Madagascar (2005)

Director: Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath
Story: Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath, Mark Burton, Billy Frolick 
Cast: Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith
Music: Hans Zimmer
Time: 86 minutes
Bottom-line: Made for children

Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath direct this animal comedy film, Madagascar. Like most animation films, this one too, wins the admiration of the younger generation, while adults will give mixed responses. I, for one, saw the film as a kid, and hence I enjoyed it. The voices are given by Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, Jada Pinkett Smith and David Schwimmer.

In Central Park Zoo, Alex the lion (Stiller), Marty the zebra (Rock), Melman the giraffe (Schwimmer) and Gloria the hippopotamus (Smith) are close friends. On the day of Marty’s birthday, Marty decides to escape from the zoo and go into the wild, as he always wanted to. His friends are reluctant to join him, but eventually do, when they realize that Marty actually escapes. They get captured at the Grand Central Station, from where they are transported in a ship to Kenya. However, en route, due to an accident, the four of them end up in Madagascar. How they survive in the wild, and whether or not they get back to Central Park Zoo form the rest of the film.

Melman, Marty, Alex and Gloria (from left to right)

The part of the story which covers the incidents till the animals reach Madagascar is very funny indeed. The dialogues and the animation are excellent, and if you are a kid, you cannot stop laughing. I am not sure about the adults’ reaction. After that, the story somewhat sags. The dialogues are still quite good, but the story itself becomes a little weird. The main sources of laughter are Alex and Marty. Both of them have contrasting characters: one wants to live in the wild, while one wants to be pampered in the zoo. This opposite nature is what drives the film most of the way.

The four penguins 

The four penguins that come in the film are some of the best characters, in my view. Their dialogues and their actions provide lots of laughter. The scene where Alex, Marty, Melman and Gloria unite in the shores of Madagascar, and the scene where Marty and Alex compete with each other to decide which side of the island they will be on, are quite funny. The scenes at the Grand Central Station also cause a lot of laughter.

The vocal work is excellent. Other than the four leads, Cedric the Entertainer voices for Maurice, and Sacha Baron Cohen voices for King Julien characters in the jungle of Madagascar. Their vocal work is also good. But even if the voices are good, the dialogues will be appreciated by the kids more than the adults. I, for one, liked dialogues very much, and in fact, few of them have become quite famous. The ‘Happy Birthday’ song which the animals sing to Marty, and the song ‘I like to move it, move it’ have become viral. The animation is good, but not great. The facial expressions of the animals are shown quite well.

King Julien (left) and Maurice; two
characters in the jungle in Madagascar 

To sum up, Darnell and McGrath’s Madagascar does not impress as much as my favourites, Finding Nemo and Up, which entertained both adults and children alike. But it is, no doubt, entertaining. The story starts out very well, but becomes slow and boring in the second half. Yet, the dialogues are superb throughout the film. The animation and the vocal work are good too. If you a kid, you will be bound to like the film. If you are an adult, your reaction will be mixed. But during these films, I guess you just have to bring out that kid in you!



My Rating: 3.5/5
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 58%