Just perfect...

Fresh and Exciting

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Lets go back to 1999. I was 5 years old, and even though I was a boy into "boy things" that didn't like "girl things," I enjoyed Madeline a lot even though it was "girly." There was a lot of fun adventure, great characters, and stories that were simple enough for me to follow. I absolutely loved the cartoon that aired on Toon Disney. That year in Kindergarten we watched this movie, and it was great because it was just like the cartoons I watched on Toon Disney. It captured the imagination very well, even if it was a little scary.And that's it's single flaw, the "PG edge." I watched it recently, and this movie doesn't really do anything for me outside of nostalgia. I can see how it's great for young children, but not really beyond that. I'm kind of board as a young adult, would have been board as a teen, and would have been board as an 8 year old. The 2 swear words, Pepeto's animal room, and the kidnapping plot (main contributors to the PG I suspect), don't really do anything to make the movie "more appealing for older audiences." All I can see these doing is make it less appealing for parents and guardians to put this on for their young children. While all the plots are handled realistically, they laid them on a tad thick, considering that the TV-Y cartoon could pull them off without being too scary.I recommend this for the target audience of young children, and don't be too turned off by the PG rating. This isn't Goonies PG, this isn't Star Wars PG, this is Frozen and Moana level PG.

Normally I steer well clear of films that are made for young children and for little girls as this one obviously was but once in a while you can be pleasantly surprised and this was one of those occasions. This film is magic and unlike a lot of children's films made nowadays it was not covered in so much sweetness that it was overpowering. Madeline,played superbly by Hatty Jones in her only film to date,is a little girl, who lives in a school run by a nun, along with a lot of other little girls. When the owner of the school threatens to shut down the school and sell it Madeline and her friends come up with daring schemes to repel future owners of the establishment. The movie has plenty of humorous moments including an hysterical meal scene involving a dead chicken called Fred. Children don't need films filled with innuendo or heavily coated with saccharin they need films that remind them what it is like to be a child and the wondrous magic that that involves.This is such a movie.It is a film that any parent would feel is perfectly safe for a child to watch without supervision. The only minor problem,as my wife pointed out,is the occasional switch from English to french which younger children might find confusing. That aside this a delicious children's movie that can be enjoyed by the whole family time and time again

I just loved this version of Madeline, with the inimitable Frances McDormand and Nigel Hawthorne. Funny, attractive movie that is lively enough for adults to enjoy. I highly recommend it. Nothing offensive in it at all. The cinematography, the acting, the costuming was of the highest quality. As a child I did not really read the Madeline series of books, but I did as an adult, and I found that this screenplay and production bring the book to life. At a time and in a society where there is so much negative entertainment, this was a pleasant offering. It was uplifting. It even had just enough suspense to make it interesting for adults.

Taken from the classic books by Ludwig Bemelmans, Madeline is the darling story of 12 little girls who live in a boarding school. The woman in charge of the home is a nun, Miss Clavel (Frances McDormand). Red-headed Madeline is the smallest of the girls but is, nevertheless, fearless and curious. The film follows Madeline's escapades as she has her appendix out, clashes with Pepito (the boy next door), falls in the river and more. There is a subplot concerning the approaching sale of the school and what it will mean to the girls who live there. Is it possible to have a happy ending?This extremely watchable movie for children is a wonderful addition to the repertoire of good children's films. Hatty Jones is a delight as Madeline and the other little girls are fun and expressive. The leap from book to movie is smooth and successful; the film includes many of the books' key elements and will thus be appreciated by Bemelmans' fans. There is more than enough action and humor to keep children interested from start to finish. Adults will be charmed by the film as well. Recommended for families who are looking for quality alternatives to Disney, Beethoven the dog, Charlotte's Web, etc.