Madagascar is a fish out of water story about a group of pampered zoo animals who find themselves shipwrecked on the beautiful and exotic island of Madagascar. Alex the lion (Ben Stiller), also known as The King of New York, is the star attraction at New York’s Central Park Zoo. Alex loves the spotlight and is very comfortable with his isolated world at the zoo. Marty the Zebra (Chris Rock) on the other hand yearns for adventure. On his birthday at the ripped old age of ten, Marty reveals his wish to explore the world and experience the “wild.” Melman the Giraffe (David Schwimmer) is the Woody Allen of the bunch that is a nervous hypochondriac. Marty is in no hurry to leave the zoo that supplies his constant flow of medical needs. Gloria the Hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith) is a sassy modern day lady who is not afraid to speak her mind, yet the one that helps to keep their group well balanced.
After Marty the Zebra’s birthday party, Marty decides it is time to go exploring. Alex, Melman and Gloria soon catch up with him only to be captured by NY’s finest. Soon they find themselves shipped in a crate on their way to the wild. After their crates get loose, they find themselves shipwrecked on what our animal group thinks is the sandy shores of San Diego. Our furry friends soon find out they are not alone and are confronted by a tribe of lemurs led by King Julien XII (Sacha Baron Cohen aka Borat). It becomes quickly apparent they are not only not in San Diego, but not in the United States at all. They have landed on the remote island of Madagascar – “the wild.” Our friends quickly receive life lesson and find out how different it is in the mysterious and dangerous world outisde of the zoo.
Madagascar is a fun little animated comedy that is cute and entertaining. The animation is top notch and the characters shine with perfect casting by all of the actors. All our lead characters and even some of the minor characters, like our mischievous penguins and the lemurs, keep you laughing and entertained through out this way too short of a film. Now available on blu-ray, the film has never looked better with some great bonus material as well.
The blu-ray comes with all of the previous bonus material including behind the scenes documentaries, “Mad Mishaps” that show the animated mistakes, “Learn to Draw” that teaches you to draw your favorite characters and much much more. Many of these are available in HD.
Another bonus feature in HD is the entertaining short, “The Penguins in a Christmas Caper.” This 12 minute film continues the adventures of Madagascar’s penguins in a short that originally appeared in theaters prior to the Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit stop-animation film. This is a great clever little short that may be even stronger then the actual film. It is a great bonus feature that is worth watching over and over.
The one bonus feature exclusive to blu-ray is the Mad Trivia Pop-up option that you can include while watching the film. This is a fun novelty feature to turn on in future viewings of the film. It’s always fun to get some additional help on some of the inside jokes you may have missed the first or second time around. It’s also nice to see that Dreamworks realizes the importance of including new features exclusive for people who purchase the blu-ray edition.
Madagascar is a animated film that is fun for the whole family but also for the adults. There are plenty of adult humor that will go over the younger viewer’s heads. If you are a fan of computer animation, a fan of Ben Stiller or the equally funny Chris Rock, then Madagascar is a film for you. The film is short, clocking in at 86 minutes and the fun ends way too soon. Still, it’s a fun ride while it lasts. The upcoming sequel is suppose to pick up where this one left off and that should help make the two film's storyline complete.
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