Madagascar ***

Jungle, Water, Fur and Fire
After 4 years in the making, the latest from DreamWorks Animation (Shrek, Shark Tale), and pet project of Ben Stiller, hit theaters May 27, 2005. DreamWorks continues to chase Pixar/Disney in the genre, and should do reasonably well with this new offering. Plenty of cute creatures and bright colors for the kids (and stoners) and laughs for the adults. Stiller plays king of the concrete jungle Alex the Lion, with Chris Rock as black-zebra-with-white-stripes Marty, David Schwimmer as hypochondriac giraffe Melman, and Jada Pinkett Smith as large and in charge hippo Gloria.

But it's the supporting players that steal the show, including the penguins (Kowalski, Private, and Skipper) played by Chris Miller, Christopher Knights, and writer Tom McGrath (The Ren & Stimpy Show, director), and the monkeys (glibly threatening to throw poo at a moments notice) played by Conrad Vernon (in the only primate speaking role as British-accented Mason). Sasha Baron-Cohen (a.k.a. Ali G) is also featured as the irrepressible King Julian the Lemur, with the nauseatingly over-exposed Cedric the Entertainer as his sidekick Maurice.



For all you Ali G fans, check this fun "Tranzlata" on his official web site, or for a less graphics intensive version go here.