TON ON THE RUN.

In a desperate attempt to find wilderness, a zebra escapes from the New York Central Zoo, inspiring other animals to join him.

In 2005, there were plenty of good computer-animated movies, but this one is an exception. Madagascar suffers from lazy writing, with few good jokes and unimaginative references to other movies. The animation isn’t so hot either. Still, kids who loved Ice Age (2002), I assume, made it a box-office success.

My personal favorites are the British monkeys, the cunning penguins and Sacha Baron Cohen as the cheerfully silly king Julien.

2005-U.S. Animated. 86 min. Color. Directed by Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath. Voices of Ben Stiller (Alex), Chris Rock (Marty), David Schwimmer (Melman), Jada Pinkett Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric the Entertainer, Andy Richter, Bob Saget.

Trivia: Dana Carvey was first offered the role of Julien. Followed by two sequels, starting with Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008), three animated TV series (The Penguins of Madagascar (2008-2015), All Hail King Julien (2014-2017), Madagascar: A Little Wild (2020-2022)), and a spin-off movie, Penguins of Madagascar (2014).