Madagascar (2005)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Directors:

Eric Darnell
Tom McGrath

Writers:

Mark Burton (written by) &
Billy Frolick (written by) ...

Release Date:

27 May 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Family

Tagline:

Ton On The Run

Plot:

Spoiled by their upbringing with no idea what wild life is really like, four animals from New York Central Zoo escape, unwittingly assisted by four absconding penguins, and find themselves in Madagascar, among a bunch of merry lemurs

Plot Keywords:

Zoo | Giraffe | Zebra | Lemur | Escape

Awards:

3 wins & 24 nominations

Cast

Ben Stiller	...	Alex (voice)
Chris Rock	...	Marty (voice)
David Schwimmer	...	Melman (voice)
Jada Pinkett Smith	...	Gloria (voice)
Sacha Baron Cohen	...	Julien (voice)
Cedric the Entertainer	...	Maurice (voice)
Andy Richter	...	Mort (voice)
Tom McGrath	...	Skipper / Fossa / Panicky Man on Subway (voice)
Christopher Knights	...	Private (voice)
Chris Miller	...	Kowalski (voice)
Conrad Vernon	...	Mason (voice)
Eric Darnell	...	Zoo Announcer / Lemur #1 / Fossa / Subway Car Announcer (voice)
David Cowgill	...	Police Horse (voice)
Stephen Apostolina	...	Police Officer (voice) (as Steve Apostolina)
Elisa Gabrielli	...	Old Lady (voice)

MPAA:

Rated PG for mild language, crude humor and some thematic elements.

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Portuguese | Spanish | German | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Finland:K-3 | Taiwan:GP | Sweden:Btl | Philippines:G | Switzerland:6 (canton of Zurich) | Spain:T | Denmark:A | Iceland:L | Brazil:Livre (theater release) | Malaysia:U | UK:U (cut) | South Korea:All | Brazil:12 (DVD re-rating) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Canada:G (Alberta/British Columbia/Ontario) | Czech Republic:U | Ireland:G | Mexico:AA | Netherlands:MG6 | Singapore:PG | USA:PG | Germany:o.Al. | New Zealand:PG | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:0 (canton of Geneva) | Peru:PT | Norway:A | Hong Kong:I

Filming Locations:

Glendale, California, USA

Company:

DreamWorks SKG

Trivia:

Melman the giraffe wears tissue boxes on his feet. This is a reference to Howard Hughes who was also a hypochondriac and suffered OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder). In his later years, Hughes wore tissue boxes on his feet believing this would keep away germs.

Goofs:

Continuity: The interior size of Alex's crate varies from when they are stacked on the ship to when he is on the ocean sleeping.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Alex the Lion: Surprise!
Marty the Zebra: Aaahhh! Alex! Do not interrupt me when I'm daydreaming. When a zebra's in the zone, leave him alone.

Movie Connections:

Spoofs Zoolander (2001)

Soundtrack:

Boogie Wonderland

Fun movie for the family

There are so few movies that you can enjoy as a family, so perhaps I've given this more stars than it deserves. I did laugh out loud several times. The jokes are mostly "pop culture" references; for example, (the zebra (Chris Rock) has a treadmill in his area (not a cage, really) at the zoo.

This is sort of a twist on the fish out of water movies, as the zoo animals, according to the local animal rights activists, don't belong in the zoo; they are shipped off to Africa. Hilarity ensues; the animals don't end up at the planned destination and find out that they don't necessarily belong in the wild either. What I found unique about this movie is that for once, the actual nature of the animal is acknowledged. Ben Stiller's lion character realizes that everyone looks like a steak and wants to eat everyone. Of course, he realizes that he's "wrong" (HUH??) and tries to change. The kids loved it, I wasn't totally bored out of my mind, and the animation was pretty good, I thought. The penguins were especially cute. Wish they'd had more screen time.