Madeline's Christmas/Madeline and the Toy Factory

Starring:Marsha Moreau, Kyle Labine, A.J. Bond, Judith Orban, David Morse, Vanessa King (II), Tracey Lee Smythe, Jim Byrnes, Kristin Fairlie, Liz MacRae, Sonja Ball, Julian Bailey, Anik Matern, Christopher Plummer, Kelly Sheridan, Paul De La Rosa, A.J. Henderson, Andrea Libman, French Tickner, Louise Vallance
Studio: Sony
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
Madeline's Christmas
It's Christmas Eve in Paris and 11 of the girls in two straight lines, as well as their beloved Miss Clavel, are sick in bed. Madeline, everyone's favorite smallest one, is the only one left standing and so she bravely gives up her chance to go home for Christmas in order to bring tea and tissues to her friends. When the old house covered with vines is also covered with snow thanks to a storm, it looks like the holiday won't be very merry until the girls' own Christmas angel shows up to make things right. Based on Ludwig Bemelmans's book, the story and little-girl French accents couldn't be more charming.

Amazon.com

Madeline's Christmas
It's Christmas Eve in Paris and 11 of the girls in two straight lines, as well as their beloved Miss Clavel, are sick in bed. Madeline, everyone's favorite smallest one, is the only one left standing and so she bravely gives up her chance to go home for Christmas in order to bring tea and tissues to her friends. When the old house covered with vines is also covered with snow thanks to a storm, it looks like the holiday won't be very merry until the girls' own Christmas angel shows up to make things right. Based on Ludwig Bemelmans's book, the story and little-girl French accents couldn't be more charming.

Madeline and the Toy Factory
Miss Clavel takes her class to visit a toy factory owned by an old friend. But while the old pals chat, the red-haired smallest one leaps onto the doll conveyor belt and before one can say "Oh, Madeline!" she is boxed up with the rest of the dolls and shipped off to a toy store. The mother of an ailing girl purchases her to lift her daughter's spirits, which, of course, the amazingly lifelike doll does. Miss Clavel and company track down their missing schoolgirl, leaving the sickly girl even more bereft, until Madeline finds a way to make it up to her. Like the others in this series, this one is based on Ludwig Bemelmans's book of the same name and features Christopher Plummer narrating Madeline's gentle lesson that people's feelings are more important than playing games. --Kimberly Heinrichs

Customer Reviews:

A great DVD to share with the children in your life!.......2002-12-11

"In an old house in Paris that was covered in vines, lived twelve little girls in two straight lines." In 1939, Ludwig Bemelmans began writing stories about a group of girls in a school in Paris, foremost among whom was the irrepressible Madeline. In the 1990s these wonderful stories were animated (and narrated by Christopher Plummer), producing a series of cartoons that are certain to be considered classics for many years to come.

This DVD contains two 25-minute features. In Madeline's Christmas, disaster strikes when everyone in the school except Madeline is struck down with a bad cold, and a heavy snowstorm strikes Paris, keeping the parents from coming for a party. However, when a special friend comes to the school, she shows Madeline that she must keep her wishes alive, for anything can happen at Christmas. In Madeline and the Toy Factory, a visit to a toy factory turns into a real adventure when the ever-energetic Madeline falls onto a conveyor belt, and is boxed up and sent out as a doll. Arriving in the home of Gizelle, a sickly girl with no friends, Madeline discovers that it can be fun being a doll, and even more fun being a friend.

My family and I love this DVD; the stories are wonderful, and funny. We consider this a great purchase. If I have one complaint against this DVD, it is that it has no "extras"; there are the two episodes and a short commercial for the other DVDs, and that is all. However, as this DVD is so reasonably priced, I would not let that stand in your way. This is a great DVD to share with the children in your life; buy it!

I loved these movies for several reasons. First of all, these movies have the same quality as all the Madeline cartoons, and secondly, I loved the lessons that they taught. This is an excellent DVD.

DVD:

DVD