Shout Factory | 1999 | 75 mins. | Not Rated
As a child, I remember reading several of the many Madeline children’s books written by Ludwig Bemelmans. The first book appeared in 1939, and proved to be a major success. Bemelmans wrote several sequels throughout the 1940’s and ‘50’s. His grandson, John Bemelmans-Marciano, continues to write books to this day. Naturally, the books were later adapted into a series of television specials and films. Throughout much of the ’90s, the specials were narrated by the legendary Christopher Plummer, who took his final turn in that role during 1999’s straight-to-video feature film The Madeline Movie: Lost in Paris. That feature is now re-appearing in a straightforward DVD reissue, completely free of bonus features.
Here, Madeline (Andrea Libman) is still an orphan living at a French boarding school with the kind Miss Clavel (Stevie Vallance) and her fellow students. One day, a letter arrives from Madeline’s long-lost Uncle Horst (Jason Alexander), stating he will be coming for a visit. Predictably, young Madeline is thrilled to learn she still has a relative. She’s even more excited that Uncle Horst wants to adopt her and provide her with a proper home. Unfortunately for Madeline, her “Uncle” isn’t who he claims to be. As it turns out, the visitors name is Henri and he only pretended to be Madeline’s uncle so that he could get custody of her and force her to work for the villainous Madame LaCroque (Lauren Bacall) in a sweat shop. Though as anyone who is familiar with Madeline knows, she’s a smart cookie and finds a way out of her predicament.
As with other films, this story is very straightforward. Adults will be able to see exactly where the story is going within minutes. However, the film will undoubtedly appeal to its very young target audience, as they root for little, brave Madeline. While most adults will likely be bored—the film does nothing to try and provide anything in the way of entertainment for parents—you can feel completely safe letting very young children watch this one unattended.
As one might expect, the voice talent is solid across the board. As he did with earlier Madeline titles, Christopher Plummer gives the film a smooth, warm narration. Lauren Bacall’s turn as the villainous Madame LaCroque is definitely a highlight. Jason Alexander seems to be having a great time toying with a kooky French accent, while seasoned voice actors Andrea Libman and Stevie Vallance are pros in the key roles of Madeline and Miss Clavel.
The transfer is somewhat mediocre, with some of the more active moments appearing blurry and suffering from minor color bleeding. The colors don’t quite pop off the screen the way they ought to; the movie looks older than it is. Even so, young children probably won’t notice or mind very much. Audio is quite solid, with the warmly stereotypical waltz music coming through with clarity. Dialogue is clean and clear as well. As I mentioned earlier, there are no extras on the disc.
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