Mason and Phil

Mason and Phil are two sophisticated common chimpanzees at the Central Park Zoo, who prefer to drink cups of coffee and "read" the newspaper in the morning. Mason speaks with a stereotypical British accent; Phil, by contrast, doesn't speak at all and communicates entirely through American Sign Language, though whether he is actually deaf is unknown. While Mason is unable to read, Phil can and is used to decipher writing while Mason translates the ASL. Both escape the zoo after Gloria breaks through its outer wall; Mason mentions Tom Wolfe giving a lecture, and they plan to attend to "throw poo at him." Along with other characters, Phil and Mason are captured and sent to a wildlife reserve. However, their crates are not thrown off the boat, and they are not seen until a final scene, in which they are still in crates waving farewell to the Madagascar natives.
In Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, the chimps call upon chimpanzees living in Africa to help rebuild the wrecked plane that was supposed to fly them back to New York. They later go on strike, asking for maternity leaves and breaks (Skipper argues that they are all males); eventually, they blackmail Skipper into agreeing.
In The Penguins of Madagascar, Mason and Phil are supporting characters in the series, and are shown to be annoyed by Julien's partying. They attempt to rid him of his ways by tricking Julien into thinking a solar eclipse was a sign that the "sky spirits" disapproved of his behavior. They also frequently mention throwing poo and are used to read the English language. Phil may be the most temperamental or "potty mouthed" of the two, as after being told there is no checkmate in checkers, he makes several signs which Mason responds with "You groom your mother with those hands?!" Phil and Mason may also sometimes lose things in the translation of what they are made to read. An instance of this is when the zoo occupants were ordered to make a cake for King Julien, and Mason mistakes "booger" for "sugar". This does not mean that Phil is unable to communicate well, even though he is unable to truly speak, he was still able to win over the heart of Lulu, a female chimp visiting from the Hoboken Zoo in New Jersey for a weekend, While Lulu did appear in a later episode where the penguins ended up accidentally finding themselves in the Hoboken Zoo, it is unknown if she keeps in touch with Phil.
McGrath explained that originally their "first scene was just deciphering the code on the shipping label". The crew "got this girl who knew American Sign Language" to give them hand gestures. They wanted gestures to be "really frenetic", and "she signed out, 'Tell the tiny pea-brained birds that the sign reads: Ship to...'". Afterward, the crew returned to the scene where Mason notes Tom Wolfe's lecture, and she signed "Can we throw our poo at his stupid white suit?" Mason is named after legendary British actor James Mason, whose urbane, sophisticated vocal styling is mimicked by Vernon.
In Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted Mason and Phil have smaller roles and are mostly seen posing as the King of Versailles.
They make a cameo appearance on a newspaper in Turbo.
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