Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa Trailer
DreamWorks Animation Film Stars Ben Stiller, Jada Pinkett-Smith
Oct 6, 2008
It's hard to predict how Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa is going to turn out. On the one hand, the original film was fun, mainly due to the antics of the paramilitary penguins, voiced by Tom McGrath, Chris Miller, Christopher Knights and John DiMaggio.
However, as Shrek the Third has proven, DreamWorks is willing to pound a story (or joke) well into the ground in search of box office gold. While that film managed to do well at the box office, other star-laden vehicles from DWA haven't been as successful: for every Kung Fu Panda, there's been a Bee Movie.
And, quite frankly, the main characters in the first Madagascar weren't as interesting as those penguins or the insane King Julien (Sacha Baron Cohen), who pretty much dominated the first flick.
Escape 2 Africa Trailer
This new trailer, which showed up at Filmolia.com, depicts the central characters in Africa. Alex the Lion (Ben Stiller) hooks up with his dad (Bernie Mac) and takes on a villainous rival named Makunga, voiced by Alec Baldwin. When Makunga says, "Let's dance," Alex naturally assumes that he's talking about something else. Ha-ha.
There are also a few "pidgin English" jokes as the gang tries to communicate with the natives, and fit in their new home, and Melvin is about to get thrown in a volcano. Naturally, the funniest bits in the trailer revolve around those penguins. Could this be a sign of what's to come?
What's It About?
Here's the synopsis, courtesy of DreamWorks Animation:
"All the lovable characters are back - Alex the lion (Ben Stiller), Marty the zebra (Chris Rock), Melman the giraffe (David Schwimmer) and Gloria the hippo (Jada Pinkett-Smith), King Julien (Cohen), Maurice (Cedric the Entertainer) and the penguins - in “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa.” Left marooned on the distant shores of Madagascar, the New Yorkers have hatched a plan so crazy it just might work. With military precision, the penguins have repaired an old crashed plane - sort of.
Once aloft, this unlikely crew stays airborne just enough to make it to the wildest place of all - the vast plains of Africa itself - where our zoo-raised crew encounter species of their own kind for the very first time. While discovering their roots, they quickly realize the difference between the concrete jungle and the heart of Africa. Despite long-lost relatives, romantic rivals and scheming hunters, Africa seems like a 'crack-a-lackin' great place… but is it better than their Central Park home?"
Rapper/Barack Obama supporter Will.i.Am also makes his voice acting debut in the flick. He voices an amorous hippo named Moto Moto, who attempts to romance Pinkett-Smith's character.
There's definitely a Lion King vibe going on here: there's a lion's complex relationship with his father and the villainous rival, who may or may not be related. As you might recall, Jeffrey Katzenberg came up with the idea of The Lion King and helped turn it into one of Disney Animation's biggest hits, before then-CEO Michael Eisner bounced him out the door in 1994.
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa opens November 7th.
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