracks of music from the 1993 and 1995 episodes of the show. In 2002, the latest Madeline soundtrack to date, Sing-A-Long With Madeline, was released, featuring 27 tracks of music from the 2001 episodes.
Computer CD-ROMs
Madeline CD-ROMs started appearing in the early 90s, in time with the TV show. The CDs were compatible with both Microsoft Windows and Apple Macintosh based PCs. They were published by Broderbund (and The Learning Company, after the latter acquired the former).
Toys
Madeline toys were initially produced by Eden Toys LLC. After the acquisition of Eden by Learning Curve, Learning Curve now produces Madeline toys.