In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines,
Lived twelve little girls in two straight lines.
They left the house, at half past nine...
The smallest one was Madeline.

I think it's been a few years since episodes of the various Madeline television series have been released on DVD, so fans of author Ludwig Bemelmans' delightful little imp Madeline may want to check out 20th Century-Fox's Madeline: Meet Me in Paris, a cute collection of three episodes from the 1990s Family Channel-commissioned series. Episodes here include Madeline at the Louvre (from 1993), Madeline at the Eiffel Tower (from 2000), and included as a bonus, Madeline in Cannes (also from 2000).

To be honest, it had been some time since I flipped through a Madeline book (my eldest daughter was a big fan), so I searched around for a few before watching Madeline: Meet Me in Paris, just to refresh my memory. And indeed, they are so charming and sweet. Always beginning with the lines referenced above, author and illustrator Bemelmans creates an enchanting Parisian atmosphere of both excitement and security (the rigidity - and safety - of the girls' routine, contrasted with little Madeline's rambunctious willingness to slightly break the rules) as he tells the various adventures of Madeline, an inquisitive, precocious 8-year-old at a Paris boarding school, run by nun Miss Clavel. Bemelmans, who evidently saw himself more as an illustrator and serious artist rather than as a writer per se, has an enchantingly light, airy hand to his work, a distinctive style that the animators of these shorts come acceptably close - within the limits of lower-budgeted TV animation - to recreating.

In Madeline at the Louvre, Madeline is taken by the work of Ludwig, a friend of Miss Clavel's who paints every day down on the Left Bank. Quickly deciding she wants to be an artist, Madeline takes up paint and brush and creates a quality "primitive" of her boarding school house. Taking the painting along with her when the girls visit the Louvre, her painting is waylaid and mistaken for an un-cataloged masterwork. Critics and the museum director plan to hang the picture in the galleries, sending out word to the public for any information regarding the artist. When Madeline bravely steps forward, no one believes her, until she paints another picture to prove it. Unfortunately, the critics gathered to watch aren't on her side this time, and her work is rejected...until the museum director tells Madeline they'd still like to hang her first picture in Louvre galleries. Madeline accomplished what few artists ever dreamed of achieving: having her work hang in the most famous art gallery in the world.

In Madeline at the Eiffel Tower, Madeline and the girls conduct various science experiments in gravity at the boarding school to see if they can protect an egg dropped from the second story balcony. All the girls fail, but smart little Madeline figures out that a strategically place pillow allows her egg to survive unscathed, and for her efforts, she is to be at the head of the line when the group goes to the Eiffel Tower the next day. After visiting the Parisian landmark, Madeline is dared by Pepito (the Spanish ambassador's naughty son who lives next door to the girls) into doing something she knows is wrong: going back up to the top of the Tower to drop an egg from it, just as she did with her science experiment. Afraid to be called chicken, she goes up with Pepito, and hides from the elevator guide who calls out that the tower is closing, and that everyone must leave. After the last elevator is gone, Madeline realizes what's she's done, but the two are stuck at the top when the elevator goes out of service. Alone and increasing cold on the dark, wind-swept tower platform, the two try to figure out a way to signal somebody below, but it isn't until Miss Clavel, almost back home, realizes that Madeline is missing. Deducing that she is still at the tower, she manages to get them down, but not before they've learned their lesson about daring someone to do something wrong.

And in Madeline at Cannes, Madeline, sick with a sinus infection, is given good news: she and the girls are going to escape the steady rain and cold of Paris for a vacation to the beaches of Cannes, at the behest of Lord Cucuface (the owner of the building that houses their boarding school). Delighted to be out in the warm, sea air, Madeline quickly recovers - only to receive a severe sunburn when she refused to listen to the other girls about staying too long in the sun. Now unable to frolic on the beach for the rest of the trip, Madeline is even more bored than when she was sick in Paris. But Lord Cucuface comes to the rescue, telling Madeline to use her imagination and think of something fun to do. Inviting several movie star friends over for tea, Madeline comes up with a plan to create a film festival celebrating the movie people - a plan that wins her the admiration of the publicity-loving actors.

There's an airiness, a lightness of touch to these Madeline shorts that I found quite infectious. While the artwork and the designs use Bemelmans' original work as an inspiration and starting point (the animation is "limited," and fairly coarse), the breezy, bright feel of Bemelmans' writing is nicely recreated. With these shorts created for young TV viewers today, of course educational considerations are first and foremost in the intentions of the scripts. Through Madeline's frequent trial-and-error stumblings towards growing up, moral lessons are reinforced: never give up trying and be the best person you can possibly be (Madeline at the Louvre); don't do something you know, deep down, is wrong, no matter how much someone else wants you to (Madeline at the Eiffel Tower); use your imagination and try and better your circumstances; don't fall into a depression because things don't work out your way - make those circumstance better with your efforts (Madeline at Cannes)

And of course, Madeline provides a much needed role model for little girls, as well. "Bravery" is a word most associated with the character (it's mentioned several times on the DVD box alone), and I think it's an apt one. While the stories always emphasize she's the littlest girl in the group, through her pluck and (sometimes) misguided enthusiasm, she winds up having quite exciting little adventures, while her anonymous classmates, who remain rigidly in those two famous little rows, remain unknown. It's good to see a character that little girls can identify with who isn't perfect, and who provides an opportunity for them to see how, through natural trial and error, they can learn the difficult the lessons of growing up - and survive them just fine.

The DVD:

The Video:
The full-screen, 1.33:1 video transfers for Madeline: Meet Me in Paris vary from short to short. The first episode, Madeline at the Louvre, is fairly rough-going (it is the oldest title here, from 1993), with a soft picture, faded colors and the general look of a VHS dupe rather than a digital presentation. Things improve greatly for the other two shorts (which date from 2000). Their transfers are sharp, clear, with a nicely hued color balance and no compression issues to speak of.

The Audio:
The Dolby Digital English 2.0 stereo sound mix is entirely adequate for this kind of title. You're not going to get a lot of speaker action here, obviously, but all dialogue and songs are heard crisply and cleanly, with a surprisingly solid loudness level. English and Spanish subtitles are included, and there's a nice feature, the "Watch and Read" option, that lets your child see enhanced subtitles along the bottom of the screen. With much larger and fuller fonts than normal subtitles, the words change color from red to blue as each word is spoken on the audio track, allowing your child to in essence, "read along" with the story. It's a nice option, and one that my young daughter enjoyed.

The Extras:
The Madeline in Cannes episode is listed as an extra, but I see it as just the third short offered here. There's also a paper insert, mocked up like a passport, with two stickers that your child can attach to it, creating their own passport - a slight extra. Other passports are promised for other Madeline releases.

Final Thoughts:
Taking Ludwig Bemelmans' original work as inspiration for these short cartoons (they run about 20 minutes each), the episodes included in Madeline: Meet Me in Paris have a light, deft touch that's totally in keeping with Bemelmans' original intentions. These brief, breezy little adventures are perfect family viewing, particularly if you have a little girl looking for cartoons that feature stories geared towards their interests. I recommend Madeline: Meet Me in Paris.