Madagascar (2005)

***Madagascar*** is a 2005 American computer-animated survival comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and PDI/DreamWorks and distributed by DreamWorks Pictures. The film was directed by Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath (in his feature directorial debut) and written by Darnell, McGrath, Mark Burton, and Billy Frolick. The film stars the voices of Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric the Entertainer, and Andy Richter. It centers around a group of animals from the Central Park Zoo who find themselves stranded on the island of Madagascar, same year as Duma.

## Plot

In New York City, Alex the lion lives in the Central Park Zoo as a star attraction known as the "King of New York", and spends time with his friends, consisting of Melman the giraffe, Gloria the hippopotamus, and his best friend Marty the zebra. Marty has grown weary of his daily routine and desires to experience the wild. On Marty's tenth birthday, Alex, Melman, and Gloria attempt to cheer him up, but a still-unsatisfied Marty learns that the zoo's penguins — Skipper, Kowalski, Rico, and Private — are trying to escape to Antarctica, and promptly follows them out. Marty heads towards Grand Central Station, as he plans to catch a train to nearby Connecticut. Alex, Melman, and Gloria pursue Marty in an attempt to convince him to return, only to end up, along with the penguins and two chimpanzees named Mason and Phil, at Grand Central, where the police officers, firefighters, and animal control officers sedate them using tranquillizer guns. Under pressure from anti-captivity activists, the zoo is forced to ship their escaped animals by sea to a wildlife preserve in Kenya. During their travels, the penguins escape their crate and commandeer the ship in the hopes of heading to Antarctica, causing the crates containing Alex, Marty, Melman, and Gloria to fall overboard.

Upon being washed ashore on the island of Madagascar, the animals come across a pack of lemurs led by King Julien XIII. The predatory fossa attack the lemurs, only to be scared off by the fearsome appearance of Alex, who blames Marty for the group's predicament and attempts to signal for help to get back to civilization. Marty finds the wild to be exactly what he was looking for, and Gloria and Melman soon join him in enjoying the island. Alex eventually comes around, but without the raw steaks he was provided at the zoo, his hunger sets in and prey drive begins to show. Julien leads the lemurs into befriending the zoo animals in the hope that Alex's presence will keep the fossa at bay, despite his adviser Maurice's warnings about Alex's predatory nature. When Alex loses control and attacks Marty, Maurice throws a coconut at Alex to stop him. Realizing what he has done and feeling sad and guilty for attacking his friends, Alex flees to the predator side of the island, where the fossa live. Seeing what Alex has become and how dangerous the wild can be, Marty regrets his decision to leave the zoo.

Having found Antarctica to be inhospitable, the penguins land the ship at Madagascar. Seeing the chance to return Alex to New York, Marty crosses over to the predator side and attempts to convince the scared and starving Alex to return, but Alex refuses out of fear that he will attack Marty again. The fossa attack Marty, and though Gloria, Melman, and the penguins come to the rescue, they are outnumbered. Alex overcomes his predatory instincts, rescues his friends, and scares the fossa away from the lemur territory. The lemurs regain their respect for Alex, and the penguins satisfy his hunger by feeding him sushi, which he finds better than steak. As the lemurs throw a farewell celebration for the foursome, the penguins decide not to tell them that the ship has run out of fuel, leaving them stranded on the island for the time being.

## Mammals

LionPlains ZebraGiraffeCommon HippopotamusRing-tailed LemurPygmy Mouse LemurAye-ayeCommon ChimpanzeeFossaBlack-and-white Ruffed LemurRed Ruffed LemurRed-fronted LemurMongoose Lemur
## Reptiles

Nile CrocodilePanther ChameleonMadagascar Tree Boa