MADAGASCAR

US, 2005, 87 minutes, Colour.
Voice of: Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric the Entertainer.
Directed by Eric Darnell and Tom Mc Grath.

‘Zany’, I suppose, would be a suitable word to try to describe the latest animated feature from DreamWorks? studios. It is also quite unpredictable.

Although Dream Works had worldwide success with the Shrek films, some of their other animated films of recent years have been rather wanting. This was especially the case with last year’s Shark’s Tale. The children would have gone along to see it, hoping for another Finding Nemo, but what they got was a rather hip and ‘in’ kind of comedy written more for movie buffs: lots of in-references to other movies with the fishy characters drawn to look like the actors supplying their voices: Will Smith, Robert de Niro, even Martin Scorsese. It would be a rather movie-sophisticated child who would appreciate the connections.

It is something the same with Madagascar. However, they might find it funnier than Shark’s Tale. I hope so, because Madagascar has been very successful at the box-office in the US, which means a lot of children have gone to see it.

The immediate question is ‘why Madagascar?’. And the answer is, ‘your guess is as good as mine’.
Geographically speaking, the film is all over the place!

Actually, Madagascar is an intriguing sounding title, the name of a far-off destination that very few visitors get to. For Americans, it signifies ‘the wild’. That is where a zebra named Marty in a New York City zoo dreams of going. He wants to get out of his confinement, to leave his job which consists of being an MC for the audience who have come to watch his friends perform. They are Alex, a lion who really doesn’t know that a lion is meant to be fierce, who really enjoys the shows and the response of the people. There is also a large hippo, Gloria, who is a splash-artist and a gawky giraffe named Melman.

When the scheming penguins in the zoo make an escape break – they want to go to Antarctica – the friends find themselves on a boat and eventually tossed overboard. Where do they land, like Robinson Crusoe. On Madagascar, which, if you look at a map, is really a long way out of the way from the US.

Children may enjoy the antics of the zoo quartet, especially as they try to adapt to life outside the zoo. Alex for one is desperate to get home to the people and safety. Adults may enjoy the voices and the constant wisecracks, a lot of it sounding like improvised dialogue with the voice stars enjoying themselves. At times, it comes across as a bit of a vanity project for the stars to show off their comic skills.

It is a good cast. Ben Stiller, so often put upon in his films (like Meet the Parents) is Alex. Chris Rock does his stand-up comedy routines as Marty. Jada Pinkett Smith is Gloria and David Schwimmer is Melman.

The children will probably enjoy the antics of the lemurs who live on Madagascar and are continually threatened by the fierce hyena-life foosas. The king decides that these New York Giants will scare off the foosas and leave them in peace. Well, you know that is going to happen but first, Alex has to learn what it is like to be a lion, to discover his true hunting and carnivorous self. Fortunately for all on Madagascar, he learns to like fish!

The king of the lemurs is a star turn for Sascha Baron Cohen.

Oh, yes, the penguins turn up too after discovering that Antarctica is far too cold and blizzardy.

1. An entertaining comedy adventure – for children’s enjoyment, for adults?

2. The style of the animation, the drawing of the characters, their movements (and elongations etc)? Bright, colourful? The comic design of animals? The action sequences, the life in New York, on the boat, Africa and the jungle? The comic style? The voices – and the comment that the voices are those of celebrities with cartoon masks rather than embodying the characters? The musical score?

3. The range of movie references, jokes, music for example Chariots of Fire, Planet of the Apes, American Beauty?

4. The basic message – the nature of home, fears of leaving, taking risks, self-image, discovery and voyage, the inner self, the new life?

5. The journey to awareness, to self-consciousness, to different kinds of bonding?

6. The opening dream, the focus on Alex, Ben Stiller’s voice? The dreams of the jungle, Tarzan? The contrast with his real life in the zoo, a domesticated lion in New York City? His friendship with Marty and their conversations, with Melman, with Gloria? His life confined to the zoo, his looking forward to performances, his wanting people to come, his creating the image of a lion?

7. The penguins, the different types, their tunnelling in the wartime prisoner of war movie style, concealing the sand, the irony of their coming up still within the zoo? Their offering dreams of the wild, their plan?

8. Marty, Chris Rock’s voice, the zany comedy? His life in the zoo, the giraffe and his neck, point of view? His tenth birthday? The party, the wish, his not revealing the wish but being forced to explain his wanting to go to the wild? The inspiration of the penguins? His following the penguins, his friends following him, Grand Central Station, their being captured, in the crates, on the boat, the voyage?

9. The crates going overboard, the penguins taking over the ship, the shipwreck? Land, the different reactions, Alex and his experience of the wild, yearning for New York? His status on the island? Marty and his enjoying the island? The building up of the club, the contrast between the two sides of the island – and Alex being persuaded to go over?

10. Melman, David Schwimmer’s voice, his laments, his not being the brightest? The contrast with Gloria, Jada Pinkett Smith’s voice, the glamorous voice – and yet the gangly and ungainly hippo? Their both following Alex and Marty?

11. The discovery of the lemurs, King Julian the Thirteenth and Sacha Baron Cohen’s voice? Morris, his adviser? Their fears, the encounter with the new animals, seeing them as New York giants? The king and his plan for confronting their enemy, the fossas? Morris and his scepticism? The lemurs following, the execution of the plan, the taunting of the enemy, the fears? Morris and his objections, the king and his vanity?

12. The fossas, their appearance, hyena-like? Instilling fear? Their return, the pursuit of the animals, Alex and his fighting them, rediscovering his instincts (and his desire to eat steak)? The confrontation with Alex, Marty to the rescue?

13. Alex and his discovery that he was a lion, his becoming hungrier and hungrier, imagining all the lemurs as steaks, visualising his friends as steaks? His honourable stance, not wanting to hurt them, segregating himself? Marty to the rescue?

14. The penguins, their arrival, their disillusionment with Antarctica and the flashback to their finding it too cold, their settling down, bringing the boat back?

15. The decision about the future, the animals going to the boat, the penguins having sabotaged the boat? Their being stuck? The lemurs and their peace, the routing of the enemy, the decision about the crown and Julian having another one?

16. How satisfying a blend of comedy, action, adventure – with message?