Madagascar *** (2005, voices of Ben Stiller, Jada Pinkett Smith, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer) – Classic Movie Review 1560

DreamWorks Animation’s likeable and appealing but very modest 2005 computer-animated comedy unsurprisingly had a mixed reviews but the public loved it and it was a surprise blockbuster box office hit, spawning two sequels so far. It was a very nice little earner, costing $75million and taking $532million worldwide.

Starring the voices of Ben Stiller, Jada Pinkett Smith, Chris Rock and David Schwimmer, it tells the story of four New York Central Park Zoo animals who have spent their lives in blissful captivity but are unexpectedly shipped back to Africa, getting shipwrecked on the island of Madagascar. There they enjoy life among a bunch of merry lemurs.

Other voices include Sacha Baron Cohen as King Julien, Cedric the Entertainer as Maurice and Andy Richter as Mort.

Chris Rock is Marty the zebra and Ben Stiller is Marty’s best friend Alex the lion, while David Schwimmer is Melman the giraffe and Jada Pinkett Smith is Gloria the hippopotamus, Marty’s other pals. With these distinctive actors aboard, the voices are good and the characters are sweet, but the story and situations are very mild. The screenplay by co-directors Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath (with Mark Burton and Billy Frolick) is quite quirky, chirpy and amusing though.

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa was released on November 7 2008 and Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted was released on June 8, 2012.

© Derek Winnert 2014 Classic Movie Review 1560

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