(c) Dreamworks

This is all dished up with a heaping helping of obvious gags and unabashed crudity (if you thought it was stretching it to see the mechanical cast of Robots making fart noises with the old “hand under the armpit�? routine, wait until you see a hoofed zebra do it), the lowbrow pinnacle of which is allowing the King of the Lemurs (voiced by da Ali G himself, Sacha Baron Cohen, in an East Indian dialect that surely must be offensive to someone) to call the newcomers a bunch of “pansies�?. That’s just great, DreamWorks guys, lets teach a whole new generation of children a derogatory, homophobic slang term that was last in usage during the time of platform shoes and bell bottoms. The only even remotely amusing sequences involve the pseudo-paramilitary antics of the penguins, bit players who steal the show much like Scrat did in Ice Age. (I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see a short or even a television series starring these whack-jobs sometime in the future.)

The animation is firmly in the “let’s-highly-stylize-it-so-it-doesn’t-cost-so-much�? vein currently making the rounds in computer animation (cough, Chicken Little, cough), leaving the animals action figure ready and the (scant) humans as artificial as ever. And while the parade of pop culture references noticeably (thankfully) avoids such stranded-on-a-deserted-isle favorites as Gilligan’s Island, Lost and Survivor, by the end of Madagascar, you’ll be begging to be voted off this island.

Coming Soon in Toon Talk:

• If you just didn’t get enough of young Tarzan and pals in the original film, then get ready for the direct-to-video “midquel�? Tarzan II (June 14^th).
• Lindsay Lohan continues her remaking of seemingly every Disney live action classic with Herbie: Fully Loaded, co-starring Matt Dillon and Michael Keaton (June 24^th).
• In celebration of Disneyland’s 50^th Anniversary comes the new DVD Disneyland: The Secrets, Stories and Magic of the Happiest Place on Earth (July 12^th).

• Lindsay Lohan fans rejoice - her Disney Channel movie Get a Clue and a Special Edition of The Parent Trap (May 31^st).
• More Tool Time with the Complete Second Season of Home Improvement; a batch of Special Editions: a 15^th Anniversary edition of Father of the Bride, a Director’s Cut of the Oscar-winning Sling Blade, an Unrated version of Coyote Ugly and, naturally, an Unrated Director’s Cut of Gone in 60 Seconds; two horror franchises get their respective next installments with Hellraiser: Deader and The Prophecy: Uprising; learn how pigs fly in Tokyo Pig; four, count ’em, four new The Bear in the Big Blue House titles: Sense-sational, Visiting the Doctor with Bear, Storytelling with Bear and Early to Bed, Early to Rise; and some super-hero action with Spider-Man: The Venom Saga and Power Rangers SPD Joining Forces Volume 1 (June 7^th).
• ESPN’s original series Tilt makes its DVD debut with its Complete First Season (June 14^th).
• Two recent big screen thrillers: Bruce Willis in Hostage and Christina Ricci in Cursed (June 21^st).
• Two Disney Channel movies come to disc with The Even Stevens Movie (starring Christy Carlson Romano and Shia LaBeouf) and Cadet Kelly (starring Hilary Duff); Vin Diesel goes Kindergarten Cop with The Pacifier; plus the award-winning film adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s The Woodlanders (June 28^th).
• Just in time to capitalize on the upcoming live action would-be blockbuster: The Fantastic Four: The Complete Animated Series; and Christina Ricci and Anne Heche co-star in the long-in-limbo screen adaptation of Elizabeth Wurtzel’s Prozac Nation (July 5^th).
• Check out The Mickey Mouse Club both “old�? and “new�? with The Best of the Original Mickey Mouse Club and The Mickey Mouse Club: The Best of Britney, Justin and Christina; classic Mouse shorts, including Steamboat Willie, can be found on Vintage Mickey; and Wes Craven presents Dracula III: Legacy starring Roy Scheider and Rutger Hauer as the Prince of Darkness (July 12^th).

Discuss It

• Discuss this review on the LaughingPlace.com Discussion Boards

Related Links

• List of all Toon Talk articles

-- Kirby C. Holt
-- Logo by William C Searcy, Magic Bear Graphics

Kirby is a lifelong Disney fan and film buff. He is also an avid list maker and chronic ellipsis user ...

Took Talk: Disney Film & Video Reviews by Kirby C. Holt is posted whenever there's something new to review.

The opinions expressed by our Kirby C. Holt, and all of our columnists, do not necessarily represent the feelings of LaughingPlace.com or any of its employees or advertisers. All speculation and rumors about the future plans of the Walt Disney Company are just that - speculation and rumors - and should be treated as such.

-- Posted May 27, 2005