113. Madagascar

Title: Madagascar
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy
Year: 2005, 2008, 2012

Summary:

Madagascar (2005): At the Central Park Zoo, Marty the zebra is celebrating his tenth birthday, but longs to see the rest of the world from outside his pampered life at the zoo, believing that he can find wide-open spaces to run around in, like Connecticut. Marty's best friend, Alex the lion attempts to cheer up his friend by singing Frank Sinatra's "New York, New York" with him. Still unsatisfied, Marty gets some tips from the zoo's penguins; Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private. The penguins are similarly trying to escape the zoo. Marty's friends - Alex the lion, Melman the giraffe and Gloria the hippopotamus - realize Marty's folly and try to follow him. The four, along with the penguins and the chimpanzees Mason and his silent friend Phil eventually find themselves at Grand Central Station, but are quickly sedated by tranquilizer darts when Alex's attempt to communicate with humans is mistaken for aggression. The zoo (under pressure from animal-rights activists) is forced to ship the animals, by sea, to a Kenyan wildlife preserve. During their travels, the penguins escape from their enclosure and take over the ship, intent on taking it to Antarctica. Their antics on the bridge cause the crates containing Alex, Marty, Melmen, and Gloria to fall off the boat and wash ashore on Madagascar.

The animals are soon able to regroup, initially believing themselves to be in San Diego, California. Upon exploring, however, they come across a pack of lemurs led by King Julien XIII, and quickly learn of their true location. Alex blames Marty for their predicament and attempts to signal for help to get back to civilization. Marty, on the other hand, finds the wild to be exactly what he was looking for, with Gloria and Melman soon joining him in enjoying the island. Alex eventually comes around, though his hunting instincts begin to show; he has been away from the pampered zoo life of prepacked steaks for too long. The group is accepted by the lemurs, though King Julien's adviser, Maurice, cautions them about Alex's predatory nature. King Julien ignores Maurice's concerns and persuades the group to help the lemurs fend off the fossa, who hunt the lemurs as prey. While initially Alex scares the fossa away and is worshiped by the lemurs, he later falls under his instincts and attacks Marty. Realizing that Alex is now a threat to them, King Julien banishes Alex to the far side of the island, where the fossa live. Marty begins to regret his decision to leave the zoo, seeing what Alex has turned into.

The penguins, having been to Antarctica and found that it "sucks," land the boat on Madagascar. Seeing this as a chance to return Alex to New York, Marty rushes after his friend against the wishes of the others. Marty attempts to convince the now grizzled, starving Alex to return by using the "New York" song but Alex refuses in fear of attacking him again. The penguins, Gloria and Melman go to find Marty, but are trapped by the fossa. At the last minute, Alex finally overcomes his predatory nature and scares the fossa away from the lemur territory forever. The lemurs regain their respect for Alex and the penguins help him satisfy his hunger through sushi instead of steak. As the lemurs throw a bon voyage celebration for the foursome, the penguins decide not to break the news that the ship has run out of fuel and that they are still stuck on the island, setting the stage for Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa.

Madagascar 2: Escape 2 Africa ( 2008): As a cub, Alex the Lion was called Alakay and was the son of Zuba (voiced by Bernie Mac), the alpha lion. Though Zuba tries to teach Alakay to be a hunter, the cub is more interested in dancing, and is captured by poachers when Makunga, Zuba's rival, challenges Zuba to a fight for the position of alpha lion. Alakay is forced into a crate, and taken away despite Zuba's attempts to rescue him. The crate falls into the ocean where it drifts to New York. There, Alakay is renamed Alex and sent to the Central Park Zoo where he grew up, meeting Marty the Zebra, Melman the Giraffe, and Gloria the Hippopotamus. The events of the first film are then described through a series of news flashes.

In the present time, Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra, Melman the Giraffe, Gloria the Hippopotamus, the Penguins Skipper, Kowalski, Private, and Rico, the Chimpanzees Mason (voiced by Conrad Vernon) and Phil, and even the Lemurs King Julien, Maurice, and Mort board a repaired airplane to fly back to New York. The plane takes off, but crash-lands in continental Africa. In Africa the animals are amazed to find more of their kind. Alex is reunited with Zuba and his mother. Marty fits in with a herd of zebra who all look and sound exactly like him. Hypochondriac Melman becomes a witch doctor. Gloria, attracts the attention of a smooth-talking hippo named Moto Moto.

Meanwhile, the penguins set about repairing the plane. They carjack several jeeps under "Operation Tourist Trap", leaving the tourists stranded in the jungle. Nana, a tough old woman known for beating up Alex in the first film, takes charge of the group ("We are Survivors!").

Unfortunately, life in Africa is not as wonderful as it first seemed. Makunga, still determined to take the position of alpha lion, reminds Zuba that Alex must complete a traditional coming-of-age challenge that he did not complete. Alex, thinking that the challenge is a dance contest (it is actually a fight) competes against the strongest lion, Teetsi who was recommended by Makunga and loses quickly. To avoid banishing his own son for failing, Zuba relinquishes his title as Alpha lion. Makunga immediately takes the position and ousts Alex and his family. Marty, meanwhile, begins to feel upset because there is nothing unique about him. Melman is happy until he learns that he has the same symptoms that apparently caused the previous witch doctor to die. Melman is also forlorn about Gloria dating Moto Moto, as Melman has secretly loved her for a long time. Gloria goes on a date with Moto Moto and quickly realizes that he only loves her for her large body.

The next day, the animals panic when the watering hole dries up. Determined to make up for his earlier failure, Alex and Marty leave the reserve to investigate. They discover that the stranded New Yorkers, under the instruction of Nana, have dammed up the river and built a primitive civilization. Alex is captured by a trap, forcing Marty to abandon him to seek help. Meanwhile, Zuba hears from Makunga what Alex did and goes to assist him.

Back on the reserve, King Julien suggests that the animals offer a sacrifice in the volcano, Mount Kilimanjaro, to appease the water gods. Believing that he will die soon, Melman volunteers to be sacrificed. Gloria stops him just in time and Marty arrives to tell them about Alex. The trio, the penguins, and several chimpanzees use the newly-fixed plane to execute a rescue.

However, Alex has already managed to rescue both himself and his father by dancing for the New Yorkers, who fondly remember him from the zoo. The other animals arrive to pick them up with the plane (redesigned as a helicopter), and together they all destroy the dam, freeing the water.

Meanwhile, back at the volcano, Mort turns up after being chased through the jungle by a shark. The shark falls into the volcano, completing the sacrifice (Maurice says "I hope the gods like seafood.") and causing King Julien to think that he brought back the water.

As the watering hole fills, Makunga angrily makes a stand for control. However, Alex manages to remove Makunga from power by tricking Nana into attacking him. Zuba gives the alpha position to Alex, but Alex refuses, resulting in both father and son becoming co-leaders.

The movie ends as Skipper marries a bobble-head hula doll from the plane and leaves on a honeymoon in Monte Carlo with the chimpanzees, and a huge tub of diamonds and gold, leaving Alex, Marty, Melman, Gloria and The Lemurs to happily remain in Africa with Alex's parents.

Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted (2012): Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra, Melman the Giraffe, and Gloria the Hippopotamus set out to return to New York after escaping to Africa. Dependent on the mechanical know-how of the notorious chimpanzees and penguins, their plan inevitably goes awry and they find themselves stranded in Monte Carlo, where they try to escape Europe from animal control led by Captain Chantel DuBois by joining up with a traveling circus by chance. Led by the venerable Siberian tiger Vitaly, the animal-centered circus has seen better days. During the course of a tour through a series of European cities that ends in a fabulous big top in the heart of London, Alex, Marty, Melman, and Gloria help Vitaly the tiger, Gia the jaguar, and Stefano the sea lion, rediscover their passion for show business and reinvent circus performance.