'Madagascar' a cleverly written, juicy piece of animation

Rating: 8/10 (31 May 2005)

Madagascar Life in Central Park zoo is hard, especially for wise-cracking, sassy Zebra(voiced by Chris Rock), Marty. Marty feels like the zoo isn't were he is supposed to be in his life. It is his 10th birthday, and his life is half over in Zebra years. His friends, Alex the Lion(Stiller), Gloria the Hippo(Jada Pinkett Smith) and Melman the Giraffe(David Schwimmer), enjoy the life in the zoo, and immediately reject his idea to break out and go to Connecticut to be free.
Later that Night, Melman awakes to find Marty gone. He wakes Alex and Gloria, and the three embark on a journey to find him. They follow instinct and clues and eventually catch up to him at a train station. But chaos ensues, and they all awake sometime later to find themselves being shipped to the wild. While on the boat, the four friends flip overboard on accident, and end up on a stranded island in the middle of no-where. There, they meet a group of eccentric and lively animals that turn against them when Alex tries to attack Marty.
I enjoyed 'Shrek' & 'Shrek 2' just as much. 'Shark Tale' was visually captivating, and enjoyable to a certain level, but relied on it's cast too much. Dreamworks latest pic, 'Madagascar' is a cleverly written, juicy piece of animation, maybe the best Dreamworks effort yet.
Unlike 'Shark Tale' and 'Shrek 2', 'Madagascar' uses good-old-fashioned slapstick and witty jokes to provide it's humor, as apposed to pop-culture references and the Mafia. Its visuals are great, and it is lively, bouncy, and family-friendly. It's fast, It's clever, It's hilarious. What more could you want in an animated comedy? Sure, the plot is lowsy, but the sharp wit of the script and the voices provided add much flavor to the picture.
One last point, the casting is exceptionally good in this picture. The voices fit the characters well, and seem to get into their characters true personality with ease, particularly Jada Pinkett Smith and Chris Rock. Overall: Despite the lowsy plot, Dreamworks newest and possibly best effort yet, 'Madagascar', is a cleverly written, colorful and juicy piece of animation.
My rating(from 10): between 7-8