| “ | "You will do as you are told. Making lace for as long as I choose. And if you're not quick, I will cut off your hair, and use it to make lace! | „ |
| ~ LaCroque to Madeline |
| “ | The rarest lace comes from the reddest of red hair. | „ |
| ~ LaCroque threatening to Cut Madeline's hair |
Madame Maria LaCroque is the main antagonist of the 1999 telefilm,Madeline: Lost in Paris.
She was voiced by the late legendary Lauren Bacall.
Biography
She is an owner of a lace factory/shop who despises sunlight entering the factory because it "ruins the lace." She also despises happiness, like laughter and smiles. She abuses orphaned girls and forces them to (manually) make lace in the dark for as long as she wants them to... and she cuts off their hair (and uses it for making lace) if they are slow or rebellious. It is unknown what her first name is. She is assisted by the former Shakespearan actor Henri.
"Red hair for red lace!" LaCroque grabs Madeline.
According to a story Fifi (one of the lace factory girls) tells to Madeline, LaCroque was once a cabaret dancer, but one night, she was humiliated badly (presumably due to a rip in her dress and falling off the stage). This ended her fame, and she had no money, so she shaved off her head and sold her hair to make lace.
At one point, while owning the factory, LaCroque feeds plain, stale bread to the girls. Later, when she lines up the girls to give her the lace, she blames Fifi for her piece of lace being yellowed (due to her coughing, which was not her fault) and sentences her to making black lace in the dark. She then locks Madeline in the detention room for defending Fifi from her.
Later, on the next day, LaCroque gets upset when she sees that a mouse was ruining the lace (because Madeline had decided on sewing cheese onto it as a surprise for the shop) and finds that the girls have sewn calls for help on their pieces of lace. Another time, when a customer claims she wants red lace, she looks for Madeline who, with the other girls' help, tries to escape through a high window. She keeps chasing after her and cuts some of her hair off, but suddenly, Pepito's shrunken head from the Ambassador of Brazil knocks off her wig, causing the girls to laugh at her.
Later, when the girls tie LaCroque up with thread and lace, she kicks Henri, and they both get arrested.
Trivia
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