Madagascar (2005 film)
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| Madagascar | |
|---|---|
| File:Madagascardvd.jpg The film's DVD cover. | |
| Directed by | Eric Darnell Tom McGrath |
| Written by | Mark Burton Billy Frolick Eric Darnell Tom McGrath |
| Produced by | Teresa Cheng Mireille Soria |
| Starring | Ben Stiller Chris Rock Jada Pinkett Smith David Schwimmer Sacha Baron Cohen Cedric the Entertainer Andy Richter |
| Edited by | John Carnochan |
| Music by | Hans Zimmer |
| Distributed by | DreamWorks SKG |
Release dates |  May 27, 2005 |
Running time | 86 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $78,000,000 |
| Box office | $532,680,674 |
Madagascar is a 2005 computer-animated film produced by DreamWorks Animation, and released in movie theaters on May 272005. The film tells the story of four Central Park Zoo animals who have spent their lives in blissful captivity and are unexpectedly shipped back to Africa, getting shipwrecked on the island of Madagascar. The voices of Ben Stiller, Jada Pinkett Smith, Chris Rock and David Schwimmer are featured. Other voices include Andy Richter, Sacha Baron Cohen, and Cedric the Entertainer. Madagascar was released on DVD on November 15, 2005, along with the short film, The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper. A BD version has recently been announced and has a expected release date of September 16, 2008. A sequel, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa , is currently in production and is slated for November 2008.
Story
Alex the lion, Marty the starry-eyed zebra, Melman the hypochondriac giraffe and Gloria the "hip", slightly chubby hippo have a pampered life at the Central Park Zoo in New York City where they show off to the crowds and generally enjoy themselves. But Marty, celebrating his tenth birthday, longs to see the rest of the world and dreams of life in the wild. When he learns that the zoo's penguins are planning to escape he decides to follow suit, and return by morning. He has a vague notion that the wild can be found in Connecticut, so one night he sneaks out of the zoo and sets off on foot for Grand Central Terminal, where he hopes to take the Metro-North Railroad to Connecticut.
When the others find him gone, they head for Grand Central Station via the Subway to try and get him back. Arriving at Grand Central, they scare away most of the passengers (except for one determined old lady who leaves Alex on his toes) and catch Marty. They then manage to wreck the information desk before being shot with tranquilizer darts, along with the penguins and Mason and Phil, two chimpanzees who also escaped. Anti-zoo campaigners use the incident as evidence that animals should not be locked up. Because of this, all the animals soon find themselves in wooden crates aboard a cargo ship to Kenya.
The penguins succeed in taking over the ship and changing its course, following their initial plan of making their way to Antarctica. During the penguins' takeover, the crates containing Alex, Marty, Melman and Gloria fall overboard and they become separated on the ocean. Alex is washed ashore on a tropical beach. All night he is alone, but in the morning finds Melman stuck in his crate. Gloria and Marty soon wash ashore on the beach too. At first Melman assumes they are in San Diego, California, and Alex is upset that he will be outshone by Shamu, but when they discover a large tribe of lemurs led by King Julien XIII (voiced by Sacha Baron Cohen), they realize they are not in the United States anymore. They are actually in the wild, on the island of Madagascar.
Alex blames Marty for the group's situation and divides the island between them, and forces Gloria and Melman to help him build a beacon-holding Statue of Liberty lookalike. His plan is to ignite the beacon, making them easy to notice for the boat, which Alex believes is coming to rescue them. However, Melman accidentally sets the whole statue on fire and destroys it. Gloria and Melman then join Marty, and Alex soon decides that he has been a jerk to his friend and joins the others to live on Madagascar.
Meanwhile, the penguins arrive in snowbound, windswept Antarctica and, after surveying it for a few moments, decide that it is not as cracked up as they thought it would be.
Julien hopes that the lemurs' new friends, whom he calls the "New York Giants", will scare away the "foosa," enemies of the lemurs who have been preying on them. Despite the protests of his advisor Maurice (who thinks that Alex, as a carnivore, might be dangerous), Julien convinces the lemurs to welcome Marty and the others to their own little corner of paradise.
Unfortunately Alex, who has only ever eaten pre-cut steaks until now, is beginning to regain his natural predatory instincts. After losing control and attacking Marty, he is considered too dangerous to be a friend to his zoomates, or to any of the lemurs. Julien admits that Maurice has some sense in fearing Alex, and banishes the lion to the side of the island dominated by the foosa, just before everyone ends up running for their lives. Alex came to his senses for a time after a knock on the head by a coconut, and made the decision to leave his friends behind rather than do something he'd later regret. Marty, now completely aware of the predatory factor of the wild, is devastated at the realization that this is happening to him.
The penguins soon arrive in the ship. Realizing this may be a way back into New York, Marty goes to find Alex (against Gloria's advice). He ends up deep in foosa territory where he unsuccessfully tries to get Alex to come with him. The foosa eventually attack him, and soon he, Melman, Gloria and the penguins end up fighting for their lives, hopelessly outnumbered by the hungry creatures. Then Alex appears. At first he seems to have completely returned to his hunting instincts and claims Marty as his own prey. But this turns out to be a ruse: Alex has managed to overcome his predatory instincts. Using the foosa's natural fear of him, Alex drives the predators away from lemur territory forever. Needless to say, Julien made it clear that his original plan was a huge success.
Following a celebration dinner, at which Alex's hunger is finally sated by the discovery that he likes fish even better than steak, the friends return to the ship, leaving the penguins behind, and plan a round-the-world cruise, unaware that the ship is out of fuel.
Characters
Alex
Voiced by Ben Stiller
Alex the lion is Marty's best friend,{age 12 1/2} he is the most popular animal in the New York City zoo, and he is nicknamed The King of New York. He is quite against staying in the wild and tries to get everyone to go back to the New York City zoo. He just loves eating steaks but has no idea what they actually are.
Marty
Voiced by Chris Rock
As the protagonist of Madagascar, Marty the zebra (age 10) is the instigator behind everyone's adventure on Madagascar. He constantly dreams about the wild and wonders what life would be like beyond the zoo (unlike Alex who is more satisfied with how things are). One night, following the successful escape of the penguins, he leaves the zoo causing his friends to try and rescue him. When caught, animal rights activists have them shipped to a wildlife preserve in Kenya. But the penguins turn the boat around and Marty and his friends fall off the boat in their crates. The crates float on the ocean until they reach Madagascar. That is how the four end up there.
Melman
Voiced by David Schwimmer
Melman (age 11) is a hypochondriac giraffe, who was transferred to the Central Park Zoo as a young adult. Because of his previous stay in the Bronx Zoo, Melman believes that he's a real worldly guy, the most experienced in his circle of friends. He's also on a lot of medication.
Gloria
Voiced by Jada Pinkett Smith
Gloria,age 13 a sassy, hip hippopotamus, acts as a group mediator. She is extremely confident with a take charge personality. A hippo with many sides - she is the nurturing heart of the group, and one sassy hippo. Gloria is a hip and happening hippopotamus with a whole lot of heart. She acts like a mother to Marty.
The Penguins
The four penguins are called Joe (more commonly known as Skipper), Rico, Kowalski, and Private. They believe that they are not penguins at all, but instead undercover agents for a secret government agency. To them it's all just a big conspiracy, and they spend their days planning an escape that will take them back to Antarctica. When the penguins do make it to Antarctica, they are surprised to see such a cold, barren land and decide to turn the ship toward what they consider "paradise".
Skipper is the leader of the group, and is voiced by the film's co-director Tom McGrath. Kowalski, the smartest and tallest of the penguins, thinks of plans and takes notes for Skipper. Private is distinguishable by his googly eyes and soft English accent; he is the youngest of the group. Rico is good with knives, has a fondness for explosives, and is the only one of the four seen swimming. Alex considers the penguins to be psychotic, while they think the same of him. Skipper calls Marty their "monochromatic friend". The penguins will be starring in their own TV show on Nickelodeon.
The Lemurs
King Julien XIII the Ring-tailed Lemur
- Voiced by Sacha Baron Cohen.
- According to a May 26, 2005 interview with Director Tom McGrath in the Seattle Post Intelligencer [1], "We had this two-line character, Julian [sic], and we got a tape of the show 'Ali G' with Sacha Baron Cohen. He came in and he invented this Indian accent. We gave him a couple of lines and he turned them into eight minutes of dialogue. We were just in tears on the floor and thought, 'This guy has to be the king.' So that was just a two-line part that he invented and it turned into that role." Self-proclaimed King of the Madagascar lemurs, Julien speaks with an Indian accent and loves to sing, dance, and be the center of attention. Julien is annoyed by the lemur Mort and even suggested feeding him to Alex in order to help him get over his addiction to steak. He uses a crown made out of leaves, and later a larger crown that features a gecko (named Stevie) to denote his royal stature. The other lemurs hang on his every word. He is slightly deranged and overly impressed by his modest intellect. Julien is also very weird and dramatic, saying that everyone is steak when his plan to befriend Alex fails. He contrives to use Alex to protect the lemurs from their natural enemy, the foosa, as long as Alex doesn't overshadow his own glory. Also, according to the song "I Like to Move It" King Julien XIII is about 68 years old.
Maurice, the Aye-aye
- Voiced by Cedric the Entertainer.
- Maurice is Julien's assistant and second in command. He is in charge of announcing Julien to his court, though he finds this task tedious. He is generally less impressed by Julien than the other lemurs. Maurice shows the most intelligence in Julien's court, and is the only one to recognize Alex as a potentially greater threat than the foosa.
Mort, the Goodman's Mouse Lemur
- Voiced by Andy Richter.
- Mort is usually timid, but can become quite shrill and vocal when he opens up. The zoo animals find him adorable, but King Julien is highly annoyed by him, eventually shouting "Oh, shut up, you're so annoying!" in response to his inane chatter but Mort responds to this by giggling and looking flattered. In the commentary for the Film, the director mentioned that Mort was actually 35.
The Foosa
The foosas are predators native to Madagascar, who look like hyenas or half-cat half-dog creatures in appearance. Known as the top predators in the island of Madagascar, the fossa (animal) are the villains of the movie, constantly trying to kill and eat the lemurs. According to Julien, "they're always annoying us by trespassing, interrupting our parties, and ripping our limbs off". They are cowards, however, and always flee when confronted by a bigger predator, such as Alex. They also use foreign objects such as salt and pepper shakers.
Despite appearances, the pronunciation in the film ("foo-sah") is accurate, however the spelling (Foosa or Fousa) is not, as shown in one of the signs on the island.
Mason and Phil, the Chimpanzees
Mason and Phil are the sophisticated chimpanzees at the Central Park Zoo, preferring to "read" the newspaper and enjoy a cup of coffee in the morning; for them, freedom means attending a Tom Wolfe lecture to "fling poo at him." Mason (voiced by Conrad Vernon) speaks with an RP accent and plans the daily affairs for Phil and himself, but is unable to read. He is named for James Mason, whose voice inspired the character's portrayal. Phil doesn't speak, making him initially seem less intelligent, autistic, and more primitive than his comrade, but can read English and "speaks" American Sign Language which instills the idea that Phil is perhaps the more cerebral of the two. Both escape from the zoo in the beginning of the movie. They are also sent to the wildlife reserve along with the main characters. Unlike the main characters, they don't wash up on the shores of Madagascar, however they do appear in the background of the final scene in crates. In their first scene in the movie, they raid a wastebasket for leftover coffee, a bagel and a newspaper. Their crate on the ship is full of aluminum cans (in the DVD, it is indicated that they contain root beer, not beer, likely implemented in order to make the film more family-friendly).
According to a May 26, 2005 interview with Director Tom McGrath in the Seattle Post Intelligencer [2], the chimp's "first scene was just deciphering the code on the shipping label. We got this girl who knew American Sign Language. We wanted (the gestures) to be really frenetic so she signed out, 'Tell the tiny pea-brained birds that the sign reads: Ship to ...' and it gave us enough hand gestures. Then we went back to 'I see that Tom Wolfe is speaking at Lincoln Center,' and she gestured, 'Can we throw our poo at his stupid white suit?'"
Cast
Animals featured
- Zebra (Marty)
- Hippopotamus (Gloria)
- Lion (Alex)
- Giraffe (Melman)
- Adelie Penguin (the penguins)
- Chimpanzee (Mason, Phil)
- Ring-Tailed Lemur (King Julien XIII)
- Mouse Lemur (Mort)
- Aye-Aye (Maurice)
- Ruffed Lemur (seen in lemur troop)
- Drouhard's Shrew Tenrec (seen at lemur meeting rolling into ball in fear, known in the director's commentary as Teemo)
- Chameleon (seen at lemur meeting, known in canon sources as Masakuro)
- Butterfly
- Ocelot Gecko (seen at lemur meeting and on King Julien XIII's new crown)
- Giant Rat (seen attacked by snake and later eaten by hawk)
- Snake (seen attacking giant rat)
- Hawk (seen eating giant rat)
- Hummingbird (seen eaten by carnivorous plant)
- Duck (seen eaten by Nile crocodile)
- Nile Crocodile (seen eating duck)
- Dolphin (seen carrying Marty to Madagascar)
- Horse (seen in city talking to Marty as an "officer")
- Humans (as regular citizens of New York City, zoo staff, and ship crew)
- Foosa (main "villains")
- Spider (on Alex's back)
Reception
The film gained mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film received a 56% approval rating.
Box Office
The film was a commercial success despite negative reviews from the critics. The film grossed $47,224,594 with $11,431 average from 4,131 theaters making it #1. In the United States, the film gained $193,595,521 and gained a foreign gross of $339,085,150 adding to a worldwide gross of $532,680,671. Madagascar is currently the third highest-grossing DreamWorks animated feature behind Shrek 2 and Shrek the Third.
Awards
The movie has currently won three awards and several nominations.[1]
| Year | Award | Subject | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Annie Award | Best Animation | Nominated[1] |
| 2006 | Annie Award | Matt Baer, Animated Effects | Nominated[1] |
| 2006 | Annie Award | Rick Glumac, Animated Effects | Nominated[1] |
| 2006 | Annie Award | Martin Usiak, Animated Effects | Nominated[1] |
| 2006 | Annie Award | Craig Kellman, Character Design in an Animated Feature Production | Nominated[1] |
| 2006 | Annie Award | Hans Zimmer, Music in an Animated Feature Production | Nominated[1] |
| 2006 | Annie Award | Yoriko Ito, Production Design in an Animated Feature Production | Nominated[1] |
| 2006 | Annie Award | Tom McGrath, Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production | Nominated[1] |
| 2006 | Annie Award | Catherine Yuh Rader, Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production | Nominated[1] |
Allusions and parody
 |
- The film was rated PG but did feature one tongue-in-cheek allusion to three vulgar words. Skipper said "Hoover Dam!" twice, once in the movie and once in the short film, and, in the short film, "Grand Coulee Dam!" If the directors didn't want the show to be suited for children, Skipper probably would have said "Damn". Also, the character, Marty the Zebra (voiced by the famously profane comedian Chris Rock) uttered the words Sugar Honey Iced Tea in a slow motion scene on the beach, where he realizes that Alex the lion is chasing him out of anger. This was subtle enough for most children which would not have made such connection. Also, Alex uses wood to make a sign saying, "Help", but the top part of the p falls down, and the last letter becomes an L, resulting in making the word "Hell".
- The line "You burned it up! Darn you... Darn you all to heck!" is a reference to the line in Planet of the Apes: "You Blew it up! Damn you! Damn you all to hell!"
- Rico the Penguin only speaks once, while slicing fish. He says "Hai (はい, Hai)", which is Japanese for "yes". In the Madagascar penguins short, he says two words: "eggnog" and "kaboom".
- Marty, Alex, Gloria, and Melman are known in Madagascar as the New York Giants, a reference to the NFL football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey. King Julien's exclamation, "All hail the New York Giants!" is also a reference to the team.
- Madonna, Jennifer Lopez, and Gwen Stefani had also been considered for the voice of Gloria.
- The Old Lady who captures Private in The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper also played a cameo part in this film as the lady who assaulted Alex the lion (and Melman the giraffe briefly) with her bag in Grand Central Station.
- The scene of Alex fighting the foosa is similar to Neo fighting the Agent Smiths from The Matrix Reloaded.
- When people are fleeing from Alex in Grand Central Station, the "Wilhelm scream" is heard.
- During the slow motion sequence in which Alex attacks Marty out of hunger, the National Geographic theme plays.
- When Alex performs for the visitors at the zoo, he can be seen making the "Blue Steel" face from Zoolander, a movie Ben Stiller also stars in.
- Alex's steak fantasy scene spoofs the infamous rose petal sequence of American Beauty, even including part of Thomas Newman's actual score.
- When Alex is constructing "Lady Liberty" we hear him exclaim "Shut up, Spalding!" to a basketball; this is a parody of Wilson the Volleyball from the movie Cast Away in which Tom Hanks makes a friend out of a volleyball for the duration of his isolation on the island.
- In the scene where Marty and Alex are running toward each other across the beach, the music from "Chariots of Fire" is played. Also, the beach setting is reminiscent of the opening scene from the same movie.
- In the Northern European versions of Madagascar, the song "What is Love" is used in the film, ending credits, and soundtrack instead of the song "I Like to Move It".
- The penguins respond, "We killed them and ate their livers!" when asked what happened to the people on the ship, a reference to Hannibal Lecter.
- When cornered in the railway station, the lead Penguin states "We've been ratted out, boys," a reference to Jack Nicholson in Batman when breaking into Axis Chemicals.
- When Alex arrives on the island and starts calling for Gloria, Melman and Marty, he starts slurring and says "Gelman" followed by "Regis, Kelly" in reference to Michael Gelman the executive producer of Live with Regis and Kelly, then drawls "Matt, Katie, Al."
- When Alex starts to turn savage, he topples down a cliff of saquaro cacti, and gets one stuck to his back like a crucifix. He then ends up falling over a waterfall in this state. This is similar to the opening to The Mission, where a priest is tied to a crucifix and is sent down a river and over a waterfall.
- When the Lemurs meet in the plane, one pops up with a book titled "To Serve Lemur" and screams that it's a cookbook. From the setting and on screen action at this time it likely a refence to a similar scene in The Naked Gun 2 1/2 "The Smell of Fear" which in turn is a reference to an episode of the Twilight Zone called "To Serve Man," arguably one of the most famous episodes of the series.
- Skipper's line, "It's been a pleasure serving with you, boys," is likely a reference to Jim Lovell's famous quote, "Gentlemen, it's been a privilege flying with you" or perhaps to the line spoken by one of the musicians who kept playing whilst the Titanic was sinking.
- When Alex draws a line across the beach, he says "You're on the Jersey side of this cesspool."
- When Alex is drugged, the song "The Candyman Can" can be heard in the dream sequence which is from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971 film).
- Ironically, the real-life Central Park Zoo does not house any of the four main characters: a lion, a zebra, a giraffe and a hippo.
Spinoffs
- A short film called The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper was released with the Madagascar DVD, and was theatrically released with Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit in the United States.
- In addition, Nickelodeon and Dreamworks will produce a TV series called Penguins!, based on the penguins in Madagascar. This series is slated to debut in 2008.
Sequel
A sequel titled Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa will be released in November 2008, and pick up where the first one left off, the plotline will also be similar to Shrek 2.[original research?]
References
- Madagascar Motion Picture Soundtrack Booklet
External links
Template:Box Office Leaders USA
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- 2005 films
- Films featuring anthropomorphic characters
- Animated comedy films
- Computer-animated films
- DreamWorks Animation films
- Children's films
- Family films
- Fantasy films
- Films about animals
- DreamWorks films
- Films about penguins
- Films set in Africa
- Films set in New York City