Madagascar (Original Film)

‘’’’’[[This article is only on the first film. For the article of three films, See Madagascar (Franchise). 
Madagascar is a 2005 American computer-animated comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation, and releasedin movie theaters on May 27th 2005. The voices of Ben Stiller, Jada Pinkett Smith, Chris Rock, and David Schwimmer are featured. Other voices include Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric the Entertainer, and Andy Richter. A sequel, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, was released on November 7th 2008. A second sequel, Again Titled [[Madagascar: The Nature in Survival]] Madagascar 3:Europe's Most Wanted, was released on June 8th 2012. It is the second dreamworks film (Following Shrek) to be followed by a sequel.
==Story==
A bunch of Central Park Zoo animals who have spent their lives in blissful captivity are unexpectedly shipped to the island of Madagascar.
==Plot==
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 the zoo at 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 protests 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're still stuck on the island, setting the stage for the film’s first sequel, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa.
==Cast==
Ben Stiller as Alex
Chris Rock as Marty
David Schwimmer as Melman
Jada Pinkett Smith as Gloria
Sacha Baron Cohen as King Julien
Cedric the Entertainer as Maurice
Andy Richter as Mort
Tom McGrath as Skipper
Chris Miller as Kowalski
John DiMaggio as Rico (uncredited)
Christopher Knights as Private
Conrad Vernon as Mason (Phil is unvoiced)
Fred Tatasciore and Tom McGrath as the Fossa
Elisa Gabrielli as Nana
Bob Saget as zoo animal (animal unclear)
David Cowgill as Police Horse
Stephen Apostolina as Police Officer
==Reception==
===Critial Reception ===
The film gained mixed reviews from critics, from excellent to terrible. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film received a 55% approval rating based on 178 reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes' "Cream of the Crop", 37% of critics gave positive reviews based on 35 reviews. On Metacritic, the film has 57% approval rating based on 36 reviews falling under the "Mixed or Average" category.
== == Box office==
===
Despite the mixed response from critics, the film was a commercial success. On its opening weekend, the film grossed $47,224,594 with a $11,431 average from 4,131 theaters making it the number 3 movie of that weekend behind Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith and The Longest Yard. However, the film managed to claim the top position in the U.S. box office the following week with a gross of $28,110,235. In the United States, the film eventually grossed $193,595,521, and in foreign areas grossed $339,085,150 with a summative worldwide gross of $532,680,671. As of July 2010, the film is the eighth highest-grossing DreamWorks animated feature behind Shrek, Shrek 2, Shrek the Third,  Shrek Forever After, How to Train Your Dragon, Kung Fu Panda, and Monsters vs. Aliens.
==Sequels and Spinoffs ==
===Sequels===
Asequel titled Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa was released on November 7th 2008, and picked up right where the first one le
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ft off, with the same voice cast.  A second sequel, Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted was released on June 8th 2012, with the same voice cast. 
===Other Media===
A 2009 spinoff series, The Penguins of Madagascar, premiered in March 2009 on Nickelodeon. It is the first Nicktoon to be produced by both Nickelodeon and DreamWorks. Merry Madagascar, a holiday special featuring characters from the film series, premiered on November 17th 2009 on NBC. A short film called The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper was released with the Madagascar DVD, and was theatrically released with Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit in the United States set before the events of the first film.
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Category:Dreamworks Movies
Category:PG Rated Movies
Category:2000s Movies
Category:Movies
Category:21st Century Movies'''