Madagascar

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Madagascar was a computer generated animation movie released in 2005 by DreamWorks Animation.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

In it, four New York City Central Park Zoo animals (Alex (lion -- voiced by Ben Stiller), Marty (zebra -- voiced by Chris Rock), Melman (giraffe -- voiced by David Schwimmer), and Gloria (hippopotamus -- voiced by Jada Pinkett Smith), are sent back to Africa to be in the wild after Marty has a mid-life crisis and escapes the zoo. Their ship, however, is hijacked by a group of penguins from the zoo (voiced by, among others, the film's director, Tom McGrath) intent on getting to Antarctica, and they are marooned on an island, presumably the island of Madagascar. There, they are befriended by a colony of lemurs, led by King Julien XIII (voiced by Sacha Baron Cohen), who hope that the new arrivals, especially Alex, will protect them from their enemies, the fossa (referred to as "foosa" during the course of the film). While it takes a while, Alex's instincts finally take over, almost too much as he attacks his friends, and drive the fossa away. The penguins arrive back at the island after discovering Antarctica 'sucks' but have run out of fuel in the process, stranding the group on the island permanently.

Much to the surprise of Hollywood (especially critics, who were very unkind to the film to say the least), the animated comedy became one of the top box office draws of 2005. It spawned a Christmas-themed short film (starring the penguins), and inevitable talk of a sequel soon followed.