Madagascar
Short description
Madagascar is an animated comedy about four animals who have spent their lives in captivity at New York's Central Park Zoo. Alex the lion, Marty the zebra, Melman the giraffe and Gloria the hippopotamus are the zoo's star attractions, but Marty grows restless and longs to see what lies beyond their enclosures. His escape attempt sets off a chain of events that ends with the friends packed into crates and, after an accident at sea, washed ashore on the island of Madagascar. There they encounter lemurs and other creatures, and must come to terms with a wild existence very different from the comfortable one they knew.
Directed by Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath, who also wrote the screenplay with Mark Burton, the film was produced by Mireille Soria for DreamWorks Animation. It was the second feature Darnell directed, after Antz, and the first for McGrath, who went on to direct several more films in the series. Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer and Jada Pinkett Smith voice the four leads, with Sacha Baron Cohen as King Julien and Cedric the Entertainer as Maurice among a credited cast of twenty.
Released in May 2005, the film runs 86 minutes. Made for a budget of 75 million dollars, it took 542 million dollars worldwide, a strong return that helped establish the franchise. On IMDb it holds 6.9 out of 10 from roughly 477,000 votes, and on TMDB 6.9 from about 12,000, while critics rated it 6.2 from 192 reviews, so audiences have been somewhat warmer toward it than reviewers.
What's left behind the scenes
- The initial script described the fate of humanists freeing animals from cages.
- A Lockheed Electra airplane serves as a dwelling for the lemurs. It was on an aircraft of this model that Amelia Earhart attempted a round-the-world flight and disappeared in the central Pacific Ocean.
- Madonna, Jennifer Lopez, and Gwen Stefani all vied for the role of Gloria. Ultimately, the role went to Jada Pinkett Smith.
- During the selection of the project's composer, a change occurred: Hans Zimmer replaced Harry Gregson-Williams. Interestingly, during work on the film “Kingdom of Heaven” (2005), the reverse substitution took place: Harry became the composer instead of Hans.
- Director Tom McGrath voiced one of the penguins nicknamed “Skipper.” When creating this image, Tom based it on the voice of his old friend, composer Sean Patterson.
- In the original version, when Alex and Marty run towards each other for a joyful embrace in Madagascar, but then Alex becomes angry, remembering that they all ended up on the island because of Marty, Marty says “Oh, Sugar Honey Ice Tea” while running away, seemingly innocuous, but it actually contains a hidden obscenity. If you combine the first letters starting with the word “Sugar”, you get the word “Shit”. In the Russian version, Marty says “ЁКЛМН” here.
- One of the working titles of the cartoon was “Wild Life.”
- During a scene taking place in Times Square, in which the zebra Marty addresses a question to a police horse, the logo of Hewlett-Packard briefly appears on screen. HP is the official supplier of computer equipment for the animation division of DreamWorks studio.
- In the episode where Alex builds the Statue of Liberty in Madagascar, a Wilson volleyball is on it, exactly like the one in the film “Cast Away” (2000).
- The scene depicting Alex's dreams of meat is a reference to the film "American Beauty" (1999), in which the protagonist dreams of floating rose petals.
- Madonna, Jennifer Lopez, and Gwen Stefani all auditioned to voice Gloria.
- The episode with the destruction of the Statue of Liberty in Madagascar is a reference to the film "Planet of the Apes" (2001). The statue also protrudes halfway out of the ground.
- In Madagascar itself, the cartoon was long banned due to the resemblance of "self-proclaimed King of the Lemurs" Julian to a number of state officials who came to power on the island as a result of coups.
- When Alex, Marty, Gloria, and Melman are sitting in the crates they are being transported in, light enters the crates through the top openings. The error is that light also enters Gloria's crate through the top openings, which is impossible since the crates of Alex and Marty are above hers.
- The penguins, who became so beloved by many viewers, ended up in the project quite by chance. The fact is that the film's second director, Eric Darnell, came up with them much earlier – while creating the never-released cartoon “Rockumentary,” which told the story of a rock band made up of penguins. When he joined work on “Madagascar,” Eric pushed his idea into the film's plot. Thus, the penguins retrained from rock musicians to eager commandos.
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