A group of animals who have spent all their life in a New York zoo end up in the jungles of Madagascar, and must adjust to living in the wild.
Madagascar is a 2005 American animated survival comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation SKG and PDI/DreamWorks, and distributed by DreamWorks Pictures, It is the 7th film of Chace! Studios after Shark Tale and before Cars. The film was directed by Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath (in McGrath's feature directorial debut) and written by Darnell, McGrath, Mark Burton, and Billy Frolick. The film stars the voices of Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric the Entertainer, and Andy Richter. It centers around a group of animals from the Central Park Zoo who find themselves stranded on the island of Madagascar and must adjust to living in the wild.
DreamWorks and PDI began developing an animated film titled Rockumentary, featuring a Beatles-esque penguin rock band, and was set to be directed by Darnell, after he finished his work on Antz (1998). The idea was scrapped in 2001, but Darnell decided to revive the penguins, albeit with a commando unit instead rather than a rock band after production on Madagascar started. The film features several songs from various artists, with musical score being composed by Hans Zimmer. It also has the cover of "I Like to Move It" by Cohen, which has since become a recurring theme song throughout the franchise.
Released on May 27, 2005, Madagascar received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the visuals and charm but criticized the story and humor. Despite the mixed reviews, it was a success at the box office, grossing $556.6 million on a production budget of $75 million, becoming the sixth highest-grossing film of 2005. The success of Madagascar launched a multimedia franchise, which includes two sequels as well as the spin-off film Penguins of Madagascar (2014); several short films, television series and specials; and a number of video games, theme park attractions and live stage shows, starting with Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008).
Plot[]
In New York City, Alex the lion lives in the Central Park Zoo as a star attraction known as the "King of New York", and spends time with his friends, consisting of Melman the giraffe, Gloria the hippopotamus, and his best friend Marty the zebra. Marty has grown weary of his daily routine and desires to experience the wild. On Marty's tenth birthday, Alex, Melman, and Gloria attempt to cheer him up, but a still-unsatisfied Marty learns that the zoo's penguins — Skipper, Kowalski, Rico, and Private — are trying to escape to Antarctica, and promptly follows them out. Marty heads towards Grand Central Station, as he plans to catch a train to nearby Connecticut. Alex, Melman, and Gloria pursue Marty in an attempt to convince him to return, only to end up, along with the penguins and two chimpanzees named Mason and Phil, at Grand Central, where the police officers, firefighters, and animal control officers sedate them using tranquillizer guns. Under pressure from anti-captivity activists, the zoo is forced to ship their escaped animals by sea to a wildlife preserve in Kenya. During their travels, the penguins escape their crate and commandeer the ship in the hopes of heading to Antarctica, causing the crates containing Alex, Marty, Melman, and Gloria to fall overboard.
Upon being washed ashore on the island of Madagascar, the animals come across a pack of lemurs led by King Julien XIII. The predatory fossa attack the lemurs, only to be scared off by the fearsome appearance of Alex, who blames Marty for the group's predicament and attempts to signal for help to get back to civilization. Marty finds the wild to be exactly what he was looking for, and Gloria and Melman soon join him in enjoying the island. Alex eventually comes around, but without the raw steaks he was provided at the zoo, his hunger sets in and prey drive begins to show. Julien leads the lemurs into befriending the zoo animals in the hope that Alex's presence will keep the fossa at bay, despite his adviser Maurice's warnings about Alex's predatory nature. When Alex loses control and attacks Marty, Maurice throws a coconut at Alex to stop him. Realizing what he has done and feeling sad and guilty for attacking his friends, Alex flees to the predator side of the island, where the fossa live. Seeing what Alex has become and how dangerous the wild can be, Marty regrets his decision to leave the zoo.
Having found Antarctica to be inhospitable, the penguins land the ship at Madagascar. Seeing the chance to return Alex to New York, Marty crosses over to the predator side and attempts to convince the scared and starving Alex to return, but Alex refuses out of fear that he will attack Marty again. The fossa attack Marty, and though Gloria, Melman, and the penguins come to the rescue, they are outnumbered. Alex overcomes his predatory instincts, rescues his friends, and scares the fossa away from the lemur territory. The lemurs regain their respect for Alex, and the penguins satisfy his hunger by feeding him sushi, which he finds better than steak. As the lemurs throw a farewell celebration for the foursome, the penguins decide not to tell them that the ship has run out of fuel, leaving them stranded on the island for the time being.
Production[]
According to co-director Tom McGrath, the idea for Madagascar began as a one-sentence prompt, and it took two years of development for the idea to be refined to the point where the four main characters were finalized. In 1998, DreamWorks and PDI had started development on an animated film titled Rockumentary, which featured a Beatles-esque penguin rock band, and was to be directed by Eric Darnell, after he finished his work on Antz. The idea was scrapped in 2001, but after production on Madagascar started, Darnell decided to revive the penguins as a commando unit rather than a rock band.
In the original script, Gloria was pregnant due to the zoo's breeding program and the baby was born on the island. Melman, who had a crush on Gloria, would help raise the child like it was his own. The idea was cut from the final version because test audiences thought the pregnancy plotline was too mature for a family film and felt uncomfortable with the pairing of Melman and Gloria. However, the idea of Melman having a crush on Gloria was reused for the sequels. Melman was originally planned to be an okapi but was changed to a giraffe because that was a more familiar animal.
Originally, Julien was intended to be a minor character with only two lines. However, when Sacha Baron Cohen auditioned for the role, he improvised not only an Indian accent, but eight minutes of dialogue for his recording. The filmmakers found Cohen's performance so funny that they rewrote the script and made Julien a much more prominent character in the story as "King of the Lemurs". Dana Carvey was originally offered a role but he turned it down as he was busy raising kids at the time.
Release[]
Madagascar was released on VHS on November 15, 2005 and on DVD on May 13, 2012 by DreamWorks Pictures, DreamWorks Home Entertainment and ARC Entertainment. The DVD included a short animated film The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper, and a music video "I Like to Move It", featuring characters from the film dancing to the song. A Blu-ray version of the film was released on September 23, 2008 - May 6, 2012.
The Madagascar - Movie Storybook was written by Billy Frolick and illustrated by Michael Koelsch, and was published by Scholastic in 2005. Koelsch also illustrated the Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa - Movie Storybook in 2008.
Trivia[]
- Melman the giraffe wears tissue boxes on his hooves. 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.
- The lead quartet were originally to be a lion, a zebra, a hippo, and an okapi. Melman was changed to a giraffe to make him a more familiar animal.
- None of the main character animals (lion, zebra, giraffe or hippo) are actually housed at the Central Park Zoo. There are penguins, however.
- In the original script Gloria was going to be pregnant due to being part of the zoo's breeding program and the baby was going to be born on the island and Melman, who is revealed to have a crush on Gloria would help raise the child like it was his own son. The idea was cut from the final version because the test audiences felt like the pregnancy plotline was too risky and mature for a family film especially young children who felt uncomfortable with the pairing of Melman and Gloria and may have gotten the film a PG-13 rating. However the idea of Melman having a crush on Gloria was reused for the sequels.
- Early on, the plot was based on a group of activists who liberate the animals from their cages.
- When the camera pans backward from Alex's crate in the ocean, the sea foam around him creates the head of a lion. Foam makes the face, and the absence of foam around that makes the mane. Alex is in the left eye of the face.
- According to the patch the captain is wearing, the name of the boat is the "S.S. Act II."
- Originally when Melman made the fire he was going to say the line I make fire from Cast Away (2000) but it was too much so they took it out.
References or Mentions in CHACE! Media[]
- Monsters vs. Aliens (2009): In the scene where Gallaxhar is spreading his message around the world, a clip from Madagascar can be seen playing in the background on a screen in Times Square.
- Trolls World Tour (2020): Clip shown in the DreamWorks Animation logo with a "Twenty-Five Years" commemoration at the beginning.
- Open Season (2006): Boog has to find his way back home while not being adjusted to living in the wild.
- Monsters vs Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space (TV Movie 2009): Old woman resembling Nana from train station in "Madagascar" answers her door for B.O.B.
- Night of the Living Carrots (Video 2011): One of the toys that B.O.B. takes from the girl's bedroom is an Alex plush toy.
References from CHACE! Media[]
Gallery[]
Madagascar/Gallery
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