Little Bear's Adventures of Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted

***Little Bear's Adventures of Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted*** is the third and final upcoming Little Bear/Madagascar crossover to be made by Hiatt Grey. And it is the sequel to *Little Bear's Adventures of Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa*.

## Plot

Following the events of the previous film, the penguins—Skipper, Kowalski, Rico, and Private—and the chimpanzees Mason and Phil leave Africa for Monte Carlo in their modified airplane. When they do not return, Alex the lion convinces his friends Marty the zebra, Melman the giraffe, and Gloria the hippopotamus that they should go find them and return to their home at the Central Park Zoo. With their lemur friends from Madagascar—King Julien, Maurice, and Mort—they find the penguins and chimpanzees at the Monte Carlo Casino. Chaos ensues, and the animals barely escape from Animal Control officer Chantel DuBois, who is determined to add Alex's head to her taxidermy collection.

When their plane crashes, the animals board a departing circus train. The circus animals—Stefano the sea lion, Gia the jaguar, and Vitaly the tiger—are suspicious of outsiders, so Alex lies by claiming that they are American circus animals. The circus is headed for a performance in Rome, followed by one in London where they hope to impress an American promoter in order to get their first American tour. To allay suspicion, the penguins purchase the circus from its human ringmaster. In Rome, Alex becomes enamored with Gia while King Julien falls in love with performing bear Sonya. DuBois and her men pursue Julien and Sonya, but fail to catch them and are arrested.

The performance in Rome is a disaster: The animals' acts go awry and they are chased off by the angry audience. Stefano explains to Alex that the circus was once famous and Vitaly was its star, skillfully jumping through ever-smaller hoops. However, one day he tried to jump through a tiny flaming hoop and the olive oil he used as lubricant caught fire. The accident caused Vitaly to lose his passion, and the entire circus suffered as a result. Alex convinces the circus animals to come up with a new, exciting, all-animal act that will restore their former glory. Marty and Stefano find a new passion in being shot out of a cannon, while Melman and Gloria become adept at dancing together on a tightrope. Gia persuades Alex to teach her "TrapezeAmericano", and the two begin to fall in love. Meanwhile, DuBois escapes from prison and resumes her pursuit.

In London, Vitaly is afraid of failing again and is about to run away, but Alex helps him rediscover his passion for performing the impossible. At Alex's suggestion, Vitaly lubricates himself with hair conditioner and succeeds in jumping through the tiny flaming hoop. The show is a spectacular success, and the American promoter signs the circus to a contract. DuBois shows up, and though the penguins foil her plan, the document she was carrying reveals to the others that Alex, Marty, Melman, and Gloria are not really circus animals, but zoo animals trying to get home. The circus animals feel betrayed and eject the foursome.

The zoo and circus animals go their separate ways but arrive in Central Park at the same time. Looking in at their old home, the zoo animals realize how much their adventures have changed them and decide that their true place is with the circus. DuBois shows up and tranquilizes them, but before she can behead Alex the zoo staff arrive and incorrectly believe that she is returning the missing animals. King Julien makes it back to the circus with the news, and Gia convinces the others that they should rescue their friends. The zoo animals awaken in their old enclosures, now surrounded by high fences. DuBois is being honored by the zoo staff, but secretly loads a poison-filled dart and takes aim at Alex. Gia swings in on a trapeze and rescues him, revealing that the animals have transformed the circus into a "flying circus" of hot air balloons. They rescue the zoo animals, and together they defeat DuBois. Alex and his friends permanently join the circus, and the penguins ship DuBois and her men off in crates bound for Madagascar.

## Trivia

* Wilbur, Cardigan, Nellie, Aranea, Joy, Templeton, Ash Ketchum, Pikachu, Misty, Brock, May, Max, Dawn, Piplup, Max Taylor, Zoe Drake, and Rex Owen guest star in this film.