Madagascar (2005)

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

Directors:

Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath

Writers:

Mark Burton, Billy Frolick,

Stars:

Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer

4 wins & 24 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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)

Storyline

At New York's Central Park Zoo, a lion, a zebra, a giraffe, and a hippo are best friends and stars of the show. But when one of the animals goes missing from their cage, the other three break free to look for him, only to find themselves reunited ... on a ship en route to Africa. When their vessel is hijacked, however, the friends, who have all been raised in captivity, learn first-hand what life can be like in the wild.

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Plot Keywords:

zoo | penguin | lion | lemur | escape | 

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Taglines:

Kitty Misses The City.

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Family

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Details

Official Sites:

DreamWorks [United States] UIP [Germany]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Portuguese Spanish German French

Release Date:

27 May 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

Madagaskar

Filming Locations:

Glendale, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$75,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$436,612 (Norway) (16 September 2005)

Gross:

$193,136,719 (USA) (7 October 2005)

Company Credits

Production Co:

DreamWorks SKG, Pacific Data Images (PDI), DreamWorks Animation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

None of the main character animals (lion, zebra, giraffe or hippo) are actually housed at the Central Park Zoo. There are penguins.

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Goofs

Real lemur tribes have a matriarchal structure and not a patriarchal one. The female lemurs are the ones who lead the tribes and do most of the fighting. Instead of King Julien it should be Queen Julianna. However, his right hand man did say he was the self-proclaimed king of the lemurs, so he likely rules in name only.

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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.

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Crazy Credits

You can see Gloria as the Statue of Liberty at the end of all credits, performing a Tinkerbell-esque magic wand tap to end the movie.

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Connections

References National Geographic Specials (1964)

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Soundtracks

"The Candy Man"
Written by Leslie Bricusse & Anthony Newley
Performed by Sammy Davis Jr.
Courtesy of Geffen Records
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

Madagascar - a great ride!

Lots of fun - I saw it with the grandkids and a theater full of families. a great time was had by all. technically speaking, one might say that the story was 'uneven' in places (can you say *that* about animated films? (-:) -- I mention this because there has been some needlessly negative feedback here at IMDb. On the whole, though, the presentation is quick-paced, bright, happy, and delightful to the eyes and ears. There are also some unique, quirky scenes (i.e. animals nonchalantly getting on a subway?) - I love to see stuff I haven't seen before. that's not easy to do, you know - by all accounts, "everything has been done on film already.." - (if you catch my drift). so, give credit when due! enjoy!(-: