The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper

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The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper
Directed by Gary Trousdale
Produced by Teresa Cheng
Written by Michael Lachance
Starring Chris Miller
John DiMaggio
Tom McGrath
Elisa Gabrielli
Christopher Knights
Bill Fagerbakke
Music by James Dooley
Studio DreamWorks Animation
Distributed by DreamWorks
Release date(s) 2005
Running time 12 minutes
Country United States
Language English

The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper is a computer-animated short produced by DreamWorks Animation (with soundtrack by Media Ventures' young-gun James Dooley), released in movie theatres and on DVD in 2005. The 12-minute film showcases the adventures of four penguins, sometimes known as the Madagascar Penguins, who live in the Central Park Zoo and are trained as spies.

It premiered in theaters on October 7, 2005 with the stop-motion film, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. The short was later included on the later editions of the Madagascar DVD and the Shrek DVD, both of which were released on November 15, 2005.

The short was directed by animation veteran Gary Trousdale, produced by Teresa Cheng, and written by Michael Lachance.

Contents

Plot

In the story, the youngest penguin on the team, Private, slips out of the zoo on Christmas Eve to find a present for a lonely polar bear named Ted. While roaming the streets of Manhattan, he is captured by Nana (the old lady from the first film) who mistakes him for a chew toy for her vicious dog, Mr Chew. The other three penguins, Skipper, Kowalski, and Rico, rescue Private from the old lady's apartment before it is too late. They have an intense fight against Mr. Chew, all-the-while, not noticed by Nana, who was busy watching a football game. When they were done, they blow the door with dynamite, which was a running gag in the film, finally attracting Nana's attention.

At the end of the film they invite Ted to their home. But he had already invited several other guests, resulting in a massive sing-a-long to a parody of Jingle Bells.

Voice cast

Gags

  • Rico is constantly regurgitating a piece of dynamite out of his stomach and asking Skipper's permission to use it three times. Finally, at the end, Skipper lets him use it.
  • Nobody except Skipper knows the "penguin credo" - "never swim alone." – The other penguins also confuse the Walrus credo ("Ha-da-da, ha-da-da doo-da dee-da!") with the other Penguin credo - "never bathe in hot oil and Bisquick."
  • In an attempt to get a better view of Private while on the streets of New York, Skipper, Rico and Kowalski try to blend in with passing Catholic nuns.
  • When trying to catch up with Private the penguins attach a grappling hook to a taxi. The licence plate of the taxi reads "I8BIGAPEL" i.e I ate big apple (New York)
  • During the battle, Skipper uses Rico as a machine gun for cover fire, using swallowed mints as bullets.
  • In a reference to the first film, Skipper makes several references to curse words, i.e "Hoover Dam", "Grand Coulee Dam", "Shiitake mushrooms", "Holy Butterball."
  • When the Private flies across the room and smashes into the kitchen, the sports announcer on TV yells "What a hit! Ryan is down!", an allusion to Saving Private Ryan.
  • When Skipper tells Rico that the old lady "didn't see anything", he makes a hand-motion similar to the Jedi mind trick.
  • When penguins stop following the nuns and roll over they very closely assemble most widely reproduced publicity images from Charlie's Angels.

External links