catholiccontriversy 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.

nettedic4 I saw it when I was 8 or so, more than once I believe since I remember it perfectly (around 10 years ago) and I can say that this was a great movie, with a great message, movies like that are missing these days. Sometimes I'm just sorry for some films supposedly "for children" but with plots or a storyline that I think are an insult to their intelligence."Madeline" was an innocent, simple and funny movie that I really enjoyed and highly recommend to families, reminded me of "Matilda". I can't wait to see it again when I have kids....I didn't see that little girl (Hatty Jones) in any other movie which I think is very sad for child actors, but Frances MacDormand is very funny.

rjneb2 The fixation with turning any old cartoon or TV series into a contemporary movie continues with this adaptation of the classic chidren's stories and cartoons. So much care and attention has been lavished on getting absolutely everything right that you can't help but think to yourself, why did they bother? Sure, it's reasonably pleasant while it's on, and overwhelmingly inoffensive, but do we actually gain much from having a 1998 live action version of Madeline? What does it add exactly?At least Frances McDormand gets to dabble a little in gentle comedy. Nigel Hawthorne wanders in and out only long enough to pick up his paycheque. However, in one all-too-brief scene Stephane Audran shows how it should be done. Little Hatty Jones is charm itself as Madeline, engaging in various misadventures that lack the urgency of most other kiddie movies, and almost certainly the same level of violence.It's a film about 9 year old girls. And because of its inoffensive nature in all areas, that's precisely who's going to like it the most.

gasy_addi This is one of the worst movies I have seen in my entire life!!! This film is really sad because it's so awful. I really like Frances McDormand in a lot of films but why did she agree to make this one. I kept waiting for the story to start and in my opinion, there was no story. I could make a better movie using a cucumber, 3 grade 1's, and a cardboard box. This movie makes "2001: A Space Travesty" look like "Gladiator". Please don't see it. You will have more fun watching paint dry. Sorry I'm dissing this movie, but it's truly awful. Your kids won't like it.