Madagascar (2005)

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.

Directors:

Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath

Writers:

Mark Burton, Billy Frolick

Stars:

Chris Rock, Ben Stiller, David Schwimmer

4 wins & 32 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)
Steve Apostolina	...	Police Officer (voice)
Elisa Gabrielli	...	Old Lady (voice)

Storyline

Longing to roam free in the vast landscapes of Mother Africa, Marty, the bored and dejected zebra of the famous Central Park Zoo, escapes his prison on the night of his tenth birthday celebration. However, after a botched rescue attempt by Marty's companions--Alex, the content lion; Melman, the skittish giraffe, and Gloria, the resolute hippo--the friends will find themselves crated up and shipped off to a remote wildlife preserve, only to end up on the sandy shores of exotic Madagascar. At last, Marty's dream will come true; nevertheless, what does it really mean to be a truly wild animal?

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Plot Keywords:

zoo | lemur | jungle | escape | madagascar | 

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Taglines:

On Vacation Without Medication.

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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

Did You Know?

Trivia

Despite the mixed critical response, the film was a box office success.

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Goofs

The animals take a subway from Central Park to Grand Central Terminal. They are seen on a subway platform on 59th Street and Lexington Avenue, which is the correct subway station that you would take from the south end of east Central Park. However, on the platform, the sign shows that that platform is for the 4, 5, and 6 trains. In reality, the 4 and 5 trains are express trains, and stop at express platforms underneath both the local platforms and a platform for the BMT Broadway Line. So except for during service disruptions, the 4, 5 and 6 would not all stop at the same platform (though late at night, 4 trains run local and use the local platforms). Also, the train is shown to be one of R62 stock cars. However, this stock has two sets of doors on each side of the car. In reality, IRT rolling stock has three doors on each side.

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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

At the end of the closing credits, Gloria appears and taps the screen with a magic wand to end the movie.

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Alternate Versions

When shown on Cartoon Network and other channels made for children the original line Marty said when finding out Melman's rectal thermometer came from inside his bottom was Mother which was dubbed by his disgusted noises in TV airings.

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Connections

Referenced in MenT: Hádej kdo? (II) (2017)

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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

I've Seen Better And Worse. Overall, It Is A Decent Kids Movie That Can Hold Adults Attention As Well.

Let's face it, it's hard to put out a good animation movie that is equal to Shrek, The Incredibles or Finding Nemo. Those are hard movies to follow but Madagascar is by no means a bad movie. In fact, I will still rate this pretty high, as I enjoyed it without watching the clock.

The plot was very easy for children to follow while not so simplistic that adults become bored in the middle. The simple plot was that 4 animals raised in a zoo venture out into the wild and quickly realize how easy they had it back home in the New York Zoo.

There was quite a few humorous scenes in Madagascar, but my favorite has to be the "distinguished" chimps who get offended that the thought of looking or smelling like a monkey is bad. An honorable mention is the penguins who also got more than they bargained for in Antarctica.

While some of the graphics are sub-par to other movies I've mentioned, like Alex the Lion (voiced by Ben Stiller) for instance. At times they look sort of like clay-mation or something, and other they look positively life-like. The scenery and the lemurs stand out as the most beautifully rendered parts of the movie.

This movie is great for getting the kids out of the house and not too bad if the normal adult wants to get away and enjoy something more suitable for the family as well.

Details

Official Sites:

DreamWorks [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

Greek American Sign Language English Portuguese Spanish German French

Release Date:

27 May 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

Madagascar

Filming Locations:

Glendale, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$75,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$47,224,594, 29 May 2005

Gross USA:

$193,595,521

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$542,063,846

Company Credits

Production Co:

DreamWorks Animation, Pacific Data Images (PDI)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1