Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa is a 2008 American computer-animated comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It is the second installment in the franchise, following "Madagascar" (2005). It was directed by Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath, with a screenplay written by Etan Cohen, Darnell, and McGrath, and features Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric the Entertainer, Andy Richter, Elisa Gabrielli, McGrath, Chris Miller, Christopher Knights, and Conrad Vernon reprising their voice acting roles from the first film, joined by new cast members Bernie Mac , Alec Baldwin, Sherri Shepherd, and will.i.am, while John DiMaggio also joins the cast as the new voice of Rico. In the film, the main characters—a party of animals from the Central Park Zoo whose adventures have taken them to Madagascar—find themselves in Africa, where they meet others of their species and where Alex the lion reunites with his parents. Released November 7, 2008, "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa" grossed $603.9 million on a $150 million budget, making it the sixth highest-grossing film of 2008. It was dedicated to Bernie Mac, who died before the film's  release. A sequel, "", was released in 2012. Plot. In Africa, Zuba the lion tries to teach his son Alakay how to fight, but the cub is more interested in dancing. Rival male Makunga challenges Zuba for the title of alpha lion, and during their fight Alakay is captured by poachers. The crate containing Alakay falls into the ocean and drifts to New York City, where he is renamed Alex and grows up at the Central Park Zoo with Marty the zebra, Melman the giraffe, and Gloria the hippopotamus. Years later, following their adventure in Madagascar, the zoo animals—Alex, Marty , Melman, Gloria, the penguins Skipper, Kowalski, Rico, and Private, and chimpanzees Mason and Phil—prepare to return to New York aboard a battered airplane piloted by the penguins, accompanied by the lemurs King Julien, Maurice, and Mort. The plane runs out of fuel and crash lands in continental Africa. The animals find themselves at a watering hole on a nature reserve, and are excited to meet others of their species. Alex is reunited with his parents and impresses them with tales of his status as "the king of New York". Marty fits in with a herd of other zebras who  look and sound just like him. Melman, a hypochondriac, is distressed that the reserve has no doctors, so the other giraffes appoint him their witch doctor. Seeking romance, Gloria attracts the attention of the smooth-talking male hippo Moto Moto. Meanwhile, the penguins set about repairing the plane, assisted by numerous chimpanzees recruited by Mason and Phil. They steal vehicles from several groups of New Yorkers who are on safari and strip them for parts. Nana, a tough old woman who slapped Alex around during the events of "Madagascar", takes charge of the stranded tourists and helps them survive in  the wilderness. The zoo animals' excitement soon turns to disappointment. In a scheme to oust Zuba as alpha lion, Makunga insists that Alex complete a rite of passage which Alex mistakes for a talent contest. It is actually a fighting contest, and Makunga tricks him into choosing the strongest lion as his opponent, resulting in Alex's humiliating defeat. Faced with the duty of banishing his son, Zuba relinquishes his title as alpha and Makunga takes over. Meanwhile, Marty is dejected by the realization that the other zebras can do everything he can, believing himself no longer unique. Melman comes  to believe that he is deathly ill, and Gloria's interest in Moto Moto saddens him since he has secretly loved her for a long time. The four friends argue heatedly with one another. Gloria has a date with Moto Moto, but loses interest when she realizes he is only attracted to her because of her size. After a pep talk from King Julien, Melman finally reveals his feelings for Gloria. The next day, the animals panic when the watering hole dries up. Determined to redeem himself, Alex mends his friendship with Marty and they leave the reserve to investigate  upriver. King Julien suggests that offering a sacrifice to the nearby volcano will restore the water. Melman, forlorn and believing he is dying, volunteers to be sacrificed. Gloria stops him from jumping into the volcano, and realizes that he loves her for more than her appearance. Alex and Marty discover that the stranded New Yorkers have built a camp and dammed up the river, and Alex is captured by them. Zuba rushes to his aid, but Alex saves them both by dancing for the tourists, who remember him fondly from the zoo. Marty, Melman, Gloria, the penguins, and the chimpanzees  arrive in the repaired airplane and help Alex destroy the dam, restoring the water. Makunga angrily makes a stand for control, but Alex tricks him into being subdued by Nana. Zuba offers Alex the title of alpha lion, but he declines, and father and son become co-leaders. Skipper the penguin marries a bobblehead doll from the plane, and he, the other penguins, and the chimpanzees head off to honeymoon in Monte Carlo. Alex, Marty, Melman, Gloria, and the lemurs happily decide to stay on the reserve for a while. Production. A sequel to "Madagascar" had been in development since  2005, when the first film had been released, with a release date planned for late 2008. In the first teaser trailer, which was released in March 2008, the film was subtitled with "The Crate Escape". By June 2008, the film was given its final title – "Escape 2 Africa". Reception. Critical response. Rotten Tomatoes reported that of critics gave the film a positive review, with an average rating of , based on reviews. The website's consensus reads, ""Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa" is an improvement on the original, with more fleshed-out characters, crisper animation and more consistent humor." Another review aggregator , Metacritic classified the film into the "generally favorable reviews" category with 61/100 approval rating based on 25 reviews, also a bit higher a score than the original. Michael Phillips of the "Chicago Tribune" stated in his review that the film "goes easy on the pop culture jokes, I should clarify: one of the smarter things in the script is how Alex, who digs his Bob Fosse and Jerome Robbins dance moves, becomes the film's primary pop-cult gag." Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" gave the film 3/4 stars and wrote "This is a brighter, more engaging film  than the original "Madagascar". John Anderson of "Newsday" gave the film 3.5/4 stars and stated ""Madagascar 2: Escape to Africa", the sequel to the enormously successful DreamWorks adventure and a film that hews close to the whole "Lion King"/species-as-destiny/self-fulfillment paradigm." Joe Morgenstern of "The Wall Street Journal" wrote: "The roots are shallow, but the sequel is good-natured, high-spirited and perfectly enjoyable if you take it for what it is." Jim Schembri of "The Age" gave the film 3.5/5 stars, describing it as a "hugely entertaining, lightning-fast, ceaselessly funny follow-up to the adorable  2005 animated hit", and deemed it one of the best animated films of 2008. Kelly Jane Torrance of "The Washington Times" gave the film 3/5 stars, writing that it "might not offer audiences cutting-edge animation or a particularly original story", but added: "It still has a lot going for it, though: foot-tapping music, laughs for young and old and the prodigious talents of Sacha Baron Cohen." Shubra Gupta of "The Indian Express" wrote that the film was "as spunky, witty and funny" as its predecessor, and praised the animation and characters, but criticized the story for "[taking] the  same course as "The Lion King", with a detour towards "Shrek" thrown in." Carrie Rickey of "The Philadelphia Inquirer" gave the film 2/4 stars and wrote: "Take the flat tire that was "Madagascar". Retread it with "The Lion King" storyline. Pump it up with air. Now you have "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa"." Peter Bradshaw of "The Guardian" gave the film 2/5 stars, describing it as "a frankly disappointing piece of opportunism, with a non-plot which shamelessly rips off "The Lion King"." Anthony Quinn of "The Independent" also gave the film 2/5 stars, writing: "The visual invention and draughtsmanship are  mightily impressive; a shame the drama's a bit of a bore." Box office. On its opening day, the film grossed $17,555,027 from 4,056 theaters with an $4,328 average. It went to be at No. 1 at the box office with $63,106,589 with $15,559 average per theater. As of March 19, 2009, it achieved a gross of $180,010,950 (29.8% of total gross) in the United States and Canada along with a gross of $423,889,404 (70.2%) in other regions adding to a worldwide gross total of $603,900,354. Music. Hans Zimmer returned to compose the  score for the film, this time being joined by will.i.am. The soundtrack includes five new songs performed by will.i.am; his cover of "I Like to Move It" was used in the end credits.