Madagascar (film)

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Template:Infobox FilmMadagascar is a computer-animated movie produced by DreamWorks Animation, and released in movie theatres on May 27, 2005. The film tells the story of four Central Park Zoo animals who have spent their lives in blissful captivity and are unexpectedly shipped back to Africa, getting shipwrecked on the island of Madagascar. The voices of Ben Stiller, Jada Pinkett Smith, Chris Rock and David Schwimmer are featured. Other voices include Andy Richter, Sacha Baron Cohen, and Cedric the Entertainer.

Madagascar was released on DVD on November 15, 2005, along with the short film, The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper.

Contents

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Story

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Alex the exuberant lion, Marty the zebra, Melman the hypochondriac giraffe and Gloria the hippo have a pampered life at the Central Park Zoo in New York City where they can show off to the crowds. Yet Marty, celebrating his tenth birthday, is becoming restless and dreaming of life in the wild. When he learns that the penguins are planning to escape he decides to follow suit. He has a vague notion that the wild can be found in Connecticut, so one night he sneaks out of the zoo and sets off on foot for Grand Central Terminal, where he hopes to take the Metro-North Railroad to Connecticut. When the others find him gone they head for Grand Central Station via the Subway. Arriving at Grand Central, they scare away most of the passengers except for one determined old lady, confronts Alex, and manage to wreck the Information desk before being shot with tranquilizer darts.

Some anti-zoo campaigners use the Grand Central incident as evidence that animals should not be locked up. Because of this the friends soon find themselves sealed in wooden crates aboard a cargo ship. Unknown to them the ship is bound for Kenya. The penguins, also on board, succeed in hijacking the ship and following their initial plan of escape, making their way to Antarctica. During the hijacking the crates fall overboard and the four friends are washed ashore on a tropical beach. At first Melman assumes they are in San Diego, and Alex is upset that he will not be able to compete with Shamu, but when they discover a large tribe of lemurs led by King Julien XIII (voiced by Sacha Baron Cohen in a style reminiscent of Robin Williams) they realize they are not in the United States anymore. Really, they are on the island of Madagascar. After a good deal of argument the four finally decide to stay and discover the wild.

Julien hopes that their new friends, whom he calls the "New York Giants", will scare away the fossa that have been attacking the lemurs. Unfortunately Alex, who has only ever eaten pre-cut steaks until now, is beginning to regain his natural predatory instincts and realizes that he might end up losing control and eating his friends.

Meanwhile, the penguins arrive in Antarctica and decide that "well, this sucks".

When the fossa attack Marty, Alex claims Marty as his own prey. But this turns out to be a ruse: Alex has managed to overcome his predatory instincts. Alex drives away the fossa and the lemurs rejoice. Meanwhile the penguins bring back the ship.

Following a celebration dinner, at which Alex discovers that he likes fish even better than steak, the friends return to the ship, leaving the penguins behind, and plan a round-the-world cruise. The penguins haven't told them that the ship is out of gas.

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Public response

After release, Madagascar quickly became one of the hottest films to see for the early part of the 2005 summer. Madagascar made about $193.6 million overall in the theaters. However, it is possible that this may have only happened because even though it is technically a "family" film, it appeals more to adults (For example, there are many murder threats).

Hans Zimmer's soundtrack for this film featured the song "Zooster's Breakout", which is played several times throughout the film and on the credits.

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Characters

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Alex The Lion

Played by Ben Stiller. Alex the lion was born in Central Park Zoo and into a life of privilege. He is a star, an entertainer to visitors and in his mind the king of his empire – the zoo he has never left. His best friends are Marty, Melman and Gloria. He has an obsession with steak. He is also very hyperactive as evidenced in some scenes. Additionally, he could be seen as more reserved and happy with the way things are, as opposed to...

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Marty The Zebra

Played by Chris Rock. Marty the zebra is a dreamer and an adventurer, who constantly dreams about the wild and wonders what life would be like beyond the zoo (unlike Alex who is more satisfied with how things are). One night, following the successful escape of the penguins, he and all his friends find out.

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Melman The Giraffe

Played by David Schwimmer. Melman is a hypochondriac giraffe, who was transferred to the Central Park Zoo as a young adult. Because of his previous stay in the Bronx Zoo, Melman believes that he’s a real worldly guy, the most experienced in his circle of friends and the leader of the pack because he’s really been around. That is, compared to his three friends, he has.

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Gloria The Hippopotamus

Played by Jada Pinkett Smith. Gloria is a hippopotamus with an African-American "tough chick" personality. Born and raised in the Central Park Zoo, she is friendly, energetic, and one "hip" hippo (ahem). She is strikingly 'beautiful', smart and independent and knows what she wants and how to get it. She is the mothering type whether it's comforting Mort or prevent Alex from killing Marty, literally. Additionally, she is the voice of reason (which sometimes is synonymous with "the voice you don't want to hear")

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The penguins

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The four penguins, Joe (more commonly known as Skipper), Rico, Kowalski, and Private, feel that they are true spies, out on a secret mission for a secret government agency, who naturally have no place in the zoo. To them it’s all just a big conspiracy, and they spend their days planning an escape that will lead them back to Antarctica. Skipper is the leader of the group, the roundest penguin, and is voiced by the film's director Tom McGrath. Kowalski, the smartest and tallest of the penguins, thinks of plans and takes notes for Skipper. Private is distinguishable by his googly eyes and soft British accent; he is the youngest of the group. Rico is good with knives, has a great fondness for explosives and is the only one of the four seen swimming.

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The Lemurs

  • Played by Sacha Baron Cohen imitating Robin Williams.
  • Self-proclaimed King of the Madagascar lemurs, Julien loves to party and is slightly deranged. He contrives to use Alex to protect the lemurs from the fossa, predators that are preying on them.
  • Played by Cedric the Entertainer.
  • Maurice is Julien's assistant. Even though he's officially second in command, the whole jungle knows Maurice runs the show. He excels by limiting Julien's power.

Image:Mort021.JPG

  • Played by Andy Richter.
  • The teeny-tiny Mort is Madagascar's cutest and (in some peoples viewpoints) most annoying lemur. He spends a lot of time bugging his friends. Then making new ones, and bugging them too, because of this he is often used as a sacrificial lamb by the lemurs.
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The Fossa

The fossa are predators native to Madagascar, who look like half-cat half-dog beings in appearance.They are the villains of the movie, and are constantly trying to eat the lemurs. According to King Julien "They're always annoying us by trespassing, interrupting our parties, and ripping our limbs off". The lemurs pronounce the name as Foo-suh rather than Fah-suh which is unknown why.

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Mason and Phil, the Chimpanzees

Mason has an English accent. Phil doesn't speak, but can read English and "speaks" American Sign Language. Both escape from the zoo in the beginning of the movie (for them, freedom meant attending a Tom Wolfe lecture). They are also sent to the wildlife reserve along with the main characters. Unlike the main characters, they don't wash up on the shores of Madagascar (which may or may not necessarily refer to the African country). Also, they have a tendency to drink stuff, and in the DVD, it is indicated that the cans contain root beer, not actual beer (likely implemented in order to make the film more family-friendly).

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Cast

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Crew

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Pop culture references

  • American Beauty (At the beach, Alex dreams of making snow angels, except the roses that rain from the sky are replaced with T-bone steaks.)
  • Animal Planet (At the zoo, Marty makes farting noises with his armpits, and he says to a group of kids: "You don't see this on Animal Planet!")
  • Band on the Run (For the movie poster and DVD cover, the main characters strike a pose similar to Paul McCartney's Wings (and six others) on the album cover Band on the Run.)
  • Born Free
  • Cast Away (Marty constructs a shelter in defiance of Alex, who then tells a basketball, "Spaulding", to shut up)
  • Chariots of Fire (The song is played when Marty and Alex meet for the first time on the beach, running towards each other in slow motion)
  • Fantasia
  • Gremlins (Mort the lemur looks and acts like Gizmo the gremlin)
  • Hawaii Five-0 (Marty surfs on the backs of two dolphins.)
  • The Lion King (Alex roars in front of all the lemurs on an elevated rock, and Marty and Alex do the "pin" twirl where one rolls with another like a wheel, which was also referenced in the Lion King).
  • The Mission (Alex the Lion floating down the river and running a fall while "crucified" on a saguaro.)
  • Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom
  • National Geographic (The theme music of the National Geographic programs is played when Alex tries to bite Marty after the failed performance)
  • NBA on ABC (Alex looks over the TV and says "Knicks lost again!")
  • Planet of the Apes (1968 film) (After his friends burn down the wooden Statue of Liberty, Alex shouts out "You maniac! You burned it up! Darn you! Darn you all to heck!" while banging his paw on the sand)
  • Run Silent, Run Deep (Penguin Joe/Skipper is based upon Clark Gable's demeanor and voice in Gable's portrayal of "Joe the Skipper" in this classic submarine movie from 1958.)
  • Saturday Night Fever (When Marty is exploring the city, the song "Stayin' Alive" by the Bee Gees plays in the background.)
  • The Silence of the Lambs (After Gloria asks the penguins how they got past the humans on the ship, the lead penguin jokingly responds "We killed them and ate their livers!")
  • The Price Is Right (Marty says to the zoo visitors at closing time "to never spay or neuter your pets". This is the complete opposite of the famous subliminal message done by Bob Barker at the end of every episode, reminding viewers to always spay or neuter your pets)
  • Shrek (Alex aimlessly wanders along the beach, and mutters in the Spanish version of the film, Burro, Fiona, and Shrek, which are the names of three of the main characters in Shrek)
  • Star Trek (The penguins have a captain's log and a stardate in their mission.)
  • Starship Troopers, Stargate, Saving Private Ryan (Rico, Kowalski, and Private. Three of the penguins are named after the main characters from the movies.)
  • The Today Show ( When Alex is on the beach, he is muttering the names of his friends, then gets confused and starts muttering the names of the anchors on the Today show)
  • The Twilight Zone (the cookbook "To Serve Lemur" is a reference to the episode "To Serve Man")
  • Zoolander (Alex jumps in front of Marty, yelling "Surprise!" twice in the movie, which in Zoolander, Derek is in a coal mine and surprises his dad; also, towards the beginning of the movie when Alex is showing off for the crowd he pulls a "Le Tigre" or maybe a "Ferrari"?, the infamous poses from Zoolander. Also, Alex is voiced by Ben Stiller, who also plays Derek in Zoolander)
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Trivia

  • Phil the Chimpanzee and Rico the Penguin don't speak. Phil uses sign language and at the end, when Rico cuts off the slices of fish, the only word he says in the movie is "hai", which is Japanese for "yes". In the Madagascar penguins short, the only two words Rico says in the entire short are "eggnog" and "kaboom."
  • Marty and the gang are known in Madagascar as the The New York Giants, a reference to the football team. (In the Hungarian version, they are referenced to as "the Gangs of New York".) It could also possibly be a reference to the San Francisco Giants, since the movie was made in the Bay Area. Before moving to San Francisco, the Giants played at the Polo Grounds in New York City (and were thus the New York Giants).
  • The film was released on the same day as The Longest Yard. Coincidentally, that film also starred Chris Rock.
  • Madonna had also been considered for the voice of Gloria.
  • The Old Lady who captures Private in The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper also played a cameo part in this film as the lady who assaulted Alex the lion (and Melman the giraffe briefly) with her bag in Grand Central Station.
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Sequels & Spin-offs

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External links

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de:Madagascar el:Μαδαγασκάρη (ταινία) fr:Madagascar (film) it:Madagascar (film) he:מדגסקר (סרט) pl:Madagaskar (film) pt:Madagascar (filme) sq:Madagascar sv:Madagaskar (film) tl:Madagascar (pelikula)

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