Being free is great. But being free and not knowing how to get food or survive in the wild is scary. What do you get when an unlikely combination of lion, zebra, hippo, and giraffe land on an island absent of their kind, with nothing but their friendship to rely on? A bellyful of laughs is what we’re looking forward to.
Now, what’s with wild African beasts stranded on some island? In producing Madagascar, the challenge for DreamWorks Animation was to come up with critters the audience would love, and laugh with. Like for every animated movie, wit and music, mirth and memorable characters are what this one hangs on, and don’t you just love those funny faces?
Backed by famous alter egos, our four friends sound like Ben Stiller (Alex the lion), Chris Rock (Marty the zebra), David Schwimmer (Melman the giraffe), and Jada Pinkett Smith (Gloria the hippo).
The story starts with the four bosom buddies living a life of luxurious comfort albeit within the caged confines of New York’s Central Park Zoo. As stars, they want for nothing, as they are pampered -- daily doses of vitamins, manicures and pedicures, gourmet grass and personal assistants to groom and blow-dry unruly manes.
Surely life doesn’t get any better than this. But one night, with boredom bolstering courage, Marty the zebra develops a curious idea, yearning to go for a night out in town, to see the world outside. “What’s the harm? We’ll be back by morning,” is his innocent reasoning.
So, egged on by a Mafia gang of penguins with an agenda of their own, the four friends break their way out of the zoo and traipse through New York City, trotting along the sidewalks and checking out the subway.
While Alex and pals take in city sights, too fascinated by the bright lights to notice the panic and chaos they are causing, the police go after them and their lives take a new and unexpected turn.
Boxed into crates to be shipped back to Africa, the foursome find themselves stranded on the island of Madagascar, just off the Southeast coast of Africa, when the gang of penguins they are traveling with stage a coup d’etat and take command of the ship with disastrous results.
Left to fend for themselves, the animals realize for the first time that their pampered life has taught them nothing about surviving in the wild. To make matters worse, the island is inhabited by a colong of lemurs who run away at the unusual sight, as Madagascar is famed for its lack of predatory animals.
Lemurs add more fun to a zany storyline. As all who watch National Geographic and Discovery channels know, lemurs are great entertainers with their fight and dance stances. Expect rave parties and exotic dancing! Look out for a cute but jittery baby lemur with dewy saucer eyes who works Alex into a knot of nerves.
Led by a ‘chief’ lemur and his comic sidekick, the two groups of animals take baby steps to get acquainted, providing some of the funniest moments of the show.
The lemurs soon find a way to put their newfound big-sized friends to good use against their enemy the fousas, overextending the limited capabilities of Alex and company. In a particularly funny scene, the chief lemur inquires where these ‘giants’ come from, only to have his sidekick proclaim to the rest of the tribe, “All hail the New York Giants!” a cheeky reference to the popular NFL team of the same name.
Kids will love scenes like when the gang sings to Marty, “Happy Birthday to you, you were born in the zoo, you look like a monkey and smell like one too!” Just like we do to our friends, except here it’s totally appropriate.
It’s animation situation comedy at its best, with funny scenes rolling one after another.
Take a walk on the wild side with Alex, Marty, Melman and Gloria when the gang wanders into cinemas on the 27th of May.
