Madeline: A Simple Cartoon That Should Have Stayed That Way

2:30 PM · May 10, 2021 "we hate bread! we hate bread! we hate bread! we hate bread! we hate bread! we hate bread! we hate bread! we hate bread! we hate bread! we hate bread! we hate bread! we hate bread!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm gonna be honest: I don't really know if Madeline counts as a Disney show. I even skipped it when I was going through the Disney watch, along with a certain adult comedy created by DTVA. Madeline was originally aired on ABC and Disney and was made by DIC, but later seasons greatly involved Disney, especially season 3, which aired on Disney Channel.

So for that, I mostly watched the second and third season, avoiding the first altogether.

Much like Gargoyles and Jungle Cubs, I got a lot of ironic enjoyment out of this one, particularly season 2.

4:28 PM · May 8, 2021 "madeline gets hit by a car"
4:29 PM · May 8, 2021 "madeline is on trial for acts of terrorism"
8:44 AM · May 9, 2021 "we love our bread we love our butter but most of all we love your mother"
8:45 AM · May 9, 2021 "i don't know why it's SO EASY to make jokes about madeline"
8:58 AM · May 9, 2021 "this man just made a really funny inhuman noise"

 

 

Season 2 of Madeline is really what anyone would expect when they hear Madeline. A charming cartoon of mischievous but well natured little girls, with the most mischievous well natured littlest one being Madeline. It was pretty similar to the 90s specials I was raised on in Kindergarten, and there's not really a lot I can discuss about the show, so I'm mostly gonna talk about episodes I remember.

"Madeline's Detective School" was probably my favorite episode of the bunch. I tweeted a lot about it. The basic synopsis is that Madeline is good at solving mysteries so she starts a detective school. When Miss Clavel gets in legal trouble for having stolen items, they have to figure out the culprit.

Also the kids at detective school are famous literary detectives as children.

9:00 AM · May 9, 2021 "ms. clavel: you girls are earning a lot of money. perhaps you will save it for college.
the madeline girls, knowing they have no future in academia: heeheehee"
9:01 AM · May 9, 2021 "oh my god they have baby versions of sam spade, miss marple, and hercule poirot at madeline's detective school"
9:04 AM · May 9, 2021 ""are you ready for your first day at detective school?”
hecule poirot gulped.
sam spade shuddered.
miss marple blinked nervously.
“yes madeline” they said in unison."
9:07 AM · May 9, 2021 "okay so it's like. painfully obvious that the guys who have been doing handywork are the capers and they're all disguised and are the reform school boys yes?"
9:13 AM · May 9, 2021 "so i was wrong it was only ONE reform school student disguised as all the housekeepers"
9:15 AM · May 9, 2021 "he still has catholic guilt"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
9:15 AM · May 9, 2021 "THEY GOT PAID IN PLAY MONEY"

Ultimately, however, I watched more of season 3, as it was on Disney Channel. The differences between season 2 and 3 are pretty striking, though not as much as Jungle Cubs. The theme song is slightly different, the art is better, and the narrator is different, and those are the main overt differences.

9:39 AM · May 9, 2021 "ah shit madeline has compositon now?"
10:26 AM · May 9, 2021 "the disney season of madeline is a flop because in the opening, when madeline rides the train into the tunnel, the girls all say "bonjour" while in previous seasons, they said "au revoir" which is much more sinister."
1:07 PM · May 10, 2021 "season 3 of madeline is just so vaguely uncomfortable"
1:59 PM · May 10, 2021 "why does something have to happen in every episode of madeline? is it not enough to have ms clavel threatened with jail time?"

It also just kind of sucks? I don't why but there's a considerably lack of charm in the third season. Maybe it's because they're trying to do so much when they don't have to. Madeline can be simple and I think it's at its best when simple but smart, but that's kind of my philosophy when it comes to my interests.

Also season 3 is a little bit more fantastical. Here is a giant bug in a dress.

 

Season 3 also has a marked increase of "Madeline travels somewhere" episodes. She goes to America, the North Pole, Versailles, and usually learns some stuff... In America, she learns about jazz music and how radio dramas are made, including one by someone called the Spider Lady.

9:45 AM · May 9, 2021 "madeline doesn't know about jazz music
9:47 AM · May 9, 2021 "madeline's pen pal listens to horror radio dramas... good....."
10:01 AM · May 9, 2021 "the spider lady got cancelled"

At the North Pole, she saves Christmas.

1:32 PM · May 10, 2021 "santa was completely fucked"

And in Versaille, Pepito is on some shit. Again.

Pepito is probably one of the funniest characters in Madeline. He's a troublesome young boy and whenever I see him, I always smile because he's always doing something goofy.

Another character I liked was Miss Clavel, which may be because I'm gay as hell and love the most milquetoast characters imaginable.

9:59 AM · May 9, 2021 "ms. clavel is my favorite i think....."
10:49 AM · May 9, 2021 "Anyway I know Ms. Clavel is a woman of god but I think she’s neat"
1:36 PM · May 10, 2021 "can i put ms clavel in the dream blunt rotation"

Worth pointing out there is also some racism in Madeline, particularly some Anti-Romani slurs. This is an old French series after all. Madeline does treat people with kindness regardless of background, but the show does still have slurs in it, some said by Madeline.

"Madeline and the New Girl" sort of plays on the opposite of the typical Madeline goes somewhere and learns about culture. In this episode, a girl named Lakshmi visits the boarding school from India. The other girls notice Lakshmi's interest in astronomy and overhear Miss Clavel talking on the phone about Lakshmi's status as a foreign national and come to the conclusion that Lakshmi is from outer space. By the end though, they realize she's just a girl who likes space, and they learn to embrace Indian culture.

It's one of the better season 3 episodes, but I don't know how well it aged.

2:00 PM · May 10, 2021 "lakshmi has dog related trauma be nice to her"
2:16 PM · May 10, 2021 "stylin"

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another episode, "Madeline on Stage" had all the girls obsessed with theater and being in a play. Miss Clavel was sick of it so she hired a theater teacher, hoping they'd all get tired of it. They don't.

3:21 PM · May 10, 2021 "ms clavel: i will bring in a horrible acting teacher and they will stop being theater kids
the girls, still theater kids:"

 

 

 

 

 

 

Madeline also gets upset she didn't get the best parts in the play and we see all these imagine spots of roles she could have gotten...

3:24 PM · May 10, 2021 "how did madeline leak my fursona?"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Season 2 of Madeline was a lot of fun, and the 3rd season, while a lot cleaner and more active, just didn't do it for me. I think Madeline should just be kept simple.

Overall Rating for Madeline: C Tier