Madagascar (franchise)
Madagascar is an American media franchise owned and produced by DreamWorks Animation. The voices of Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer and Jada Pinkett Smith are featured in the films. It began with the 2005 film Madagascar, the 2008 sequel Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa and the third film Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted in 2012. A spin-off film featuring the penguins, titled Penguins of Madagascar, was released in 2014. A fourth main film, Madagascar 4, was announced for 2018, but has since been removed from its schedule due to the studio's restructuring.
Madagascar
2005–present
- Madagascar (2005)
- Escape 2 Africa (2008)
- Europe's Most Wanted (2012)
- Penguins of Madagascar (2014)
- The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper (2005)
- Madly Madagascar (2013)
- The Penguins of Madagascar (2008–2015)
- All Hail King Julien (2014–2017)
- Madagascar: A Little Wild (2020–2022)
Merry Madagascar (2009)
- Madagascar Live! (2011–2013)
Madagascar: The Musical (2018)
- Madagascar (2005)
- Operation Penguin (2005)
- Escape 2 Africa (2008)
- Madagascar Kartz (2009)
- The Penguins of Madagascar (2010)
- The Penguins of Madagascar: Dr. Blowhole Returns – Again! (2011)
- Madagascar 3: The Video Game (2012)
- Penguins of Madagascar (2014)
- DreamWorks Universe of Legends (2017)
- DreamWorks All-Star Kart Racing (2023)
- Madagascar (2005)
- Escape 2 Africa (2008)
- Europe's Most Wanted (2012)
- Penguins of Madagascar (2014)
- Madagascar: A Crate Adventure (2011–2022)
- King Julien's Beach Party-Go-Round (2011–2022)
- Madagascar Madness (2012–2023)
The overall plot through the series follows the adventures of four anthropomorphic Central Park Zoo animals who have spent their lives in blissful captivity and are unexpectedly shipped back to Africa (to Madagascar initially). Now they must struggle to survive while attempting to return to New York City with the help of a crafty cadre of penguins and with many other characters along the way. The franchise's films have received mixed-to-positive critical reviews.
Short films[edit]
The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper (2005)[edit]
The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper is an animated short film, which premiered in theaters on October 7, 2005, with the stop-motion film, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. The short was directed by animation veteran Gary Trousdale, produced by Teresa Cheng, and written by Michael Lachance. Set on Christmas Eve, the 12-minute film features four penguins from Central Park Zoo who discover that one of them has gone missing.
Madly Madagascar (2013)[edit]
Madly Madagascar is a direct-to-DVD Valentine's Day-themed short film[20] released on January 29, 2013,[21] starring all the main characters from the Madagascar film series. The story appears to take place sometime between the second and third films. It featured many of the same voice actors as the films, including Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, and Jada Pinkett Smith. However, voice actor Danny Jacobs once again replaced Sacha Baron Cohen as the voice of the character King Julien. King Julien finds a love potion and starts selling it to members of the watering hole, making Marty attractive to all the animals. Skipper and the penguins organise a rescue mission for his doll girlfriend.
Television special[edit]
Merry Madagascar (2009)[edit]
Merry Madagascar is a Christmas special first broadcast on NBC in November 2009, which starred the characters from the Madagascar film series. The story appears to takes place sometime between the first and second films. It featured many of the same voice actors as the films, including Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, and Jada Pinkett Smith. However, voice actor Danny Jacobs replaced Sacha Baron Cohen as the voice of the character King Julien. Carl Reiner provided the voice of Santa Claus. Santa Claus crash lands in his sleigh on Madagascar and loses his memory after Alex shoots him down, leaving him, Marty, Gloria and Melman to be Santa for the night. King Julien realizes that Christmas is about giving and not receiving.
Reception[edit]
Box office performance[edit]
The film series has grossed over $2.2 billion, making it the sixth highest-grossing animated franchise (behind Despicable Me, Shrek, Ice Age, Toy Story and The Lion King), and the second highest-grossing DreamWorks Animation franchise (behind Shrek).
Attractions[edit]
Madagascar Madness was one of the three areas at the DreamWorks Experience themed land which was part of Australian theme park Dreamworld. It consisted of suspended roller coaster Escape from Madagascar, a show stage King Julien's Theatre in the Wild, a ball play area MAD Jungle Jam and a merchandise shop Madagascar Cargo Hold. The area was replaced by a section of Kenny and Belinda's Dreamland in early 2023.[74]
A Madagascar-themed tower called Madagascar Rain Forest with 15 water slides opened at DreamWorks Water Park on October 1, 2020.[75]
Madagascar was one of the seven themed lands in Universal Studios Singapore, and it featured lush tropical jungles as well as a water ride Madagascar: A Crate Adventure and a carousel King Julien's Beach Party-Go-Round. It closed on March 27, 2022, to make room for Minion Land (containing Despicable Me Minion Mayhem) and Super Nintendo World.[76]
Music[edit]
The 1993 music track "I Like to Move It", performed by Reel 2 Real, is featured prominently in the film series.[77] The first film used a version recorded by Sacha Baron Cohen in character as King Julien.[77] Other versions of the song have been used throughout the franchise, with the lyrics changed or altered to match with each film's plot and the film's subject matter. The original version also appeared in the first and last episode of the Madagascar Netflix series All Hail King Julien and the "Afro Circus/I Like to Move It" tune was played near the start of the Madagascar spin-off film Penguins of Madagascar. The song was also included in the stage adaptation, again sung by King Julien.