Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted (2012)
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The story
After crash-landing in Africa, a group of animals from the Central Park Zoo—including a lion, a zebra, a giraffe, and a hippopotamus—decide to reunite with their friends, a group of penguins and a chimpanzee duo. They find the others at a casino in Monte Carlo, but their presence is discovered by Captain Chantel DuBois, the head of Monaco's animal control service. To escape her and find a way back to New York City, the animals join a traveling circus, navigating through various European cities like Rome and London while trying to maintain their cover as circus performers.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
After a crash-landing in Africa, the zoo animals (Alex, Marty, Melman, Gloria, and the lemurs) search for the penguins and chimps. They reunite in Monte Carlo but are hunted by the villainous Captain Chantel DuBois. To escape, they join the Circus Zaragoza. They travel to Rome and London, where the circus animals are initially suspicious of them. During the journey, Alex falls for a jaguar named Gia, and King Julien falls for a bear named Sonya. The circus faces a crisis of confidence after a star performer, Vitaly, loses his passion. Alex helps the circus animals find new roles and rediscover their passion, leading to successful shows. After a series of events in London, the circus and zoo animals are separated but eventually reunite in Central Park. They realize their true home is with the circus. In a final confrontation, they work together to defeat DuBois, who is eventually sent to Madagascar by the penguins.
- First release year
- 2012
- Runtime (minutes)
- 93
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Eric Darnell; Conrad Vernon; Tom McGrath
- Writers
- Eric Darnell · writer; Noah Baumbach · writer
- Cast and characters
- Ben Stiller · Alex; Chris Rock · Marty; David Schwimmer · Melman; Jada Pinkett Smith · Gloria; Sacha Baron Cohen · King Julien XIII; Cedric the Entertainer · Maurice; Andy Richter · Mort; Tom McGrath · Skipper; Jessica Chastain · Gia; Bryan Cranston · Vitaly; Martin Short · Stefano; Frances McDormard · Captain Chantel DuBois
- Genres
- animated; comedy
- Themes
- personal growth; romance; friendship
- Tone and mood
- comedy; fast-paced
- Premise and plot tags
- road movie; animal adventure; musical
- Franchise connections
- Madagascar
- Reception
- The film received generally positive reviews from critics, praising its animation, characters, voice acting, and humor.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 60 · scale: 100 · review count: 26; CinemaScore · score: A · scale: A+ to F
- Production trivia
- The film was the eighth highest-grossing film of 2012.; It was the first DreamWorks Animation film to use the UltraViolet System.; The film was the first non-Shrek film to gross over $700 million for DreamWorks.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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