Cast: Long John Baldry, Tracey Lee Smythe, Kelly Sheridan, Veronika Sztopa, Kristin Fairlie
Rating: Unrated
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Release Date: February 5, 2008
It is possible that I am one of the few females of my age bracket that does not remember growing up with Madeline . She was quite the popular little French diva when I was a child, but for whatever reason, I never managed to connect with her. As an adult, I always thought she was cute.
Had we connected, we probably would have been good friends, Madeline and I. We had so much in common. I always wanted to be able to speak French and she was the perfect little French troublemaker. It’s likely she would have been one of my favorites. There is an even bigger chance that she is or could become a favorite of your daughters.
Madeline: Meet Me in Paris is an absolutely adorable video that offers more than one episode of Madeline doing the things that she does best. Having never really seen the show, I do not have others to compare it to, though I will say that I loved what I had the chance to see. It was funny, intelligent, and it was the kind of cartoons that had substance, like the ones I grew up watching. It’s hard to find too many faults with something so great for kids to enjoy.
Release Information:
Madeline: Meet Me in Paris features three, 22 minute episodes on a full screen DVD. The DVD became available for purchase, courtesy of 20th Century Fox on February 5, 2008. A few special features, including a paper passport, round out this set and make it a steal at $9.99 when purchased at Amazon. If you prefer shopping off of the Internet you can also visit any number of retail stores, where this title should be readily available in the children’s section.
The Madeline: Meet Me in Paris Plot
Madeline – Meet Me in Paris includes three episodes, one of which is listed as a special feature. Each episode is adorable and has the precocious Madeline having fun adventures with her friends. Madeline is based on the book series by Ludwig Bemelmans. In the cartoons, Madeline and her 11 friends at school experience life and good times with Ms. Gravel, the headmistress. Each episode is a full episode, which lasts about 22 minutes and excludes commercials that were once there during the time they aired on television.
The first feature is “At the Louvre”. In this episode, Madeline takes painting lessons. With dreams of getting her painting in the Louvre (once she learns what the Louvre is, of course) Madeline and the girls go for a trip to the famous museum. Due to unforeseen mistakes, Madeline leaves her painting in the museum and when they go back to get it the painting is gone! Before you know it Madeline sees her painting in the paper and discovers that it’s hanging in the Louvre.
In “Eiffel Tower”, Madeline gets a chance to visit one of the most famous landmarks in Paris. While she is there, the neighbor boy, Pepito, dares her to try to drop an egg down to the bottom of the tower where it will land on a pillow. Not only does the egg not land on a pillow (it hits an unsuspecting passerby instead), but the kids get stuck at the top of the tower and have to wait part of the night until someone comes to get them!
The final, bonus episode “Cannes” takes Madeline to the famous film festival and allows the children to learn the importance of imagination and creativity. Not only that, they learn that it will be these traits that can lead them anywhere they want to go in this world.
Parents will love Madeline because she is not only funny and good-hearted, she also is quick to teach a lesson. Of course, these lessons are hidden far enough down so that kids don’t really realize that they are learning. Madeline is strong spirited and has a lot of good qualities despite her sometimes mischievous ways. When it comes to the kids, they will love it because the show is bright and fun from beginning to end. This is a great option for kids under the age of about 8-9 years old.
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Audio/Visual:
The video quality of Madeline: Meet Me in Paris was bright and colorful, as all children’s movies should be. The episodes are available in 1.33:1, full frame video. There are a few soft moments, but there is nothing in this quality that would prohibit viewing. Additionally, there is nothing here that would bother a child viewing the DVD.
The audio quality here is absolutely fine. It’s Dolby Digital 5.1 and it sounds fabulous. There was no volume toggling necessary. While the video was good, the audio really shined through as the winner, quality wise. In addition to the audio, there are subtitles in English and Spanish and closed captioning available.
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Bonus Features:
Madeline: Meet Me in Paris offers a few bonus features. Some of them parent’s will love and some kids will love. It ends up working out for both parties. There is a bonus episode, Madeline in Cannes that was previously discussed in the plot area. The other bonus features are both wonderful inclusions. The first is Watch & Read. This is nice for parents who are helping their children learn to read. Somewhat like closed captioning, Watch & Read allows your child to read along with the dialogue and see the words light up as they are spoken so they learn which words are which, in writing.
The other feature that kids will love is a passport that has a separate page of stickers. Kids can add the stickers to the passport and have their own little document. Naturally, this passport won’t really get them anywhere, but it is cute nonetheless.
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Bottom Line:
Madeline: Meet Me in Paris is an adorable video that kids will love. Younger parents will find delight in watching something that was popular when they were children. It’s one of those videos that you can watch with the kids and have as much fun watching it as they do. This is perfect for kids as old as seven or eight, and possibly older. Taking into the account that it’s a small video, the price is fair and it’s well worth the entertainment value that will come from watching this.
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Technorati Tags: Madeline: Meet Me in Paris, 20th Century Fox, Kids Movie, DVD, Paris, French, School, Movie
Written by Ashtyn Evans – Visit Website
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Ashtyn is in her early 30s. She is a mother, writer, college student, and music lover. Ashtyn has had a successful career as a writer since 2003. She turned to blogging in 2005. Ashtyn is getting a degree in Psychology. She has extensive knowledge in SEO and Social Media Development.
