As a fond lover of the TV series I was intrigued by how this would turn out. Madeline:Lost in Paris is not bad, but also not too great. It is well animated, with lovely Parisian backgrounds and colourful drawings. The characters especially Madeline and Miss Clavel are appealing, and Madame Lacroque is a convincing enough villainess. Also the voice acting from Christopher Plummer, Lauren Bacall, Jason Alexander, Andrea Libman and Stevie Vallance is absolutely top-notch, particularly Bacall who seems to be having a ball with this film. However, some of the story is rushed, and the songs with some rather over-simplistic lyrics are forgettable at best. And maybe I am alone in this notion but the film did have some disappointingly bland dialogue. On the whole though, this is not bad. 7/10 Bethany Cox
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TheLittleSongbird1 April 2010
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Harrypotterfan_199629 July 2007Madeline: Lost in Paris, Eh? First off, Its for kids aged 4-8, maybe 9. I had this when i was little, and i watched it today because i wuz bored. I wuz alone, though. I have just finished watching it, and i must say, its a little boring, but, well, its for kids age 4-9, so, what can i expect? The songs were a little catchy, (in an annoying way) So anyway, it shows about 5 new songs, one sining about familys, another for the grown ups entertainment done by the girls etc. So anyway, if you have little kids aged 4-8, i'd suggest this movie. If you cant find it on the shelfs or in a bargain bin for 5 bucks, i'd go on E-bay or Amazon. So yeah, thats about it.
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richard_wright16 February 2003O.K here's a quick summary of the plot: Madeline is an orphan. She is a good girl but one always seems to end up in some sort of trouble because of her tomboy-ish nature. She lives in a home in France with 11 other little girls who walk in straight lines and tend to say everything in unison. They are looked after by a kind-hearted nun(?) and have an abnormally smart dog. Other characters include the somewhat dim-witted governor of the house and the son of the Spanish Ambassador who lives next door with his father and seems to hold a torch for Madeline. This was originally a book that was a favourite for females in the 5-8 bracket, before becoming an animated series from which this film is derived from.
To start with, the animation is a huge improvement from the TV programme, with bright colours and some actual movement in the background. Madeline and her friends are pretty simplisticly drawn, but the art does it's purpose and does not claim to be Toy Story quality. The voiceovers are typically in English but done in French accents: how these people who were born and bred in France are fluent in English is not explained, neither is why they never use their native tongue (They write in it a couple of times) but it sounds amusing nontheless, with Lauren Bacall the undoubted highlight playing the very bald villianess.
The storyline gets pretty frenetic at times, but not so much that young minds will get lost in it. There are some pretty scary moments involving a child abduction and threats made with a pair of scissors, but nothing that should unduly concern any parent of a child of school going age. However, the songs in the film are absolutely dreadful, with forced rhymes and twee lyrics a common factor: don't expect the accompaning soundtrack album to exactly sell out in the shops. A good idea to praise the inventor of the mute switch, methinks. Aside from that, they are a couple of moments for grown-ups in the movie, like when a police artist does a Picasso rather than what he is instructed to do, but such parts are rare and mostly this is a kid-only enterprise.
Basically this is an ideal babysitter for the sprogs when Mum and Dad are busy round the house, but anybody over the age of 10 will probably quickly tire of it any go off to do something more interesting. By all means watch it with your young un's, but don't be surprised if you nod off after half an hour. There are certain cartoon films out there designed for all the family and people of all ages, like Shrek and Ice Age. This is not one of them.
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elizabeth_77722 June 2020This movie gave me awful nightmares as a kid. Even watching it now, it creeps me out. And I'm a huge horror fan. But ig if your kid isn't scared by that sort of thing, it'd be a good one.
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kill-the-boxtrolls3 November 2010This film was terribly done. I'm glad I got it from the library and didn't have to pay $19.59 at Amazon to throw it into the garbage. I nearly turned the show off because of how scary and stupid it was. In fact, I could've watched Monsters, Inc. instead to get my 30 minutes back despite that Monsters Inc. is longer than this crap. The character voices are the same as the show, so there's nothing to worry about them, but the new actors they added for the new characters such as Lauren Bacall. I've always thought that Andrea Libman did a good job with Madeline, but I didn't like the other voice actress. She sounds gay with the other one and not french accent. Okay, on with the storyline.
The plot is a continuation to the ended series where Madeline talks to her friends about the truth of her family. Then, Miss Clavel walks to the door and comes up with her uncle, then she has to go live with HIM. Soon, he reveals himself as a villain and locks the little girl up in a chamber with a bunch of other girls who have to work on hair laces with projects. She soon makes a new friend and a woman villain gets mad at her and separates her by putting her in a small little chamber.
Now, the plot I've just written just scared me even though I'm a 17 yr ole teenage boy. The person who wrote it probably doesn't know how children feel when they are locked up in a dungeon. Did they get this idea from Oliver Twist? The Princess Bride? Well, those were good movies because they were unique. Madeline is based off of a popular collection of children's' books that Ludwig Bemelmans used to write back in the 30s' and those books were supposed to be childlike and kid-friendly, but no, this writer wants to abuse Madeline and make it not kid-friendly. It's too scary for younger children and it's too boring for even the older viewers.
Avoid this Madeline and watch the 1998 live action version or the series. They are both good while the live-action version is somewhat mean but childlike with a sense of humor and somewhat educational while the show is very educational with kid-friendly adventures and a childlike sense of humor, but Lost in Paris is tended to scare children so please do not watch this. -
Based on characters and settings created by author/artist Ludwig Bemelmans in 1939 in his book "Madeline", this is a wonderful 75-minute musical feature for very young children. Our two-year-old girl loves it even though the plot is sophisticated enough to please a ten-year-old. The voice talents of Christopher Plummer (as the narrator) and Lauren Bacall are superb. The characters speak and sing with charming Parisian accents, often breaking into a little genuine French. Like the book, the narration is in verse. The drawings are certainly cleaner than Bemelmans' originals yet retain their stylized charm, including the famous scenes of actual places throughout Paris and the "twelve little girls in two straight lines" led by Miss Clavel.
The story is a new one created 60 years after the book's publication. Its central theme is "family". Unlike the book, here little Madeline seems to be an orphan and longs for a family of her own. Hoping to find long-lost relatives she undergoes a dangerous adventure in which she learns that some of the essential attributes of family may be found among friends with whom one breaks bread. The resourceful and brave Madeline is helped by old friends and helps new ones in turn.
Do not confuse this film with a series of 20-minute cartoons made about a decade earlier. Although also narrated by Christopher Plummer, these shorts are cheap Saturday-morning affairs without merit in plot, animation or music. By contrast "Madeline Lost in Paris" is a keeper. -
I am currently 18 years old, but this movie scarred me so much that I remember every detail of the plot. Basically, Madeline get snatched by a creepy dude who wants her parents money so he pretends to be her uncle. So then he takes her to a CREEPY LACE FACTORY in A BASEMENT with other sad little girls who got SNATCHED. WHAT!!! THATS SO SCARY!! I thought I was going to get snatched and exploited for child labor!! And I remember this poor little girl with black hair got her hair turned into lace because she disobeyed and Madeline almost also got her hair cut off for red lace. WHO CAME UP WITH THIS PLOT!!! I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW!! And then all the other little children from Madelines school have to find her based on the beads of Madelines mothers necklace that broke off along the way to the creepy lace factory. Parents, don't show your kids this unless you want them to be shook about it throughout their adult lives.
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This is a good movie I really enjoy you do it madeleine is fantastic it's absolutely good movie to watch and it's a bittersweet movie as well I loved it.
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That Madeline is an orphan is a popular misconception, added to by the plot of this movie; she lives in a boarding school, not an orphanage.
This is a cute cartoon, and truly is appropriate for the whole family, unlike films like _Shrek_ that contain inappropriate humor. The music and animation are very simple, but have a nice, relaxing effect. Too many children's shows use frenetic imagery and postmodern art that encourages hyperactivity. This is
My main critique is that, while the story gets different in the last part, the beginning is a very obvious rip-off of _Annie_. There are several other clichés throughout the story, but it still has enough originality to make it worthwhile. -
Is this movie represented by the band called Lost in Paris out of Philadelphia at www. lost in Paris band. com (no spaces)
I was curious because I do not think there is a very close connection, but perhaps one of the band members is somehow related to the director of the film.
In fact I believe I did hear one of the members saying something about that, and that is how they came up with the name. Perhaps they were trying to promote familiarity with the movie title in artistic circles.
Still it seems a very remote possibility as the music performed is not original, but rather cover songs