Customer Reviews

Madeline: Meet Me in Paris

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

For a little over an hour, your youngster will delight in the animated antics of the one and only Madeline. There are three separate adventures on this one DVD: Madeline at the Eiffel Tower, Madeline at the Louvre, and Madeline at Cannes.
For anyone who has travelled to France, you will note that this is a whimsical tale of Madeline and her schoolmates, under the direction of Miss Clavel. Just as the famed books have certain rhythmic patterns to the story, this DVD weaves each of the three stories into an adventure where the girls and their teacher travel to the Louvre (the Art Museum in Paris), on to the Eiffel Tower, and lastly, further on to the city of Cannes on the Riviera.
Interspersed in the child's conversation with her teacher, and their philanthropist caretaker, are certain French phrases, followed by the English translation, all to be enjoyed, and possibly, repeated by the child who is viewing this film. No, it is not a travelogue of France, its sights, and the city of Cannes. The Madeline series originates in Paris, due to Ludwig Bemelmans creative art and writing. Now, a relative continues in adding adventures to the series. Enjoy the whimsy!
Recently, during an electrical power outage, lasting 12 hours, this reader/reviewer used a portable DVD player to pass the time during the "evening without lights"; the DVD's charged battery lasted the length of the video. And then, it was "total lights out".

I cannot give this DVD a positive review because of its negative and incorrect portrayal of science in the episode "Madeline at the Eiffel Tower." First of all, science is portrayed as a subject to be avoided, especially for girls. Although the narrator says of the girls, "But they loved science most of all", the narrator is apparently being sarcastic since the girls are shown sleeping, bored, or otherwise not paying attention. When their teacher Miss Clavel tells them to wake up, they sigh with disappointment. And the next-door neighbor Pepito says, "Girls are terrible at science."

Second, Miss Clavel's knowledge of science is flawed. She notes, "Velocity is the rate of speed." When Madeline and another girl drop a bowling ball and a feather off the balcony, Miss Clavel states, "The heavier object will land first." Finally, Miss Clavel says, "Gravity means what goes up must come down." All these statements are incorrect.

While the episode is often amusing and fun (I especially like the song "What Would Paris Be Without the Eiffel Tower"), and tries to teach the lesson of not accepting "dares", I cannot recommend the episode. While some readers may object that I'm taking a children's DVD too seriously, surely an equally entertaining episode could have been produced which portrays science positively and correctly.

Thought this dvd was a "new" story, but it is actually the previously published "Madeline at the Louvre" and "Madeline Eiffel Tower" dvds in a repackaged format. The BONUS feature is "Madeline in Cannes" which may or may not be new, I am not familiar with this story. The other dvd we ordered "Madeline in America" is also repackaged favorites---nothing new.

My 3-year-old twin girls love this Madeline CD and it's a nice alternative to the overly commercialized DVD options out there. We are looking to order some more Madeline episodes.