Released in theaters byDreamWorks Pictures[a] on May 27, 2005,Madagascar received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the visuals and charm but criticized the story and humor. It was a success at the box office, grossing $556.6 million on a production budget of $75 million, becoming thesixth highest-grossing film of 2005. The success ofMadagascar launched amultimedia franchise, which includes twosequels, a spin-off film, several short films, television series and specials and a number of video games, theme park attractions and live stage shows.
InNew York City, Alex thelion lives in theCentral Park Zoo as a star attraction known as the "King of New York" with his best friends, Melman thegiraffe, Gloria thehippopotamus and Marty thezebra. Marty, having grown tired of his daily life in the zoo, desires to experience the wild. On Marty's tenth birthday, Alex, Melman and Gloria attempt to cheer him up, but he remains unsatisfied. Having learned earlier that the zoo'spenguins, Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private, are trying to escape toAntarctica, Marty decides to follow them out of the zoo to fulfill his wish to be in the wild.
Marty heads towards theGrand Central Terminal, to catch a train to nearbyConnecticut. Alex, Melman and Gloria discover Marty's absence and pursue him, joined by the penguins andchimpanzee duo Mason and Phil at Grand Central, where an army of officers subdue them. Under pressure from animal rights activists, the zoo is forced to ship the escaped animals by sea to anature reserve inKenya. During the trip, the penguins manage to escape their crate and hijack the ship, setting course to Antarctica, inadvertently causing the crates containing Alex and his friends to fall overboard.
Upon being washed ashore on the African island ofMadagascar, the quartet come across itslemur inhabitants, led by aring-tailed lemur named King Julien XIII. The predatoryfossa attack the lemurs, but are scared off by Alex's fearsome appearance. Feeling homesick, Alex blames Marty angrily for the group's predicament, and makes several attempts to be rescued, with no success. Marty finds life in Madagascar to be exactly what he wanted, with Gloria and Melman soon joining him. Without the rawsteaks Alex was provided at the Central Park Zoo, his hunger sets in triggering hispredatory instincts.
The next morning, King Julien and the lemurs attempt to befriend the castaways in hopes that Alex's presence will keep the fossa at bay, despite protest about Alex's predatory nature from his adviser, Maurice theaye-aye. While entertaining the lemurs, Alex starts to hallucinate everyone as steaks, briefly loses his sanity and attempts to eat them, scaring them all. Alex flees to the fossa territory of the island to protect his friends from himself. Seeing what Alex has become, and how dangerous the wild can be, Marty regrets his decision of leaving the zoo.
Having found Antarctica to be inhospitable, the penguins decide to land the ship at Madagascar. Seeing the chance to finally return home, Marty tracks Alex's trail towards the fossas' territory where he tries to convince his friend of the ship's arrival, but Alex refuses out of fear, still not wanting to hurt anyone, but Marty refuses to leave without him too. When Marty is suddenly ambushed by the fossas, Gloria, Melman, and the penguins come to the rescue, but they are far outnumbered. Alex, having overcome his predatory instincts, arrives and rescues his friends, scaring the fossas away from the lemur territory permanently.
The penguins satisfy Alex's hunger by feeding himsushi, which he finds better than steak. As the lemurs throw a farewell celebration for the group, 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.[b]
Ben Stiller as Alex, anAfrican lion and Marty's best friend. Tom McGrath explained that "Ben Stiller was the first actor we asked to perform, and we knew we wanted his character, Alex, to be a big performing lion with a vulnerable side."[4]
Chris Rock as Marty, aplains zebra and Alex's best friend. McGrath explained the character: "Marty is a guy who thinks there might be more to life than what's in the zoo. We wanted his character to be energetic, so we listened to Chris Rock."[4]
David Schwimmer as Melman, ahypochondriac, earnest, and awkwardreticulated giraffe and one of Alex's friends who has germ phobias.[4] When they were looking for a voice actor for Melman, they listened to Schwimmer's voice onFriends and, according to McGrath, thought that it "sounded really neat".[4]
Jada Pinkett Smith as Gloria, a sassycommon hippopotamus who is one of Alex's friends.[4] McGrath said that they found all these traits in Pinkett Smith's voice when they listened to her.[4]
Sacha Baron Cohen as King Julien XIII, aring-tailed lemur and the leader of Madagascar's lemur community. King Julien was initially meant to be a "two-line" character until auditioning Baron Cohen improvised eight minutes of dialogue in an Indian accent.[5]
Tom McGrath as Skipper, aChinstrap penguin who leads a commando unit consisting of himself and three other penguins. McGrath, who also co-wrote and co-directed the film, initially lent his voice to the temporary tracks.[6][7] Growing up with films starring tough actors likeJohn Wayne,Charlton Heston, andRobert Stack, it was the latter of whom McGrath wanted for the voice of Skipper.[8] Stack was approached about voicing the character, but died two weeks before production on the animation began.[8][9][10] After that, DreamWorks Animation CEOJeffrey Katzenberg decided to keep the temporary voice, with McGrath explaining: "People were used to me doing that voice. We knew it worked when we screened it."[8] Many of the character's traits were based on Stack's work.[10] McGrath especially emphasizedThe Untouchables, a 1959 television crime drama series starring Stack.[10]
Miller also voices Timo, atenrec who is seen attending Julien's meeting.
Jeffrey Katzenberg as Rico, aChinstrap penguin who is the loose-cannon explosives expert and weapons supplier of Skipper's team who communicates through grunts and squeals.[6]Mireille Soria, the film's producer, commented on Katzenberg's uncredited role: "The irony for us is that he's the one who doesn't talk. There's something veryDadaistic about that, isn't there?"[6]
Katzenberg also voices Abner, a blue-eyed lemur who is seen at the paradise scene.
Christopher Knights as Private, an English-accentedChinstrap penguin who is the mild-mannered eager rookie of Skipper's team.[6] Knights was also an assistant editor on the film.[6]
Conrad Vernon as Mason, acommon chimpanzee (Phil, the other chimpanzee, is unvoiced, communicating to Mason viaSign Language. Phil is the one who can read whereas Mason cannot.)
Elisa Gabrielli as Nana, an elderly Yiddish-accented New Yorker. Gabrielli provided some background voices until the directors and producer asked her and her fellow actors if they wanted to try their voices for the role. Upon seeing a black and white sketch of Nana, Gabrielli knew that she wanted to voice her. She modeled Nana's voice after her Russian and Hungarian grandmothers and her stepfather, though she did not think that her voice would be kept in the finished film at first.[11]
According to co-directorTom McGrath, the idea forMadagascar began as a one-sentence prompt, and it took two years of development for the idea to be refined to the point where the four main characters were finalized.[12] In 1998, DreamWorks and PDI had started development on an animated film titledRockumentary, which featured aBeatles-esque penguinrock band, and was to be directed byEric Darnell, after he finished his work onAntz. The idea was scrapped in 2001, but after production onMadagascar started, Darnell decided to revive the penguins as a commando unit rather than a rock band.[12]
"When Eric Darnell and I first met, he was working onRockumentary, which was a spoof ofA Hard Day’s Night with four penguins: it had to be shelved because of problems with the music rights", McGrath commented. "When I was working on the storm at sea, Eric and I thought it would be funny if the penguins took over the ship and headed it for Antarctica. I was thinkingS.W.A.T. with penguins, playing aggressiveness against their cuteness. As the film progressed, we used them to create a mirror story about animals trying to go back to where they think they belong."[13]
Originally, Julien was intended to be a minor character with two lines. However, whenSacha Baron Cohen auditioned for the role, he improvised an Indian accent and eight minutes of dialogue for his recording. The filmmakers found Baron Cohen's performance so funny that they rewrote the script and made Julien a much more prominent character in the story as "King of the Lemurs"[citation needed].Dana Carvey was originally offered a role but he turned it down as he was busy raising kids at the time.[14]
In February 2006,Paramount Pictures acquired the rights to all live-action films DreamWorks had released between 1997 and 2005, followingViacom's $1.6 billion acquisition of the company's live-action film assets and television assets.[19][20] Additionally, Paramount signed a six-year distribution agreement for past and futureDreamWorks Animation films, with DreamWorks Animation having spun off into a separate company from the live-action division in 2004.[21][22] ABlu-ray version of the film was released on September 23, 2008, byParamount Home Entertainment to coincide with the theatrical release ofMadagascar: Escape 2 Africa. On August 16, 2010, Paramount Home Entertainment released a 10 film box set titled the "DreamWorks Animation Ultimate Box Set", which includedMadagascar,Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa and 8 other DreamWorks Animation films.[23]
On December 31, 2012, DreamWorks Animation's distribution agreement with Paramount officially ended, and in July 2014, DreamWorks Animation announced they had reacquired the distribution rights to all of their films from Paramount, transferring these rights to their new distribution partner20th Century Fox.[3] On April 28, 2016, DreamWorks Animation was purchased byComcast subsidaryNBCUniversal for $3.8 billion.[24] On May 27, 2025,Universal Pictures Home Entertainment announced that the film will be released onUltra HD Blu-ray on July 22, 2025, in commemoration of the film's 20th anniversary.[25][26]
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 behindStar Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith andThe Longest Yard.[30] 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.[31] In the United States, the film eventually grossed $193,595,521, and in foreign areas grossed $362,964,045 with a summative worldwide gross of $556,559,566.[2]
OnRotten Tomatoes, the film received a 55% approval rating based on 192 reviews, with an average rating of 6.1/10. The consensus reads: "Though its story is problematic in spots and its humor is hit-or-miss for the adult crowd,Madagascar boasts impressive visuals and enough spunky charm to keep children entertained."[32] OnMetacritic, the film has a score of 57 out of 100, based on 36 reviews, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[33] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.[34]
Paul Arendt ofBBC gave the film 4/5 stars, writing: "It's also a pleasure to see a cartoon so determinedly devoid of sentiment, a stance confirmed by the hilarious demise of an angelic little duckling. Highly recommended for kids and adults."[35] Jeff Strickler of theStar Tribune gave the film 3/4 stars, describing it as a "good-natured kid flick" and writing: "This computer-animated comedy makes enough kowtows to adult humor that parents won't be bored, but it is clearly aimed at the peewee set."[36] Ann Hornaday ofThe Washington Post described the film as "wildly fun" and wrote: "along with such recent classics asShrek,Finding Nemo andThe Incredibles,Madagascar will surely go on to take a deserved place on millions of families' video shelves as a reliable Saturday night staple."[37] Kenneth Turan of theLos Angeles Times described the film as "a good-humored, pleasant confection that has all kinds of relaxed fun bringing computer-animated savvy to the old-fashioned world ofLooney Tunes cartoons."[38] Paul Clinton ofCNN wrote that the film was "a delight", and added: "Co-writers and -directors McGrath and Eric Darnell, along with their entire team, have done a terrific job with their sweet and whimsical story."[39]
Roger Ebert gave the film 2.5/4 stars, writing that it "is funny, especially at the beginning, and good-looking in a retro cartoon way", but added: "in a world where the stakes have been raised byFinding Nemo,Shrek andThe Incredibles, it's a throwback to a more conventional kind of animated entertainment."[40] Philippa Hawker ofThe Sydney Morning Herald also gave the film 2.5/4 stars, writing: "Madagascar, despite some break-out moments of silliness, seems defined by a formula that can't fail to please, at a basic level, but never feels imaginatively inspired."[41] Rick Groen ofThe Globe and Mail gave the film 2/4 stars, describing the film's script as "a wafer-thin yarn that might have doneSylvester andTweety proud, but goes missing-in-action when stretched over 80-plus minutes."[42]A. O. Scott ofThe New York Times wrote that the film "arouses no sense of wonder, except insofar as you wonder, as you watch it, how so much talent, technical skill and money could add up to so little."[43]
Madagascar is the soundtrack to the 2005 DreamWorks film of the same name. It was released byGeffen Records and UMG Soundtracks on May 24, 2005. Of particular critical note was the cover of "I Like to Move It" bySacha Baron Cohen, which has since become a recurring theme song throughout theMadagascar franchise.
Another prequel series entitledMadagascar: A Little Wild premiered onHulu andPeacock in 2020.Madagascar has also spawned a number of short films, video games, and other media, as well as theme park attractions and live stage shows.
^abSoares, Andre (February 4, 2006)."Annie Awards 2006". Annie Awards via Alt Film Guide.Archived from the original on March 28, 2008. RetrievedMay 22, 2008.
^Золотой Орел 2005 [Golden Eagle 2005] (in Russian). Ruskino.ru.Archived from the original on May 14, 2022. RetrievedMarch 6, 2017.
^"AFI's 10 Top 10 Nominees"(PDF). Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. RetrievedAugust 19, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
