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Madeline is a media franchise that originated as a series of children's books written and illustrated by Ludwig Bemelmans. The books have been adapted into numerous formats, spawning telefilms, television series and a live action feature film. The stories take place in a Catholic boarding school in Paris. The teacher, named Miss Clavel, is strict but loves the children, cares for them, and is open to their ideas.
Most of the media starts with the line "In an old house in Paris that was covered in vines, lived twelve little girls in two straight lines ..." and end with an invocation of a famous phrase used by Ethel Barrymore to rebuff curtain calls: "That's all there is, there isn't any more". The stories often are written entirely in rhyme, include simple themes of daily life, and the playful but harmless mischief of Madeline, which appeal to children and parents alike. Most of the books have several recurring themes, such as Miss Clavel turning on the light and saying: "Something is not right".
In the first book, Madeline gets sick, is taken to the hospital, has her appendix removed, and all the gifts she has received cause the other girls to become envious. In Madeline's Rescue she falls into the Seine River and brings back the dog that saved her life. In Madeline and the Bad Hat she meets Pepito, the son of the Spanish Ambassador to France, and works to convince him to change his naughty ways.
Dell Comics published a Four Color Comics issue in 1942 titled "Ludwig Bemelman's Madeline and Genevieve".
In 1959, William L. Snyder's Rembrandt Films produced animated adaptations of Madeline's Rescue, Madeline and the Bad Hat and Madeline and the Gypsies for the educational film market. The latter two were featured, along with other similar adaptations of children's books, in Snyder and Gene Deitch's 1966 theatrical feature Alice of Wonderland in Paris.
Live-action film:
A live-action feature adaptation of Madeline, shot in France by Jaffilms but produced in Britain with predominantly British accents, was released in 1998 by TriStar Pictures. It starred Hatty Jones as the title character, Frances McDormand as Miss Clavel, and a supporting cast with British actors Ben Daniels and Nigel Hawthorne. Its script encompassed the plots of four of the books. Original music was composed by Michel Legrand and Carly Simon sang the theme song "In Two Straight Lines". It was directed by Daisy Mayer. The 1998 live action version significantly differed from the TV series and the main book continuity. The filming location of the boarding house and neighbouring Spanish Ambassador's house, can be found at Avenue du Colifichet, Croissy-sur-Seine, although both houses are now obscured by hedging and fencing.
The first soundtrack for the TV series was Madeline's Favorite Songs, released in 1995. It contains 16 tracks of music composed by Joe Raposo or Jeffrey Zahn with lyrics by Judy Rothman from the DIC and Cinar specials. The second soundtrack, Hats off to Madeline, was released in 1996. It contained 17 tracks of music from the 1993 and 1995 episodes with music by Andy Street and lyrics by Judy Rothman. In 2002, the latest Madeline soundtrack to date, Sing-A-Long With Madeline, was released, featuring 27 tracks of music from the 2001 episodes and they were also written by Andy Street and Judy Rothman.
| Madeline | TriStar Pictures | ||
| My Fair Madeline | MGM Home Entertainment | ||
| Shout! Factory |
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