Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted3Dcomputer-animatedcomedy film, produced by DreamWorks Animation and
distributed by Paramount Pictures.
It is the third installment of the Madagascar series,
and it is the first in the series to be released in 3D. The film is directed by Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath andConrad Vernon. The film's world premiere was
at the 2012 Cannes Film
Festival on May 18, 2012. Alex, Marty, Melman, and Gloria are still
struggling to get home to New York. This time, their journey takes them to
Europe where they are relentlessly pursued by the murderous Monaco-based French Animal Control officer Captain Chantel
DuBois (Frances McDormand).
As a means of getting passage to North America, the zoo animals purchase a
failing traveling circus as they become
close friends with the staff like Vitaly (Bryan Cranston), Gia (Jessica Chastain), and Stefano (Martin Short). Together, they spectacularly revitalize
the business and along the way find themselves reconsidering where their true
home really is.Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted was released on June 8, 2012, to
critical and commercial success; it is the best-reviewed film in the series,
with a 79% "Certified Fresh" approval rating on the review aggregate
site Rotten Tomatoes. It is also the highest-grossing Madagascar film
with a worldwide gross of over $742 million.[4]
Plot
Days after bidding the penguins and chimps
goodbye, Alex the lion has a nightmare about himself and his friends still
stranded in Africa and finding they have all gotten
old. He then wakes from his nightmare on his birthday, and the
animals present him with a miniature model of New York City out of mud.
Alex suggests to Marty the zebra, Melman the giraffe, and Gloria the
hippopotamus and the lemurs that they should go to Monte Carlo to get the penguins to fly
them back to New York City, which they agree to.In Monte Carlo, Alex and his gang's attempt
to reach the penguins and chimps blunders and sparks chaos in the Monte Carlo Casino,
where its security calls the captain ofMonaco's animal control, Chantel Dubois, to deal with the
animals. A high-speed chase around the streets of Monaco ensues between the
relentless Dubois and the animals in a truck driven by the penguins to reach
their aircraft and they depart on the plane, barely escaping Dubois.In the skies of France, the plane's gear
assembly fails and the plane crashes into a suburban rail yard as the
authorities close in. They come across a circus train and knock on it, desperately
trying to get in. Seeing their only chance of escape is on the circus train,
they desperately claim that they are circus animals themselves, which convinces
Stefano the sea lion and Gia the jaguar to let them in despite the protests of
Vitaly the tiger. The animals soon learn from Stefano that they are performing
in Rome and London, where they plan to impress a promoter to get them
on their first American tour. Before the zoo animals' claim is discredited, the
penguins and chimps suddenly appear with a deal to purchase the circus
themselves, resulting in the pleased departure of all the humans. Afterwards,
Julien, Maurice and Mort enter one of the train cars where Julien finds himself
falling in love wth a tricycle-riding bear name Sonya. Meanwhile the others
prepare for the performance at the Colosseum in Rome. Unfortunately, to the
zoo animals' horror, the show proves to be a disaster. The angered audience
demands refunds, right to going to the point of chasing the circus to the
departing train to London.En route to London, Stefano soon reveals to
Alex that Vitaly was once their inspiration. Once a professional ring jumper
who used to leap through incrementally smaller hoops to excite crowds and was
always pushing himself to the limit, his attempt at an impossible jump through
a flaming pinkie ring ended in disaster when he burned his fur, which he had
coated in extra virgin olive oil in
order to slip through the narrow opening, destroying his confidence in his
talent and the whole circus suffered by his example. An inspired Alex then has
the train make a stop in the Alps and convinces the
performers to rework their act to become the opposite of the world-famous
human-only Cirque du Soleil as an animal-only lights and acrobatic show.
Heartened by Alex's vision, the zoo animals and the circus animals develop
sophisticated acts together and become closer friends in the process,
especially Alex and Gia who find themselves falling in love.Meanwhile, Dubois is arrested in Rome after
causing problems with the local police officers while chasing the animals out
of her jurisdiction, but escapes and discovers that Alex was the missing lion
from the zoo in New York. Once free, Dubois recruits her injured men and they
head toward the Alps, forcing the animals to proceed to London despite
incomplete rehearsals. In London, the troupe prepares for the promoter in the
audience, but Vitaly is discovered packing to leave. Alex convinces Vitaly to
stay by reminding him of how he enjoys performing the impossible and suggests
that he uses hair conditioner as
a safer lubricant to perform his flaming ring jump. As a result, Vitaly's stunt
is performed perfectly, which proves to be the opening of a spectacularly
successful show and Alex and Gia grew closer to each other. After the impressed
promoter arranges for an American tour, Dubois shows up with a paper showing
that Alex was missing. Though the penguins are able to foil Dubois' plan, Alex
is forced to confess that the four of them are just zoo animals trying to get
home, disappointing the others who feel used and lied to by the four of them.
Also, Julien breaks up with Sonya, telling her that he can't be a part of the
circus.Finally, both the zoo animals and the
circus arrive in New York City. Likewise, the zoo group and Julien finally
arrive at the gates of theCentral Park Zoo, only to realize that their
adventure has changed them too much to return to captivity and that they were
"home" when they joined the circus. The zoo animals resolve to return
to the circus and reconcile with their new friends, but they are then tranquilized
and captured by Dubois. The zoo staff, delighted by Alex's reappearance, thank
Dubois, incorrectly believing that she was returning the missing animals.
Unnoticed, Julien manages to reach the circus (despite being darted by Dubois)
in order to reconcile with Sonya, and the penguins and the chimps realize that
the group had been ambushed. Upon learning about the zoo animals' plight, Gia
and Vitaly convince the other circus animals to rescue their friends and they
set out for the zoo, performing aboard a flying circus.Meanwhile at the zoo, Alex awakens to find
that he along with Marty, Melman, and Gloria are in their enclosures,
surrounded by tall chain-link fences. Dubois steps on stage to receive a
million-dollar check of appreciation from the zoo, which she rejects, and
secretly loads a poison-filled dart into a gun which she hides inside a foam
finger in preparation to publically execute Alex. The circus animals arrive in
time to stop her and a massive brawl occurs where the circus uses all of what they
had developed as part of their revamped act. As the group tries to leave,
DuBois attempts to kill Stefano, who is stranded at the zoo. However, Alex
saves Stefano by performing a performance he describes as the "Trapeze
Americano", proving that it is real, and defeats Dubois by dropping her
into his old enclosure, where Mort and Maurice sedate her, and escape.Heartened by this valiant demonstration of
their new friends' love, the Four, the lemurs, the chimps and the penguins
decide to join the circus permanently to start their American tours across the
country. Meanwhile, DuBois and her men find themselves inside shipping crates
on a cargo ship bound for Madagascar, thanks to
Skipper (just like in the first film).Voice cast[edit]Main article: List of
Madagascar characters·Ben Stiller as Alex,
a lion, and Gia's love interest.
·Chris Rock as Marty,
a zebra and Alex's best friend. ·David Schwimmer as Melman,
a giraffe, another of Alex's friends and Gloria's love interest. ·Jada Pinkett Smith as Gloria,
a hippo, another of Alex's friends and Melman's love interest. ·Sacha Baron Cohen as King Julien
XIII·Cedric the
Entertainer as Maurice·Andy Richter as Mort·Tom McGrath as Skipper and
First Policeman. ·Jessica Chastain as Gia,
a jaguar, and Alex's love interest. ·Bryan Cranston as Vitaly the Siberian tiger. ·Martin Short as Stefano the
Italian sea lion. ·Chris Miller as Kowalski·John DiMaggio as Rico·Christopher Knights as Private·Frances McDormand as Captain
Chantel DuBois, the leader of the Animal Control. ·Frank Welker as Sonya the
bear ·Paz Vega as the Andalusian
Triplets (Esmeralda, Esperanza and Ernestina)·Conrad Vernon as Mason and
Second Policeman ·Vinnie Jones as Freddie the dog ·Steve Jones as
Jonesy the dog ·Nick Fletcher as Frankie the dog ·Eric Darnell as Comandante, Zoo Official
and Zoo Announcer ·Danny Jacobs as
Croupier and Circus Master·Daniel O'Connor as
Casino Security and Mayor of New York City
Production
DreamWorks Animation's CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg confirmed
in 2008 that there would be an additional sequel to Madagascar and Madagascar:
Escape 2 Africa. Katzenberg stated, "There is at least one
more chapter. We ultimately want to see the characters make it back to New
York."At the Television
Critics Association press tour in January 2009, Katzenberg was
asked if there would be a third film in the series. He replied, "Yes, we
are making a Madagascar 3 now, and it will be out in the
summer of 2012."A significant amount of the animation and
visual effects for the film had been done at DreamWorks Dedicated Unit, an
India-based unit at Technicolor.
Release
Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on
May 18, 2012.The American release followed
on June 8, 2012. The film was also converted to
the IMAX format and shown in specific
European territories, including Russia, Ukraine, and Poland.The latest national premiers
were in the UK and Ireland. The
date on which the movie premiered in these countries was October 19, 2012.
Home media
Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted was released on DVD, Blu-ray, and
Blu-ray 3D on October 16, 2012. It was the first DreamWorks Animation film to
use the UltraViolet System and
the Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D comes with a rainbow wig.
Reception Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted was generally well received from
critics. Based on 129 reviews, the film currently holds a "Certified
Fresh" rating of 79% on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, with an average rating of
6.8/10. The site's critical consensus reads "Dazzlingly colorful and
frenetic, Madagascar 3 is silly enough for young kids, but
boasts enough surprising smarts to engage parents along the way." This marks the best general
review consensus of the film series that has showed improving critical favor
with the original film having a score of 55%, and the sequel scoring 64%. On Metacritic, it currently holds a score of 60
out of 100, based on 26 reviews, indicating "mixed or average
reviews."Lisa Kennedy of The Denver Post gave the film 3.5 out
of 4 stars and said, "From time to time the improbable occurs: A sequel
outdoes its original." Colin Covert of Star Tribune said that Madagascar
3 set a high standard for cartoon comedy and was almost too good for
kids. He gave it 3.5 out of 4 stars. Giving the film 3.5 out of 5
stars, Betsy Sharkey of Los Angeles Times said, "A
neon-saturated, high-flying trapeze act with enough frenetic funny business
that it's a wonder the folks behind this zillion-dollar franchise about zoo
critters on the lam didn't send the animals to the circus sooner." Stephen Witty of the Newark Star-Ledger calls the movie
"fun and fast family entertainment. The animals' jazzy circus
performance, done in black-light colors
and set to a Katy Perry song
— may be one of the trippiest scenes in a mainstream kiddie movie since Dumbo saw
those pink elephants."
Box office
Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted earned $216,391,482 in North America,
and $525,718,769 in other countries, for a worldwide total of $742,110,251. Its worldwide opening weekend
totaled $137.6 million. Worldwide, it is the
highest-grossing film in the series, the fourth highest-grossing
DreamWorks Animation film, the second highest-grossing
2012 animated film, and the eighth highest-grossing film of 2012. Overall, it is the 9th
highest-grossing animated film and the 51st highest-grossing
film. The film took 66 and 94 days of release, respectively, to out-gross its
two predecessors. In North America, the film made $20.7
million on its opening day, which was higher than the opening day grosses of
the original film ($13.9 million) and its sequel ($17.6 million).For its opening weekend, the
film ranked at the #1 spot, beating Prometheus,
with $60.3 million, which was higher than the opening of the original Madagascar ($47.2
million), but was behind the opening weekend ofEscape 2 Africa ($63.1
million). It remained at the #1 spot for
two consecutive weekends. In North America, it is the
highest-grossing film in the series, the sixth highest-grossing
DreamWorks Animation film, the second highest-grossing
2012 animated film, and the tenth highest-grossing
film of 2012.
Outside North America, Madagascar 3 out-grossed Shrek Forever After to
become DreamWorks Animation's highest-grossing film. On its opening weekend, Madagascar
3 topped the box office with $77.3 million from 28 countries. It was in first place for
three consecutive weekends. Its three highest-grossing
openings occurred in Russia and the CIS ($15.7 million), China ($10.4 million),
and Brazil ($10.1 million in 5 days). It set an opening-day record
for animated films in Russia, with $3.7 million(since surpassed by Ice Age:
Continental Drift) and became the highest-grossing
animated film and the third highest-grossing film of all time, earning more
than $48 million. It also set an opening weekend
record for any film in Argentina with $3.80 million (surpassed by Ice Age:
Continental Drift) and it set opening weekend
records for animated films in Brazil, Venezuela, Trinidad, and the United Arab Emirates.
Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted is the soundtrack of the film scored by Hans Zimmer and was released on June 5,
2012.
