Madeline: Lost in Paris

Madeline: Lost in Paris is a 1999 American direct-to-video animated musical adventure comedy-drama film produced by DIC Entertainment, L.P. It was released on August 3, 1999, to VHS by Buena Vista Home Video under the Walt Disney Home Video imprint. In 2009, the film was released on iTunes for the film's 10th anniversary.

Plot
During winter, the twelve girls are preparing to walk outside as always: at half-past nine in two straight lines. Before they head out on their daily outing, they soon find out that their instructor Miss Clavel (Stevie Vallance) is sick with a bad fever. Dr. Cohn tells her to stay in bed until she fully recovers, and then tells the girls to give her warmth and love while she recovers. Suddenly, the girls are interrupted by Pepito (Michael Heyward) who was playing his violin next door; he promises Madeline (Andrea Libman) that he'll stop playing until Miss Clavel feels better again. That night while getting ready for bed, the children lament Miss Clavel's sickness. They reminisce about the good times that they've had with each of their families as well as their own periods of illness. Madeline also tells her friends about the good times that she's had with her own family. She shows them a special gold necklace with animal printings that her mother had given her; unfortunately, since both of her parents died many years ago, she has no other family members to return to. Saddened by Madeline's story, the girls express their condolences and reunite in an outpouring of grief, but they are soon comforted by Miss Clavel, awoken by the commotion. She comforts the girls by reminding them that they all love and look out for each other, and that they are all are just as much a family as anybody else.

Sometime later, Madeline receives a mysterious letter in the mail from her long-lost Uncle Horst (Jason Alexander) from Vienna, Austria, who is planning on a visit. He arrives at the school later that week where is invited for a gala; attendees include the girls, Lord Cucuface (French Tickner), and Pepito's family. Uncle Horst then announces that he has been designated Madeline's new legal guardian and shows the court papers to Miss Clavel. Horst plans on taking her to his hometown, Vienna, to attend a fine finishing school and obtain a master's degree. He plans on leaving the following day via the Orient Express. Madeline, Pepito, and her classmates react with shock, elation, and sorrow. The children put on a musical to display their talents to Uncle Horst; however, this does not impress him enough, and he decides to take Madeline with him the next day.

When Uncle Horst leaves with his niece the next morning, he takes Madeline on the Paris Métro instead of the Orient Express. Their destination is a distant and unfamiliar slum that's ravaged with poverty and crime. Presuming that she is being kidnapped for trafficking purposes, Madeline throws beads of her mother's treasured necklace to make a trail to where she is taken to; however, she keeps one of the beads with a lion on it as a memento. It is then revealed that Uncle Horst is not related to Madeline at all, but rather a failed actor named Henri who serves as a henchman for Madame LaCroque (Lauren Bacall), the head of a slavery mafia and the owner of a bobbin lace shop/factory. Henri takes Madeline to the lace shop's basement, which is full of kidnapped orphan girls who are slaves to make laces to sell. One of the girls, Fifi, befriends Madeline. It is then revealed that Madame LaCroque forged Madeline's court custody papers in order to steal her family inheritance while she is trapped in the factory.

Shortly after Madeline left, Miss Clavel, the girls, and Pepito tried to stop her and Horst so that Pepito could give her his Halloween parting gift: a shrunken head from Brazil. They arrive at the train station only to learn that the two had taken the Métro rather than the Orient Express. They also find Genevieve the dog abandoned at the station. Fearing the worst, Miss Clavel summons the police to find Madeline.

At the lace shop, the child workers endure enormous amounts of emotional and physical abuse at the hands of LaCroque; an example is when Fifi's whooping cough turns one of the laces yellow. As a punishment, LaCroque decides to have her make only black lace in the dark, which could potentially render her blind. Madeline defends Fifi and the other children in the process, but LaCroque retaliates and punishes Madeline for her backtalk by throwing her into a prison cell.

After breaking off a loose brick, Madeline tells the girls that they should escape from the factory. Fifi discourages this, explaining that she tried once but was caught in the process, and consequently LaCroque cut off her once-long hair to make lace, making her look like a boy. When Madeline asks how LaCroque's cruelty originated, Fifi explains through a flashback sequence that LaCroque was once a famous cabaret dancer who experienced a performance disaster by accidentally ripping her dress. Totally humiliated, she stopped performing altogether and sold all of her long blond hair to make lace. She and Henri then formed a slavery duo, gained legal custody of all of the orphan girls, and repossessed them for child labor.

Through following the trail of Madeline's necklace beads, Madeline's classmates along with Pepito, Genevieve, and the police, find their way to the factory. Back at the lace store, a customer tells LaCroque that she wants red lace, which gives her the idea to shave off Madeline's hair. LaCroque then orders Henri to sell off Madeline's belongings. As the girls attempt to flee through a high window, LaCroque ambushes them, cutting off a few locks of Madeline's hair in the process, and prepares to torture her and the other orphans by deciding to give all of them haircuts only to make laces.

Back at the factory, Pepito uses his shrunken skull head to knock off LaCroque's wig (revealing her bald head) and then frighten her to the ground. Meanwhile, Miss Clavel and the police search around the slum for Henri; he is finally detected walking through the streets, carrying Madeline's briefcase to be later sold. After pursuit, Henri agrees to lead them to the lace factory in exchange for reducing his prison sentence. Madeline and the lace shop slaves are able to knock down LaCroque and trap her in endless rolls of lace just as the eleven little girls and Pepito forge a path toward the factory and as the cops arrive with Henri and Miss Clavel. After a final negotiation with LaCroque, she pleads innocent and tells the law enforcement that Henri planned her apprehension. Henri, hearing this, makes one last attempt to escape, only to be kicked by LaCroque for treason, tripped by Pepito's spool trick, and tangled up by the girls. Finally, the law enforcement rewards Miss Clavel and the girls with a large fine of francs for the capture of both crime lords.

The eleven school girls return to Madeline her mother's beads. At odds with the jubilant mood, the factory girls have nowhere to go. Much later, Madeline (wearing her mother's repaired necklace as a symbol of solidarity), uses the reward money to open up an orphanage for those who were once LaCroque and Henri's subservient puppets. Fifi, (now healthy and with fully-grown hair thanks to Dr. Cohn), thanks Madeline for sacrificing all the money for her and her friends. Miss Clavel appreciates Madeline's selflessness, courage and empathy to end misery in the city and making it a safer place. Fifi and Madeline decide that as sister schools, they could visit sometime. As the girls from both orphanages learn that they are a whole family, all of Paris rejoices.

Production
In March 1999, the film was announced as the first project from DIC's new "video premieres" division.

DVD releases 
Shout! Factory re-released the film with full frame on DVD on April 3, 2010. It was released in Australia in 2013 by Umbrella Entertainment.

Voice cast 
 Andrea Libman as Madeline
 Christopher Plummer as The Narrator
 Lauren Bacall as Madame LaCroque
 Jason Alexander as Uncle Horst / Henri
 Stephanie Louise Vallance as Miss Clavel, Genevieve
 Michael Heyward as Pepito
 Brittney Irvin as Chloe
 Veronika Sztopa as Nicole
 Additional voices include Alex Hood, Jennifer Copping, Tabitha St. Germain, Rochelle Greenwood, French Tickner, Michael Heyward, Garry Chalk, Dale Wilson, Jane Mortifee

Songs 
 "Family" - Madeline & 11 Little Girls
 "We Can Sing! We Can Dance!" - Madeline, 11 Little Girls, Uncle Horst, Miss Clavel and Ensemble
 "Oh, Dear! Oh, Dear!" - Miss Clavel, 11 Little Girls, Pepito, Madeline and Uncle Horst
 "Where is the Hope That I Once Knew?" - Madeline & Laceshop Girls
 "Together" - Madeline & Laceshop Girls
 "Family (Reprise)" - Madeline, 11 Little Girls, Pepito & Laceshop Girls
 Finale: "Oh, Dear! Oh, Dear!/We Can Sing! We Can Dance!/Family" - Full Company

Reception 
William David Lee of DVD Town, criticized the special for its "not very memorable" songs and "simplistic and predictable" story. He did, however, recommend the film for young children audience.

References

External links 
 
 

1999 direct-to-video films
American children's animated adventure films
American children's animated comedy films
American children's animated drama films
American children's animated musical films
American musical drama films
American direct-to-video films
Animated films about orphans
Animated films set in Paris
Children's comedy-drama films
Animated films about children
Films about child abduction in France
Animated films based on children's books
Madeline
DIC Entertainment films
Buena Vista Home Entertainment direct-to-video films
1990s English-language films
1990s American films
1990s French films