Madeline (1998) opening titles
Main Title.
Madeline is a 1998 live-action film adaptation of the children’s book series and television series Madeline. The film starred newcomer Hatty Jones as the titular character with the better known Frances McDormand and Nigel Hawthorne in supporting roles as Miss Clavel and Lord Covington. The film encompasses the plots of four Madeline books. It was released on July 10, 1998 by TriStar Pictures. [Wikipedia]
The main title uses Balloon Extra Bold with yellow letters and black shadows. The same typeface is also used for the end credits.
Balloon was designed by Max R. Kaufmann and first released by ATF in 1939. This typeface was probably chosen in reference to the covers of the original Madeline books by Ludwig Bemelmans. The first one was issued by Simon and Schuster, also in 1939, with slightly inclined bold sans serif letters on the cover. This lettering style was carried over to subsequent volumes, see e.g. Madeline’s Rescue (Viking, 1953) or Madeline and the Bad Hat (Viking, 1957). Howard Trafton’s Cartoon (Bauer, 1936) is another contemporary typeface that might have influenced both the book cover lettering and the creation of the Balloon typeface.
The title screens.
