''Penguins of Madagascar'' (also known as ''Penguins of Madagascar: The Movie'') is a 2014 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 ...
spy
Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...
action comedy film
Action comedy is a genre that combines aspects of action and comedy. The genre is most prevalent in film with action comedy films, though several TV series fit this genre.
Film
The action comedy film is a film genre that combines aspects of actio ...
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 distributed by
20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
. Starring the voices of
Tom McGrath,
Chris Miller,
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'' ...
,
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 ...
,
Benedict Cumberbatch
Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch (born 19 July 1976) is an English actor. Known for his work on screen and stage, he has received various accolades, including a British Academy Television Award, a Primetime Emmy Award and a Laurence O ...
,
Ken Jeong
Kendrick Kang-Joh Jeong (, ; born July 13, 1969) is an American actor, stand-up comedian, producer, writer and licensed physician. He rose to prominence for playing Leslie Chow in ''The Hangover'' film series (2009–2013) and Ben Chang in the ...
,
Annet Mahendru
Anita Devi "Annet" Mahendru (born November 5, 1985) is an American actress. She is known for playing Nina Sergeevna Krilova on the FX period drama series ''The Americans'' (2013–2016), for which she garnered a nomination for the Critics' Ch ...
,
Peter Stormare
Rolf Peter Ingvar Storm (born August 27, 1953), better known as Peter Stormare (), is a Swedish actor who holds both Swedish and American citizenship. He played Gaear Grimsrud in the film '' Fargo'' (1996) and John Abruzzi in the television ser ...
and
John Malkovich
John Malkovich (born December 9, 1953) is an American actor. He is the recipient of several accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, two Screen Actors Guild Aw ...
, it is a
spin-off of the ''
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 ...
'' film series and takes place directly after the events of ''
Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted'',
following 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 - Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private - as they join forces with the North Wind intelligence agency to stop the
octopus
An octopus ( : octopuses or octopodes, see below for variants) is a soft-bodied, eight- limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda (, ). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttle ...
Dave, who seeks revenge on all penguins across the world by capturing them.
Apart from the main characters, it is not directly related to the
Nickelodeon TV series of a similar name.
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 ...
and
Simon J. Smith from a screenplay written by
Michael Colton
Michael Colton (born 1975) is an American screenwriter and former journalist. With writing partner John Aboud, he was a regular commentator on ''Best Week Ever'' and other VH1 shows, including '' I Love the '80s''.
Personal life
Colton attende ...
,
John Aboud
John Aboud III (born March 7, 1973) is an American writer and comedian. With Michael Colton, he was a regular commentator on ''Best Week Ever'' and other VH1 shows. From 2000 to 2003, the two founded Modern Humorist, a parody website based in Br ...
and Brandon Sawyer,
''Penguins of Madagascar'' was released theatrically in the United States on November 26, 2014 in 2D,
3D and
RealD 3D
RealD 3D is a digital stereoscopy, stereoscopic projection technology made and sold by RealD. It is currently the most widely used technology for watching 3D films in theaters. Worldwide, RealD 3D is installed in more than 26,500 auditoriums by app ...
formats,
making it the only film in the ''Madagascar'' franchise to be distributed by 20th Century Fox as well as the final DreamWorks Animation film to be produced by
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 ...
prior to its closure on January 22, 2015, with DWA Glendale taking over. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, but despite grossing $373 million on a $132 million budget, the film
underperformed by DreamWorks' standards, and resulted in a
write-down
A write-off is a reduction of the recognized value of something. In accounting, this is a recognition of the reduced or zero value of an asset. In income tax statements, this is a reduction of taxable income, as a recognition of certain expenses ...
$57.1 million for the studio.
This would also be the last theatrical spin-off film from the studio, until the release of ''
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish'' in 2022.
Plot
Ten years ago, Skipper, Rico, and Kowalski are
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 ...
chick brothers in
Antarctica
Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...
. Upon seeing a runaway egg roll away from their colony, the trio rescue the egg from
leopard seal
The leopard seal (''Hydrurga leptonyx''), also referred to as the sea leopard, is the second largest species of seal in the Antarctic (after the southern elephant seal). Its only natural predator is the orca. It feeds on a wide range of prey incl ...
s and are set adrift on an
iceberg
An iceberg is a piece of freshwater ice more than 15 m long that has broken off a glacier or an ice shelf and is floating freely in open (salt) water. Smaller chunks of floating glacially-derived ice are called "growlers" or "bergy bits". The ...
. When the egg hatches, the trio adopt the baby penguin as their brother, Private.
In the present, several weeks after the events of ''
Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted'', the penguins leave Circus Zaragoza to celebrate Private's tenth birthday by breaking into
Fort Knox
Fort Knox is a United States Army installation in Kentucky, south of Louisville and north of Elizabethtown. It is adjacent to the United States Bullion Depository, which is used to house a large portion of the United States' official gold res ...
to get a snack called Cheesy Dibbles from a vending machine, while Private desires to be recognized as an official member of the team, but is ignored. The penguins are subsequently kidnapped and taken to a
submarine
A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...
, where they are confronted by an
octopus
An octopus ( : octopuses or octopodes, see below for variants) is a soft-bodied, eight- limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda (, ). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttle ...
named Dave, who explains that he once lived in 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 ...
as a star attraction until the penguins upstaged him with their cuteness. After being repeatedly upstaged by more penguins and passed between zoos and aquariums as an unwanted animal, a bitter Dave disguised himself as a human scientist Dr. Octavius Brine to enact his revenge. Rico swallows a vial of Dave's bioweapon - the Medusa Serum - and his
snow globe
A snow globe (also called a waterglobe, snowstorm, or snowdome) is a transparent sphere, traditionally made of glass, enclosing a miniaturized scene of some sort, often together with a model of a town, neighborhood, landscape or figure. The sphe ...
collection before the penguins escape.
Fleeing through
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...
, Italy, while being pursued by Dave's henchmen, the penguins are rescued by the North Wind, an inter-species intelligence agency consisting of Classified, the
wolf
The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly u ...
leader;
polar bear
The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a hypercarnivorous bear whose native range lies largely within the Arctic Circle, encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the largest extant bear specie ...
weapons specialist Corporal;
harp seal
The harp seal (''Pagophilus groenlandicus''), also known as Saddleback Seal or Greenland Seal, is a species of earless seal, or true seal, native to the northernmost Atlantic Ocean and Arctic Ocean. Originally in the genus ''Phoca'' with a number ...
demolitionist Short Fuse; and
snowy owl
The snowy owl (''Bubo scandiacus''), also known as the polar owl, the white owl and the Arctic owl, is a large, white owl of the true owl family. Snowy owls are native to the Arctic regions of both North America and the Palearctic, breeding mos ...
intelligence officer Eva. After Rico shows the North Wind the serum, Dave hacks into the North Wind’s computers to reveal he has more of it and more penguins start vanishing from exhibits all over the world. Upon deeming the penguins a liability to the mission, Classified darts and puts them on a plane bound for
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 ...
.
The penguins escape the plane and, using Dave's snowglobes, deduce that the
Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
Zoo is Dave's next target. Skipper's team forms a plan to stop Dave and Private reluctantly agrees to be the bait. The other penguins manage to trap Dave with a dinosaur skeleton after creating a water leak in the aquarium, just as the North Wind shows up. However, Dave escapes through a drain and captures Private and the rest of the Shanghai penguins, prompting Skipper, Rico, and Kowalski to hijack the North Wind's jet to pursue him, but it is blown up after the North Wind attempts to interfere. At Dave's lair, Private learns that Dave is planning to use the Medusa Serum to turn penguins into mindless and disfigured monsters, so that the public will hate and exterminate them.
Upon reaching Dave's hideout, the penguins and the North Wind clash over their different plans to infiltrate the submarine, before Skipper finally admits the North Wind to be more qualified and relents. The penguins distract the octopus guards while the North Wind sneak inside, but both teams are captured. Dave tests the Medusa Serum on Private, but he escapes with a paper clip he swallowed earlier at the last second, causing Dave and the rest of the penguins to believe he has been vaporized. Private frees the North Wind from torture devices and tries to convince them to help save the penguins, but they refuse, causing him to storm off on his own.
Dave uses the Medusa Serum to transform all the penguins, and, as Dr. Brine, unleashes them on
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 ...
. In the chaos, Private obtains Dave's ray, chases down Skipper, Kowalski, and Rico and restores them to sanity. As the penguins and the North Wind battle Dave and his henchmen, Private inserts himself into Dave's ray using the power of his cuteness in order to restore the other penguins to normal, though leaving himself mutated and Dave shrunk and trapped inside one of his snow globes, which a little girl plays with. For his heroism, Private finally earns his place as a qualified member of the team and Classified congratulates the penguins and apologizes for misjudging them. As a reward, Classified gives the penguins jetpacks, which they use to fly back to Circus Zaragoza.
In a post-credits scene, the penguins use Mort's cuteness to restore Private to normal. Mort is apparently unaffected by the ray at first, before quickly swallowing King Julien whole, to the latter's amusement.
Cast
![John Malkovich & Benedict Cumberbatch, Penguins of Madagascar, SDCC 2014](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/John_Malkovich_%26_Benedict_Cumberbatch%2C_Penguins_of_Madagascar%2C_SDCC_2014.jpg)
*
Tom McGrath as Skipper, the leader of 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.
*
Chris Miller as Kowalski, the brains of the penguins.
*
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'' ...
as Private, the rookie of the penguins.
*
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 ...
as Rico,
the loose cannon of the penguins. Vernon replaces
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 the voice of Rico in the film.
*
Benedict Cumberbatch
Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch (born 19 July 1976) is an English actor. Known for his work on screen and stage, he has received various accolades, including a British Academy Television Award, a Primetime Emmy Award and a Laurence O ...
as Agent Classified, a
Eurasian wolf
The Eurasian wolf (''Canis lupus lupus''), also known as the common wolf,Mech, L. David (1981), ''The Wolf: The Ecology and Behaviour of an Endangered Species'', University of Minnesota Press, p. 354, is a subspecies of grey wolf native to Euro ...
with a
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
accent. He is the North Wind's team leader.
*
Ken Jeong
Kendrick Kang-Joh Jeong (, ; born July 13, 1969) is an American actor, stand-up comedian, producer, writer and licensed physician. He rose to prominence for playing Leslie Chow in ''The Hangover'' film series (2009–2013) and Ben Chang in the ...
as Short Fuse, a
Belgian
Belgian may refer to:
* Something of, or related to, Belgium
* Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent
* Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German
*Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...
white-coated
harp seal
The harp seal (''Pagophilus groenlandicus''), also known as Saddleback Seal or Greenland Seal, is a species of earless seal, or true seal, native to the northernmost Atlantic Ocean and Arctic Ocean. Originally in the genus ''Phoca'' with a number ...
and a member of the North Wind who serves as their expert in explosives and demolitions.
*
Annet Mahendru
Anita Devi "Annet" Mahendru (born November 5, 1985) is an American actress. She is known for playing Nina Sergeevna Krilova on the FX period drama series ''The Americans'' (2013–2016), for which she garnered a nomination for the Critics' Ch ...
as Eva, a
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
n
snowy owl
The snowy owl (''Bubo scandiacus''), also known as the polar owl, the white owl and the Arctic owl, is a large, white owl of the true owl family. Snowy owls are native to the Arctic regions of both North America and the Palearctic, breeding mos ...
with a matching accent, Kowalski's love interest/girlfriend, and the North Wind's intelligence analyst.
*
Peter Stormare
Rolf Peter Ingvar Storm (born August 27, 1953), better known as Peter Stormare (), is a Swedish actor who holds both Swedish and American citizenship. He played Gaear Grimsrud in the film '' Fargo'' (1996) and John Abruzzi in the television ser ...
as Corporal, a
Norwegian
Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to:
*Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe
*Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway
*Demographics of Norway
*The Norwegian language, including the ...
polar bear
The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a hypercarnivorous bear whose native range lies largely within the Arctic Circle, encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the largest extant bear specie ...
and a member of the North Wind who serves as the muscle.
*
John Malkovich
John Malkovich (born December 9, 1953) is an American actor. He is the recipient of several accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, two Screen Actors Guild Aw ...
as Dave / Dr. Octavius Brine, a villainous and disgruntled
Giant Pacific octopus
The giant Pacific octopus (''Enteroctopus dofleini''), also known as the North Pacific giant octopus, is a large marine cephalopod belonging to the genus '' Enteroctopus''. Its spatial distribution includes the coastal North Pacific, along Mexic ...
who has a human disguise.
*
Werner Herzog
Werner Herzog (; born 5 September 1942) is a German film director, screenwriter, author, actor, and opera director, regarded as a pioneer of New German Cinema. His films often feature ambitious protagonists with impossible dreams, people with un ...
as Himself (credited as "Documentary Filmmaker".)
*
Billy Eichner
Billy Eichner (; born September 18, 1978) is an American comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter. He is the star, executive producer, and creator of Funny Or Die's ''Billy on the Street'', a comedy game show that aired on truTV. The show ea ...
as New York Reporter
Danny Jacobs and
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 ...
voice King Julien XIII (in place of
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 ...
) and Mort in the mid-credits scene.
Production
A
direct-to-video
Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy was p ...
spin-off feature film featuring the ''
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 ...
'' penguin characters had been in the works since 2005 when the first ''
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 ...
'' film was released, with a release date initially planned for 2009. Years later, DreamWorks Animation announced in March 2011 that the penguins would be given their own theatrical film, directed by
Simon J. Smith (the co-director of DreamWorks' ''
Bee Movie
''Bee Movie'' is a 2007 American computer-animated comedy film co-produced by DreamWorks Animation SKG and Columbus 81 Productions, and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The film was directed by Simon J. Smith and Steve Hickner (in the f ...
'') produced by
Lara Breay
Lara Breay is a feature film producer whose credits include ''Tropic Thunder'', ''Penguins of Madagascar'', ''Blades of Glory'', ''Megamind'' and ''Ron's Gone Wrong
''Ron's Gone Wrong'' is a 2021 computer-animated science fiction comedy fi ...
, and written by Alan J. Schoolcraft and Brent Simons (the writers of DreamWorks' ''
Megamind
''Megamind'' is a 2010 American computer-animated superhero comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures. Directed by Tom McGrath from a screenplay by Alan Schoolcraft and Brent Simons, the film stars the ...
'').
At the July 2012
Comic-Con
A comic book convention or comic-con is an event with a primary focus on comic books and comic book culture, in which comic book Fan (person), fans gather to meet creators, experts, and each other. Commonly, comic conventions are multi-day events ...
, DreamWorks Animation announced that the film, then titled ''The Penguins of Madagascar'', would be released in 2015.
Bob Schooley
Robert Schooley is an American screenwriter, television writer and television producer. He and Mark McCorkle are the creators of the 2002 animated television series ''Kim Possible'', which aired on Disney Channel. He was also an executive produc ...
, one of the developers of ''
The Penguins of Madagascar
''The Penguins of Madagascar'' is an American computer-animated television series co-produced by DreamWorks Animation and Nickelodeon. It stars nine characters from DreamWorks' animated film ''Madagascar'': the penguins Skipper ( Tom McGrath) ...
'' series on
Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...
, said that the film would be unrelated to the TV series of the same name, but added that that could always change. In early September 2012,
20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
- the studio's new distributor - and DreamWorks Animation announced the film's release date of March 27, 2015 and a new team of screenwriters for the film,
Michael Colton
Michael Colton (born 1975) is an American screenwriter and former journalist. With writing partner John Aboud, he was a regular commentator on ''Best Week Ever'' and other VH1 shows, including '' I Love the '80s''.
Personal life
Colton attende ...
and
John Aboud
John Aboud III (born March 7, 1973) is an American writer and comedian. With Michael Colton, he was a regular commentator on ''Best Week Ever'' and other VH1 shows. From 2000 to 2003, the two founded Modern Humorist, a parody website based in Br ...
.
Benedict Cumberbatch
Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch (born 19 July 1976) is an English actor. Known for his work on screen and stage, he has received various accolades, including a British Academy Television Award, a Primetime Emmy Award and a Laurence O ...
and
John Malkovich
John Malkovich (born December 9, 1953) is an American actor. He is the recipient of several accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, two Screen Actors Guild Aw ...
joined the cast in August 2013.
Malkovich, who had been offered the role of Dr. Octavius Brine three and a half years before the film's release, told an audience at the July 2014 Comic-Con that he thought that it "was a funny idea" to use his voice for an octopus.
Release
Theatrical
On May 20, 2014, the film's release date was moved up to November 26, 2014 from its initial March 27, 2015 date, switching places with DreamWorks Animation's other film ''
Home
A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or many humans, and sometimes various companion animals. It is a fully or semi sheltered space and can have both interior and exterior aspects to it. H ...
''.
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 ...
, DreamWorks Animation's CEO, explained that the film, coming from one of DWA's most successful franchises, would have an easier task to stand out around the
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden and ...
holiday season while ''Home'' was to try taking advantage of a less competitive spring release window and repeat successful spring launches of some of DWA's original films, such as ''
The Croods
''The Croods'' is a 2013 American computer-animated adventure comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by 20th Century Fox. The film was written and directed by Kirk DeMicco and Chris Sanders, and stars the voices of Nicola ...
'' and ''
How to Train Your Dragon
''How to Train Your Dragon'' (abbreviated ''HTTYD'') is an American media franchise from DreamWorks Animation and loosely based on the eponymous series of children's books by British author Cressida Cowell. It consists of three feature films: ' ...
''.
The film was released two weeks earlier in China on November 14, 2014, where it was released by
Oriental DreamWorks
Shanghai Pearl Studio Film and Television Technology Co., Ltd, doing business as Pearl Studio, formerly known as Oriental DreamWorks, the trade name of Shanghai Oriental DreamWorks Film & Television Technology Co., Ltd., is a Chinese animation f ...
.
The film was released in
RealD 3D
RealD 3D is a digital stereoscopy, stereoscopic projection technology made and sold by RealD. It is currently the most widely used technology for watching 3D films in theaters. Worldwide, RealD 3D is installed in more than 26,500 auditoriums by app ...
and
Digital 3D
Digital 3D is a non-specific 3D standard in which films, television shows, and video games are presented and shot in digital 3D technology or later processed in digital post-production to add a 3D effect.
One of the first studios to use digital 3 ...
formats.
It was digitally remastered into 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 released in select theaters across Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America. A four-issue comic book series based on the film was published by Titan Comics, written by Alex Matthews and drawn by Lucas Fereyra.
Home media
''Penguins of Madagascar'' was released on DVD, Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D on March 17, 2015. It topped the home video sales chart in its first week.
Reception
Box office
''Penguins of Madagascar'' grossed $83.4 million in North America and $290.2 million in foreign countries for a worldwide total of $373.6 million.
The film's production budget was $132 million, which, according to the DreamWorks Animation's president Ann Dally, excluded "
incentive-based compensation."
By the end of 2014, the studio had to take a $57.1 million
write-down
A write-off is a reduction of the recognized value of something. In accounting, this is a recognition of the reduced or zero value of an asset. In income tax statements, this is a reduction of taxable income, as a recognition of certain expenses ...
, primarily related to the performances of ''Penguins of Madagascar'' and another DreamWorks Animation film, ''
Mr. Peabody & Sherman''.
''Penguins of Madagascar'' was released on November 26, 2014, in North America and Canada across 3,764 theatres. It earned $6.25 million on its opening day and $3.95 million the next day on
Thanksgiving Day
Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden a ...
. It earned $10.5 million
on Black Friday.
The film underperformed during its opening weekend earning $25.4 million and debuting at #2 at the box office behind ''
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1'', for which 3D accounted for 24% of its opening-weekend gross.
The opening-weekend audience was evenly split among those under and over the age of 25, with 58% and female accounted 51%.
The film was released in
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
on November 14,
two weeks ahead of its North American debut, and earned $11.3 million from 3,500 screens, debuting at number two at the Chinese box office behind ''
Interstellar'' ($42 million). In its opening weekend, the film earned $36.5 million from 47 markets.
Overall, the top openings were in Russia ($8.2 million), Korea ($6 million), Italy ($4.63 million), Germany ($4.2 million), and Australia ($3.68 million).
The film's opening in Germany was the second-highest for an animated film in 2014, behind ''
How to Train Your Dragon 2
''How to Train Your Dragon 2'' is a 2014 American computer-animated action fantasy film loosely based on the book series of the same name by Cressida Cowell. Produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by 20th Century Fox, it is the sequel ...
''.
Critical response
On review aggregator website
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 ...
, ''Penguins of Madagascar'' holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The site's critical consensus reads, "''Penguins of Madagascar'' is fast and brightly colored enough to entertain small children, but too frantically silly to offer real filmgoing fun for the whole family." 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 ...
, the film achieved a score of 53 out of 100 based on reviews from 31 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences surveyed 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.
Elizabeth Weitzman of the ''
New York Daily News
The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ta ...
'' gave the film three out of five stars, saying "Granted, it's no classic, but a sassy script and good-natured voice work from Benedict Cumberbatch and John Malkovich should keep kids and grownups entertained over the holidays."
Ignatiy Vishnevetsky
Ignatiy Igorevich Vishnevetsky (; russian: Игнатий Игоревич Вишневецкий; born September 5, 1986)Vishnevetsky, Ignati''Time Indefinite'': "A Talk with Sergei Loznitsa"
''Mubi'' is a Russian-American film critic, essayist ...
of ''
The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'' gave the film a B, saying "Frenetic and frequently funny, ''Penguins Of Madagascar'' represents the DreamWorks Animation franchise style—which boils down to self-aware, but naïve, talking animals who learn kid-friendly life lessons—at its most palatable." Ben Kenigsberg of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' gave the film a positive review, saying "The lack of originality is offset by sheer silliness, including Classified and Skipper's Abbott and Costello-style argument over whether there's a long I in 'diversion.' The word fits the movie."
Bill Zwecker of the ''
Chicago Sun-Times
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...
'' gave the film three out of four stars, saying "Once again the ''Madagascar'' team have come up with a winner – a nice way to kick off the Thanksgiving and holiday filmgoing experience for the whole family." Lou Lumenick of the ''
New York Post
The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com.
It was established ...
'' gave the film one out of four stars, saying ''"Penguins of Madagascar'' is a lazy, noisy ADHD-addled collection of animated clichés guaranteed to give anyone older than 5 a headache, even if you don't see it in optional 3-D." Michael Rechtshaffen of ''
The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'' gave the film a negative review, saying "While there are plenty of madcap antics to fill a feature, all that manic energy ultimately proves to be more exhausting than exhilarating." Jeff Labrecque of ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'' gave the film a C−, saying "''Penguins of Madagascar'' aims primarily for the kiddies, racing from one frenetic action sequence to another like some haywire
Walter Lantz
Walter Lantz (April 27, 1899 – March 22, 1994) was an American cartoonist, animator, producer and director best known for founding Walter Lantz Productions and creating Woody Woodpecker.
Biography
Early years and start in animation
Lantz ...
cartoon."
Accolades
Soundtrack
Lorne Balfe
Lorne Balfe (born 23 February 1976) is a Scottish composer and record producer of film, television, and video game scores. A veteran of Hans Zimmer's Remote Control Productions, Balfe is known for his composing music for big-budget films like ...
composed the original score for the film,
making it his first solo debut in a DreamWorks Animation film. Balfe wrote the additional music for the previous two ''
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 ...
'' films and helped ''Madagascar'' composer
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 ...
with the score for ''
Megamind
''Megamind'' is a 2010 American computer-animated superhero comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures. Directed by Tom McGrath from a screenplay by Alan Schoolcraft and Brent Simons, the film stars the ...
''. The soundtrack was released on November 21, 2014, by
Relativity Music Group
Relativity Music Group was a record label owned by Relativity Media
Relativity Media is an American media company founded in 2004 by Lynwood Spinks and Ryan Kavanaugh. The company brokered film finance deals and later branched into film ...
.
Relativity also released an
EP, ''Penguins of Madagascar: Black & White Christmas Album'', which featured five holiday songs.
Pitbull
Pit bull is a term used in the United States for a type of dog descended from bulldogs and terriers, while in other countries such as the United Kingdom the term is used as an abbreviation of the American Pit Bull Terrier breed. The term was f ...
performed a song titled "
Celebrate" for the film, which was played during the credits. A music video of the song was also released on
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
in October 21, 2014.
Video game
A video game based on the film, titled ''Penguins of Madagascar'', and published by Little Orbit, was released on November 25, 2014, for
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 ...
,
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 ...
, and
Wii U
The Wii U ( ) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo as the successor to the Wii. Released in late 2012, it is the first eighth-generation video game console and competed with Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's PlayStation 4.
The W ...
.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Penguins Of Madagascar, The (film)
2014 films
Madagascar (franchise) films
2014 3D films
2014 computer-animated films
2014 action comedy films
2010s spy comedy films
2010s American animated films
2010s children's comedy films
American 3D films
American computer-animated films
American action comedy films
American spy comedy films
American children's animated action films
American children's animated comedy films
Animated films about animals
Animated films about penguins
Animated films about wolves
Animated films set in New York City
20th Century Fox animated films
20th Century Fox films
DreamWorks Animation animated films
3D animated films
Film spin-offs
Films directed by Eric Darnell
Films directed by Simon J. Smith
Films scored by Lorne Balfe
Films about polar bears
Films set in Shanghai
Films set in Venice
Films set in zoos
IMAX films
2010s English-language films