''Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted'' is a 2012 American

computer-animated Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes ( still images) and dynamic images (moving images), while computer animation refe ...

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclist ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

produced by

DreamWorks Animation DreamWorks Animation LLC (DWA, also known as DreamWorks Animation Studios and simply known as DreamWorks) is an American animation studio that produces animated films and television programs and is a subsidiary of Universal Pictures, a division ...

and

Pacific Data Images Pacific Data Images (PDI) was an American computer animation production company based in Redwood City, California, that was bought by DreamWorks SKG in 2000. It was renamed PDI/DreamWorks and was owned by DreamWorks Animation. Founded in 1980 by ...

and distributed by

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

. The film is the third installment of the ''Madagascar'' franchise, the sequel to '' Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa'' (2008), and was the first film in the series to be released in 3D. It was directed by

Eric Darnell Eric Darnell (born August 21, 1961) is an American animator, storyboard artist, director, screenwriter, songwriter and occasional voice actor best known for co-directing ''Antz'' with Tim Johnson, as well as co-directing and co-writing ''Madagas ...

Conrad Vernon Conrad Vernon (born July 11, 1968) is an American voice actor, director, writer, and storyboard artist best known for his work on the DreamWorks animated film series ''Shrek'' as well as other films such as '' Monsters vs. Aliens'', '' Madagascar ...

, and Tom McGrath from a screenplay by Darnell and

Noah Baumbach Noah Baumbach () (born September 3, 1969) is an American film director and screenwriter. He is known for making witty and intellectual comedies set in New York City and has often been compared to writer-directors such as Woody Allen and Whit Sti ...

, and features

Ben Stiller Benjamin Edward Meara Stiller (born November 30, 1965) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is the son of the comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. Stiller was a member of a group of comedic actors colloquially known as ...

Chris Rock Christopher Julius Rock (born February 7, 1965) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and filmmaker. Known for his work in comic film, television and stage, he has received multiple accolades, including three Grammy Awards for best come ...

David Schwimmer David Lawrence Schwimmer (born November 2, 1966) is an American actor, director and producer. He gained worldwide recognition for portraying Ross Geller in the sitcom '' Friends'', for which he received a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Prime ...

Jada Pinkett Smith Jada Koren Pinkett Smith (; née Pinkett; born September 18, 1971) is an American actress and talk show host. She is co-host of the Facebook Watch talk show '' Red Table Talk'', for which she has received a Daytime Emmy Award. ''Time'' named ...

Sacha Baron Cohen Sacha Noam Baron Cohen (born 13 October 1971) is an English actor, comedian, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for his creation and portrayal of the fictional satirical characters Ali G, Borat Sagdiyev, Brüno Gehard, and Admiral ...

Cedric the Entertainer Cedric Antonio Kyles (born April 24, 1964), better known by his stage name Cedric the Entertainer, is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He hosted BET's ''ComicView'' during the 1993–1994 season and ''Def Comedy Jam'' in 1995. He is bes ...

Andy Richter Paul Andrew Richter (born October 28, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and talk show announcer. He is best known as the sidekick for Conan O'Brien on each of O'Brien's talk shows: '' Late Night'' and ''The Tonight Show'' on NBC an ...

, McGrath,

Chris Miller Chris or Christopher Miller may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Chris Miller (writer) (born 1942), American comedy author and screenwriter *Chris Miller (animator) (born 1968), American voice actor and director * Christopher Miller (filmmaker) ( ...

Christopher Knights Christopher Knights is an English voice actor, film editor, and cinematographer. He is best known for providing the voice of Private the Penguin in the ''Madagascar'' film franchise. He worked on several DreamWorks films ''Shrek'', ''Shrek 2'' ...

, and Vernon reprising their

voice acting Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...

roles from the previous installments, alongside new cast members

Jessica Chastain Jessica Michelle Chastain (born March 24, 1977) is an American actress and producer. Known for primarily starring in films with feminist themes, she has received various accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award. ''Time'' ...

Bryan Cranston Bryan Lee Cranston (born March 7, 1956) is an American actor and director who is best known for portraying Walter White in the AMC crime drama series ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–2013) and Hal in the Fox sitcom ''Malcolm in the Middle'' (2000–2 ...

Martin Short Martin Hayter Short (born March 26, 1950) is a Canadian-American actor, comedian, and writer. He has received various awards including two Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award. In 2019 Short became an Officer of the Order of Canada. He ...

, and

Frances McDormand Frances Louise McDormand (born Cynthia Ann Smith; June 23, 1957) is an American actress and producer. Throughout her career spanning over four decades, McDormand has received numerous accolades, including four Academy Awards, two Primetime Em ...

. In the film, the main characters—a party of animals from the

Central Park Zoo The Central Park Zoo is a zoo located at the southeast corner of Central Park in New York City. It is part of an integrated system of four zoos and one aquarium managed by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). In conjunction with the Central ...

whose adventures have already taken them to Madagascar and Africa—attempt to return to New York City, and find themselves traveling across Europe with a

while being chased by a relentless French

Animal Control An animal control service or animal control agency is an entity charged with responding to requests for help with animals ranging from wild animals, dangerous animals, or animals in distress. An individual who works for such an entity was once kno ...

officer. The sequel was announced in August 2008, three months before the release of the second film. The amount of animation and visual effects were done at DreamWorks Dedicated Unit, an India-based unit at

Technicolor Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...

. As with other films in the franchise, ''Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted'' features several songs from most artists, with musical score being composed by

Hans Zimmer Hans Florian Zimmer (; born 12 September 1957) is a German film score composer and music producer. He has won two Academy Awards, Oscars and four Grammy Awards, Grammys, and has been nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards, Emmys and a Tony Awar ...

. ''Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted'' premiered at the

2012 Cannes Film Festival The 65th Cannes Film Festival was held from 16 to 27 May 2012. Italian film director Nanni Moretti was the President of the Jury for the main competition and British actor Tim Roth was the President of the Jury for the Un Certain Regard section. ...

on May 18, and was theatrically released in the United States on June 8, 2012. It was the eighth highest-grossing film of 2012 and the highest-grossing film in the franchise, with a worldwide gross of over $746 million. A spin-off titled ''

Penguins of Madagascar ''Penguins of Madagascar'' (also known as ''Penguins of Madagascar: The Movie'') is a 2014 American computer-animated spy action comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by 20th Century Fox. Starring the voices of Tom McGra ...

'' was released in November 2014. A sequel, ''Madagascar 4'', was initially planned for a 2018 theatrical release, but was removed from the release schedule following a restructuring of DreamWorks Animation in 2015.

Plot

Shortly after becoming the co-leaders, the

penguin Penguins (order (biology), order List of Sphenisciformes by population, Sphenisciformes , family (biology), family Spheniscidae ) are a group of Water bird, aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: on ...

s and the

chimpanzee The chimpanzee (''Pan troglodytes''), also known as simply the chimp, is a species of great ape native to the forest and savannah of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed subspecies. When its close relative th ...

s leave

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

for

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo (; ; french: Monte-Carlo , or colloquially ''Monte-Carl'' ; lij, Munte Carlu ; ) is officially an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is ...

in their modified airplane. When they do not return, Alex, Marty, Melman, Gloria, King Julien, Maurice and Mort decide that they should go find them and return to their home at the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. They find the penguins and chimpanzees at the

Monte Carlo Casino The Monte Carlo Casino, officially named Casino de Monte-Carlo, is a gambling and entertainment complex located in Monaco. It includes a casino, the Opéra de Monte-Carlo, and the office of Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo. The Casino de Monte-Carlo i ...

. Chaos ensues, and the animals escape from Captain Chantel DuBois, the head of

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

, who is determined to add Alex's head to her

taxidermy Taxidermy is the art of preserving an animal's body via mounting (over an armature) or stuffing, for the purpose of display or study. Animals are often, but not always, portrayed in a lifelike state. The word ''taxidermy'' describes the proce ...

collection. When their aircraft crash-lands in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, the animals board a departing

circus train A circus train is a method of conveyance for circus troupes. One of the larger users of circus trains was the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus (RBBX), a famous American circus formed when the Ringling Brothers Circus purchased the Ba ...

. The circus animals—a

sea lion Sea lions are pinnipeds characterized by external ear flaps, long foreflippers, the ability to walk on all fours, short and thick hair, and a big chest and belly. Together with the fur seals, they make up the family Otariidae, eared seals. ...

named Stefano, a

jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus '' Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...

named Gia, and a

tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus '' Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on u ...

named Vitaly—are suspicious of outsiders, so Alex lies about them being American circus animals. The circus is headed for a performance show in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, followed by one in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

where they hope to impress an American promoter in order to get their first American tour. To allay suspicion, the penguins purchase the circus from its human ringmaster with the fortune they gained in Monte Carlo. In Rome, Alex becomes enamored with Gia while Julien falls in love with performing bear Sonya. DuBois chases Julien and Sonya, but fails to catch them and is arrested for stealing the motor scooter. The performance at the

Colosseum The Colosseum ( ; it, Colosseo ) is an oval amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphitheatre ever built, and is still the largest standing amphitheatre in the world to ...

in Rome is a disaster: the animals' acts go awry and they are chased off by the angry audience, though they escape on the train. Stefano explains to Alex that the circus was once famous and Vitaly was its star, skillfully jumping through ever-smaller hoops. However, a severe burn during one of Vitaly's stunts caused him to lose his passion and the entire circus suffered as a result. Alex convinces the circus animals to come up with a new and exciting all-animal act that will restore their former glory. Marty and Stefano find a new passion in being shot out of a cannon, while Melman and Gloria become adept at dancing together on a tightrope. Gia persuades Alex to teach her "

Trapeze A trapeze is a short horizontal bar hung by ropes or metal straps from a ceiling support. It is an aerial apparatus commonly found in circus performances. Trapeze acts may be static, spinning (rigged from a single point), swinging or flying, an ...

Americano" and the two begin to fall in love. Meanwhile, DuBois escapes from prison from printing a document photo of Alex performing at the Central Park Zoo and recruits her henchmen who were injured at the chase in Monte Carlo. In London, Vitaly is afraid of failing again and considers ditching the show, but Alex helps him rediscover his passion for performing the impossible. At Alex's suggestion, Vitaly lubricates himself with

hair conditioner Hair conditioner is a hair care cosmetic product used to improve the feel, texture, appearance, and manageability of hair. Its main purpose is to reduce friction between strands of hair to allow smoother brushing or combing, which might otherwise ...

instead of

olive oil Olive oil is a liquid fat obtained from olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea''; family Oleaceae), a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin, produced by pressing whole olives and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking: f ...

, and succeeds in jumping through the hoop. The show is a spectacular success, and the promoter signs the circus to a contract. DuBois shows up and the penguins manage to foil her attempt to capture Alex. However, the printed document she was carrying reveals that Alex, Marty, Melman, and Gloria were zoo animals all along. Feeling betrayed and deceived, the circus animals eject the foursome. After the argument with Julien and Sonya, the zoo and circus animals go their separate ways but arrive in

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

at the same time. Looking in at their old home, the zoo animals realize how much their adventures have changed them and decide that their true place is with the circus. They are then ambushed by DuBois, but before she can behead Alex, the zoo staff arrive and incorrectly believe that she is returning the missing animals. Julien makes it back to the circus with the news and reconciles with Sonya while Gia and Vitaly convince the others that they should rescue their friends. The zoo animals awaken in their old enclosures, now surrounded by high fences. DuBois is being honored by the zoo staff, but she rejects their reward and secretly loads a poison-filled dart and takes aim at Alex. They are soon saved by the circus animals and together defeat DuBois. Alex and his friends permanently join the circus with Alex and Julien starting a romantic relationship with Gia and Sonya, respectively. As retribution for causing their troubles, the penguins ship DuBois and her henchmen in crates to

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

, reminiscent of how the animals were shipped in.

Voice cast

as Alex, a

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...

. *

as Marty, a

plains zebra The plains zebra (''Equus quagga'', formerly ''Equus burchellii''), also known as the common zebra, is the most common and geographically widespread species of zebra. Its range is fragmented, but spans much of southern and eastern Africa south of ...

and Alex's best friend. *

as Melman, a

reticulated giraffe The reticulated giraffe (''Giraffa camelopardalis reticulata'' or ''G. reticulata''), also known as the Somali giraffe, is a subspecies or species of giraffe native to the Horn of Africa. It lives in Somalia, southern Ethiopia, and northern Kenya ...

, another of Alex's friends. *

as Gloria, a

hippopotamus The hippopotamus ( ; : hippopotamuses or hippopotami; ''Hippopotamus amphibius''), also called the hippo, common hippopotamus, or river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of only two extan ...

, another of Alex's friends and Melman's love interest. *

as King Julien XIII, a

ring-tailed lemur The ring-tailed lemur (''Lemur catta'') is a large strepsirrhine primate and the most recognized lemur due to its long, black and white ringed tail. It belongs to Lemuridae, one of five lemur families, and is the only member of the ''Lemur'' ge ...

who is the king of the lemurs in Madagascar. *

as Maurice, an

aye-aye The aye-aye (''Daubentonia madagascariensis'') is a long-fingered lemur, a strepsirrhine primate native to Madagascar with rodent-like teeth that perpetually grow and a special thin middle finger. It is the world's largest nocturnal primate. ...

and adviser of King Julien XIII. *

as Mort, a

Goodman's mouse lemur Goodman's mouse lemur (''Microcebus lehilahytsara'') is a species of mouse lemur from the region near Andasibe in eastern Madagascar. The species is named in honor of primatologist Steven M. Goodman. "Lehilahytsara" is a combination of the Ma ...

and a companion of King Julien XIII. * Tom McGrath as Skipper, a

who is the leader of a group of four penguins, and First Policeman. *

as Captain Chantel DuBois, the leader of the Animal Control who plans to get Alex so she can add his head to her

collection. *

as Gia, an Italian

and Alex's love interest. *

as Stefano, an Italian

. *

as Vitaly, a Russian

Siberian tiger The Siberian tiger or Amur tiger is a population of the tiger subspecies ''Panthera tigris tigris'' native to the Russian Far East, Northeast China and possibly North Korea. It once ranged throughout the Korean Peninsula, but currently inhabit ...

and a ex-superstar of the travelling circus. *

as Kowalski, a penguin and Skipper's right-hand man. *

as Private, a penguin. *

John DiMaggio John William DiMaggio (; born September 4, 1968) is an American actor. His various voice roles include Bender on ''Futurama'', Jake the Dog on ''Adventure Time'', Marcus Fenix in the '' Gears of War'' series, Dr. Drakken on '' Kim Possible'', ...

as Rico, a penguin who only communicates in grunts. *

Frank Welker Franklin Wendell Welker (born March 12, 1946) is an American voice actor. He began his career in the 1960s, and holds over 860 film, television, and video game credits as of 2022, making him one of the most prolific voice actors of all time. With ...

as Sonya, a

Eurasian brown bear The Eurasian brown bear (''Ursus arctos arctos'') is one of the most common subspecies of the brown bear, and is found in much of Eurasia. It is also called the European brown bear, common brown bear, common bear, and colloquially by many othe ...

and King Julien's love interest. *

Paz Vega María de la Paz Campos Trigos (born 2 January 1976), known professionally as Paz Vega (), is a Spanish actress. She became popular for her performance in comedy television series ''7 vidas''. Her film credits include ''Sex and Lucia'' (2001), ...

as the Andalusian Triplets (Esmeralda, Esperanza and Ernestina) *

as Mason, a

and Second Policeman *

Vinnie Jones Vincent Peter Jones (born 5 January 1965) is a British actor, presenter, and former professional footballer. Jones played professionally as a defensive midfielder from 1984 to 1999, notably for Wimbledon, Leeds United, Sheffield United, Chelse ...

as Freddie the Dog *

Steve Jones Steve or Steven Jones may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Steve Jones (English presenter) (born 1945), English musician, disk jockey, television presenter, and voice-over artist *Steve Jones (musician) (born 1955), English rock and roll guita ...

as Jonesy the Dog * Nick Fletcher as Frankie the Dog *

as Comandante, Zoo Official and Zoo Announcer *Dan O'Connor as Casino Security and Mayor of New York City * Danny Jacobs as Croupier and Circus Master

Production

DreamWorks Animation's CEO

Jeffrey Katzenberg Jeffrey Katzenberg (; born December 21, 1950) is an American filmmaker, animator, and media proprietor. He became well known for his tenure as chairman of Walt Disney Studios from 1984 to 1994. After departing Disney, he was a co-founder and CE ...

confirmed in 2008 that there would be an additional sequel to ''

'' 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 The Television Critics Association (TCA) is a group of approximately 200 United States and Canadian television critics, journalists and columnists who cover television programming for newspapers, magazines and web publications. The TCA accepts app ...

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." On August 9, 2010, Katzenberg revealed in an e-mail that writer-director

had done sixty pages of re-writes to the screenplay. A significant amount of the animation and visual effects for the film had been done at DreamWorks Dedicated Unit, an India-based unit at

Release

''Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted'' opened the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

on May 18, 2012. The American release followed on June 8, 2012. The film was also converted to the

IMAX IMAX is a proprietary system of high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (approximately either 1.43:1 or 1.90:1) and steep stadium seating. Graeme F ...

format and shown in specific European territories, including Russia, Ukraine, and Poland.

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. As of April 2014, 9.1 million home entertainment units were sold worldwide.

Reception

Box office

''Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted'' earned $216,391,482 in North America and $530,529,792 in other countries for a worldwide total of $746,921,274. 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 animated film of 2012, and the eighth-highest-grossing film of that year. Overall, it is the eleventh-highest-grossing animated film and the 113th-highest-grossing film of all time. The film took between 66 and 94 days of release, respectively, to out-gross its two predecessors. It surpassed ''

Kung Fu Panda 2 ''Kung Fu Panda 2'' is a 2011 American computer-animated martial arts comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The film is the sequel to ''Kung Fu Panda'' (2008) and the second installment in the ''Ku ...

'' to become DreamWorks' highest-grossing non-''Shrek'' film, and the first non-''Shrek'' film to reach over $700 million. 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 no. 1 spot, beating ''

Prometheus In Greek mythology, Prometheus (; , , possibly meaning "forethought")Smith"Prometheus". is a Titan god of fire. Prometheus is best known for defying the gods by stealing fire from them and giving it to humanity in the form of technology, know ...

'', with $60.3 million, which was higher than the opening of the original ''Madagascar'' ($47.2 million) but was behind the opening weekend of ''Escape 2 Africa'' ($63.1 million). It remained at the top 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, ''Europe's Most Wanted'' out-grossed ''

Shrek Forever After ''Shrek Forever After'' is a 2010 American computer-animated comedy film loosely based on the 1990 picture book ''Shrek!'' by William Steig, produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The sequel to ''Shrek the Thi ...

'' to become DreamWorks Animation's highest-grossing film. On its opening weekend, it topped the box office with $77.3 million from 28 countries. It held that position 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 (surpassed by '' Ice Age: Continental Drift'') and the third-highest-grossing film ever (at the time), earning $49.4 million. It also set an opening-weekend record for any film in Argentina with $3.80 million (first surpassed by ''Ice Age: Continental Drift'') and it set opening-weekend records for animated films in Brazil, Venezuela, Trinidad, and the United Arab Emirates. Also, Madagascar 3 made $39 million in Germany, $34 million in United Kingdom and $28 million in Italy.

Critical reception

Based on reviews, the film holds an approval rating of on review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

and an average rating of . 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; the original film has a score of 55%, and the sequel scores 64%. On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, it holds a score of 60 out of 100 based on 26 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...

gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale. Lisa Kennedy of ''

The Denver Post ''The Denver Post'' is a daily newspaper and website published in Denver, Colorado. As of June 2022, it has an average print circulation of 57,265. In 2016, its website received roughly six million monthly unique visitors generating more than 13 ...

'' 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 The ''Star Tribune'' is the largest newspaper in Minnesota. It originated as the ''Minneapolis Tribune'' in 1867 and the competing ''Minneapolis Daily Star'' in 1920. During the 1930s and 1940s, Minneapolis's competing newspapers were consolida ...

'' 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 the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' 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 Newark most commonly refers to: * Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States * Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area Newark may also refer to: Places Canada * Niagara-on-the ...

'' calls the movie "fun and fast family entertainment. ��the animals' jazzy circus performance, done in

black-light A blacklight, also called a UV-A light, Wood's lamp, or ultraviolet light, is a lamp that emits long-wave (UV-A) ultraviolet light and very little visible light. One type of lamp has a violet filter material, either on the bulb or in a separat ...

colors and set to a

Katy Perry Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known professionally as Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. Known for her influence on modern pop music and her Camp (style), campy style, she has been ...

song—may be one of the trippiest scenes in a mainstream kiddie movie since ''

Dumbo ''Dumbo'' is a 1941 American animated fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The fourth Disney animated feature film, it is based upon the storyline written by Helen Aberson and Harold Pearl, a ...

'' saw those pink elephants." Film scholar Timothy Laurie writes that the plot development of ''Madagascar 3'' is "met with large servings of personal growth and side dishes of overcooked romance".

Accolades

Music

''Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted'' is the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

of the film scored by

and was released on June 5, 2012. "Afro Circus/

I Like to Move It "I Like to Move It" is a song by American solo project Reel 2 Real (Erick Morillo), featuring ragga vocals by Trinidad and Tobago rapper The Mad Stuntman (Mark Quashie). Released in 1993, as the second single from their debut album, ''Move It!'' ...

" peaked at 7 on the ARIA Hitseekers Singles chart on the week commencing October 15, 2012. In some variations of the soundtrack, "

Cool Jerk "Cool Jerk" is a 1966 song written by Donald Storball and originally performed by the Capitols. It became a hit song in the United States and Canada. It was also used in the 1992 American Christmas comedy film '' Home Alone 2: Lost in New York''. ...

" is featured in replacement of "

We No Speak Americano "We No Speak Americano" is a song by Australian band Yolanda Be Cool and producer DCUP. It was released on the independent Australian label Sweat It Out on 27 February 2010. The song samples the 1956 Italian song " Tu Vuò Fà L'Americano" in ...

". "

Sexy and I Know It "Sexy and I Know It" is a hit song by American duo LMFAO from their second studio album, ''Sorry for Party Rocking''. It was released as the third single from the album on September 16, 2011. The song was written by Stefan Kendal Gordy, GoonRock ...

" by

LMFAO LMFAO (an initialism for Laughing My Freaking Ass Off or Laughing My Fucking Ass Off) are an American electronic dance music duo consisting of Redfoo and Sky Blu. Redfoo is the youngest son of Motown Records founder Berry Gordy and Nancy Le ...

was only used in the theatrical trailer, and not included on the soundtrack and was replaced by "

Firework Fireworks are a class of low explosive pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a large number of devices in ...

" for the circus. "

Any Way You Want It "Any Way You Want It" is a song by American rock band Journey, released in February 1980 as the lead single from the band's sixth album '' Departure'' (1980). Written by lead singer Steve Perry and guitarist Neal Schon, it peaked at number 23 on t ...

" by

Journey Journey or journeying may refer to: * Travel, the movement of people between distant geographical locations ** Day's journey, a measurement of distance ** Road trip, a long-distance journey on the road Animals * Journey (horse), a thoroughbred ra ...

and the instrumental "Watermark" from the album of the same name by Enya were also used, but are not included on the soundtrack. "

Land of Hope and Glory "Land of Hope and Glory" is a British patriotic song, with music by Edward Elgar written in 1901 and lyrics by A. C. Benson later added in 1902. Composition The music to which the words of the refrain 'Land of Hope and Glory, &c' below ar ...

" by

Edward Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...

appears in the track "Fur Power". The "Afro Circus" tune is from "

Entrance of the Gladiators "Entrance of the Gladiators" op. 68 or "Entry of the Gladiators" ( cz, Vjezd gladiátorů) is a military march composed in 1897 by the Czech composer Julius Fučík. He originally titled it "Grande Marche Chromatique", reflecting the use of chr ...

", by the Czech composer Julius Fučík.

Video games

A video game based on the film, ''Madagascar 3: The Video Game'', was released on June 5, 2012. The game allows gamers to play as Alex, Marty, Melman, and Gloria as they travel across Europe promoting the circus by performing stunts, circus acts and completing missions. It was released to

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on Novemb ...

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation ...

Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America and in December 2006 for most other Regional lockout, regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major ho ...

Nintendo 3DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo. It was announced in March 2010 and unveiled at E3 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS. The system features backward compatibility with Nintendo DS video games. As an eighth-generatio ...

, and

Nintendo DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens working in tan ...

. Published by

D3 Publisher is a Japanese video game developer and publisher founded on February 5, 1992. The company is known for the ''Simple'' series of budget-priced video games. Their games have been released for the Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS, Ninten ...

, the Wii, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 versions were developed by

Monkey Bar Games Monkey Bar Games was an American division of the defunct video game developer Vicious Cycle Software, based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Monkey Bar's mission was the creation of family entertainment products on all handheld and console video ga ...

, and the 3DS and DS versions by

Torus Games Torus Games is an Australian video game developer founded in 1994 by Bill McIntosh. The company is located in Bayswater, Victoria. Its managing director is Bill McIntosh. The company being a family business. History They'd begin developing ...

. The game received negative reviews from critics with

giving the Xbox 360 version a 45/100. A

mobile video game A mobile game, or smartphone game, is a video game that is typically played on a mobile phone. The term also refers to all games that are played on any portable device, including from mobile phone (feature phone or smartphone), tablet, PDA to h ...

, ''Madagascar: Join the Circus!'', also published by D3 Publisher, was released on June 4, 2012, for iPhone and

iPad The iPad is a brand of iOS and iPadOS-based tablet computers that are developed by Apple Inc. The iPad was conceived before the related iPhone but the iPhone was developed and released first. Speculation about the development, operating s ...

. The game allows players to build a circus and play mini-games. The game was removed from App Stores on June 16, 2017.

Comic book

A comic book based on the film and titled ''Madagascar Digest Prequel: Long Live the King!'' was released on June 12, 2012, by Ape Entertainment.

Future

Possible sequel

In June 2014 it was announced that ''Madagascar 4'' would be released on May 18, 2018. However, in January 2015, the film was removed from the release schedule following a corporate restructuring of DreamWorks Animation. In April 2017, Tom McGrath stated "There are things in the works, nothing is announced yet, but I think he characters willshow their faces once more."

Spin-off

A spin-off film titled ''

'', depicting the adventures of penguin characters following the events of ''Madagascar 3'', was released on November 26, 2014.

Notes

References

External links

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