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Film Title: Madeline's Halloween & Other Spooky Tales

 Best for ages: All Ages

Movie Website:  Click Here

Year Released: 2010

Rated: TV-G (US)

The Review

   Madeline is a popular fictional character that was created by Ludwig Bemelman.  The character first appeared in a book in 1939 that was to become the first of many written and published by Bemelman. As the character grew in popularity during the 1940s and 50’s Bemelman published numerous sequels to the first Madeline book.  They soon became so popular that the character became the focus of a short film that was nominated for an Academy Award. Since the beginning, the character of Madeline has had several movies, and television series as well as a live action film all based on the books and the character. To this day, new books are still being written and published by Ludwig Bemelman’s grandson, John Bemelmans-Marciano.

    The latest of Madeline’s adventures to hit DVD from Shout Factory Kids is Madeline’s Halloween & Other Spooky Tales.  The DVD has five Halloween based adventures featuring Madeline, her dog Genevieve, her eleven classmates and her troublesome next-door neighbor Pepito. So of her scary adventures include entering a haunted castle, dealing with a Mummy and her and her friends pulling an Orsen Welles War of the Worlds radio like show in which they send all of New York City into a panic.

    The DVD features five episodes; Madeline’s Halloween, Madeline and The Mean, Nasty, Horrible Hats, Madeline and the Mummy, Madeline and the Haunted Castle, and Madeline and the Spider Lady.  The DVD does not have any other special features, but does have a running time of 110 minutes. So your child does get the experience of watching all five episodes in the time it takes to watch a full length movie.

      The Madeline cartoons have been around for a while now, but are more of a past tense cartoon than a present one. In such a case some children might find the stories to be a bit of a bore compared to all the over done animation of today. However, what’s good about these cartoons are that they teach important life lesions, while also giving your child an education in other cultures, history and other educational experiences.  I recommend this DVD for all ages, especially during the Halloween season where you might want give your younger children something a little less scary to enjoy, but still have that Halloween sprit present.  

BUY THIS MOVIE.