We greatly enjoyed this movie.

Rating: 9/10 (4 June 2005)

We were pleasantly surprised by this movie. Having read several negative reviews of Madagascar, our expectations were low, but our nine-year-old wanted to see it, and we did. I have nothing negative to say about this movie. The primary characters are not exactly "cute" cartoon animals, but in the end this may improve the effect of the show.
For adults, there were "inside" references to current TV personalities and other movies' themes. For sci-fi fans, the title of a book that appears VERY briefly was a treat. For kids, the action was quick and the plot moved along rapidly, but smoothly. A very big positive was that the movie is about as understated as a cartoon can be. Gags are not allowed to become overly long and drawn out, but are played for a quick laugh that moves the plot forward. The result is a short running time and interesting story that is within the attention span of younger kids, but entertaining to adults as well.
Technically, the animation was much closer to the Shrek end of the spectrum than to Hanna-Barbera. Very good.
I believe that Madagascar is a movie that exactly hits the targets its creators aimed at.