A pretty good movie. A good family movie. Everybody will be laughing during this movie! :)
Madagascar
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Is it age appropriate?
About our ratings -
Is it any good?
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Common Sense says
A group of animal friends escape from the zoo.
Why We Rated This 
for Ages 7 and Up
What to watch out for
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Violence & scariness:
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Sexy stuff:
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Language:
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Consumerism:
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Drinking, drugs, & smoking:
What Parents Need to Know
This review of Madagascar was written by Cynthia Fuchs
Parents need to know that there's some crude humor and sexual innuendo that will probably go over the youngest kids' head. The animals confront assorted dangerous situations, including an encounter with police, containment in crates (dark, closed spaces), a stormy sea and shipwreck, and, most alarmingly, a startling personality change in Alex, the lion, when he wants to eat his friends. There's a shooting with tranquilizer darts in which a character hallucinates to the tune of Sammy Davis Jr.'s song "Candyman" (younger viewers won't know this is about drugs, but the allusion is there). Gloria the hippo briefly appears with seaweed on her body, simulating "pasties" on breasts and crotch area. The lemurs are hunted by scary hyena-like creatures. A secondary plot has a crew of penguins acting like spies, which has them tunneling out of the zoo, knocking out a ship's captain, and stealing an ocean liner.
Families Can Talk About
Talk to your kids about the media in their life. We have more tools and tips that can help
- Families can talk about the film's portrayals of friendships and how friends can deal with their companions' different personalities. Families can also discuss the film's use of cliches and stereotypes as jokes (the "island" music that characterizes the lemur community, the whiny hypochondriac, the fey lemur king).
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More on Madagascar
What’s the Story?
In MADAGASCAR, unhappy Central Park Zoo zebra Marty (voiced by Chris Rock) yearns for open spaces and herds of other zebras, but his zoo friends -- Alex the lion (Ben Stiller), Gloria the hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith), and Melman the giraffe (David Schwimmer) -- are content. Alex is especially reluctant to leave, because he's pampered like a celebrity. Still, when Marty makes a break one night, they all follow to rescue him and end up getting caught by human authorities, who decide to ship the animals off. But the ship sinks, and the animals wash up on Madagascar, where the two central communities are the lemurs and the lemur-eating fossas. A crisis emerges when Alex gets hungry and begins to hallucinate that his friends are juicy steaks on legs, just before he roars and attacks them. When he realizes what he's doing, he's mortified, but his instincts are hard to repress. Eventually, the friends find a solution. They feed Alex sushi, leave the island "paradise," and resolve to return to some form of captivity.
Is It Any Good?
Madagascar is a cute idea about a journey that doesn't have a particularly compelling place to go -- but it's still fun. The subplot involving a group of almost maniacal penguins is particularly entertaining. The voice actors are fine overall, though as Melman the giraffe, Schwimmer basically plays his Friends character, Ross, as a cartoon. In the future, he might want to stretch out a bit further.
Movie Details
Studio: Dreamworks SKG, Directors: Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath
Run time: 80 minutes
Theatrical release: 5/27/2005, DVD release: 11/15/2005
MPAA Rating: PG for mild language, crude humor and some thematic elements
Run time: 80 minutes
Theatrical release: 5/27/2005, DVD release: 11/15/2005
MPAA Rating: PG for mild language, crude humor and some thematic elements
Our Members Say
See all 434 member reviews
Most Recent Reviews
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I rate this title on for age 6 and give it
- My concerns are:
- Excessive violence
A Movie Good For A Family Laugh
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I rate this title on for age 5 and give it
- My highlights are:
- Good role models
Great family film, funny too!
Madagascar is a great family film that's actually funny too. Ben Stiller as Alex is great, Chris Rock as Marty is super, David Schwimmer as Melman is pretty funny ,and Jada Pinkett Smith as Gloria is a hard worker(in a good way.) Don't forget the penguins who are kind smart and the lemursalmost ruin the whole movie.At least rent this movie on dvd today and see what you think about it.
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I rate this title on for age 10 and give it
- My concerns are:
- Excessive violence
- Inappropriate language
- My highlights are:
- Good role models
I recommend this movie for anyone 9 and up. BUT NO YOUNGER!
Awesome movie- perfect for kids 10 and up
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I rate this title on for age 5 and give it
Great and Funny!
I loved it! The Penguins are a great, funny addition! When I was young, I didn't notice most of the "bad" stuff. Its a nice movie. There are a few scary scenes, but they are mixed with humor. One scene Alex asks "Where are the people?" KIng Julian replies, "They're up there." You see two skeletons hanging on the tree by old parachutes, as well as a crashed plane. While that may be frightening, Julain interrupts by saying, "Don't you love the people? Not a very lively bunch, though." its a great movie. A lot of kids will just ignore the bad things, I know I did. You can also teach them to not say those things.
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I rate this title on for age 6 and give it
- My concerns are:
- Excessive violence
- Inappropriate language
- Negative role models
Watch out, things may slip out.
Madagascar is a great movie. It's all about zoo animals that escape because one of their friends wants to be in somewhere that has wide open spaces. It sounds good, but there is some bad language. In one part, Alex (lion) says "Sugar Honey Ice Tea" which stands for s**t. (Some kids won't notice that.) Some role models aren't good like the foosa that attack lemurs, and the lion is shot with tranquilizer darts. Finally, in one scene, an old lady kicks Alex and hits him with her handbag. It's a good film, but watch out for one use of bad language and bad role models.
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I rate this title off for age 2 and give it
yawn
boring you see everything coming unlike the second movie
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I rate this title on for age 5 and give it
- My concerns are:
- Inappropriate language
Ok for kids older than 5 or 6
I think it's a cute movie, but I'm bummed about the language. We're pretty strict about not using "stupid" "crap" "shut up" "hell" or name calling like "jerk" or idiot" and unfortunately, these are often referred to as "mild" insults which is OK for older kids (at least Kindergarten or 1st grade) but completely inappropriate for kids under 4 in my opinion. I don't think this language ever adds anything to the film, so why bother putting it in? I was really disappointed about the scene with "sugar, honey, ice tea"- although many little ones will miss it altogether, why bother putting it in- it doesn't add anything but shock value for the parents :(
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I rate this title on for age 6 and give it
I like to watch it-watch it!
Ah, the perfect movie. Granted, it's rated PG for a reason. The good thing is that the PG content won't be caught by youger kids, and will make older people laugh as well. I won't be surprised if this becomes the next "Shrek"- it's already better than the first.
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I rate this title on for age 6 and give it
I like to watch it-watch it!
Ah, the perfect movie. Granted, it's rated PG for a reason. The good thing is that the PG content won't be caught by youger kids, and will make older people laugh as well. I won't be surprised if this becomes the next "Shrek"- it's already better than the first.
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I rate this title on for age 6 and give it
I like to watch it-watch it!
Ah, the perfect movie. Granted, it's rated PG for a reason. The good thing is that the PG content won't be caught by youger kids, and will make older people laugh as well. I won't be surprised if this becomes the next "Shrek"- it's already better than the first.
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I rate this title iffy for age 8 and give it
- My concerns are:
- Excessive violence
- Inappropriate language
Really cute, but some iffy stuff.
This movie is a great family favorite..........just try to stop singing "move it, move it" after its over! I do have a couple problems with it, though. The first and main, is that there are a couple things, while not sexual, they made me cringe. (and I'm usually open-minded!) They are, in order of appearance: Gloria has seaweed, crabs, and a lobster stuck to her to look like a bathing suit, and says "okay boys, party's over", and when alex tries to get melman out of the box he's stuck in, he uses a long pole to ram him out, running straight at his behind. While this doesn't sound bad, trust me, it makes you cringe. There is also a lot of euphemisms, that will pass right over little kid's heads (only if they don't know any swear words) such as "hoover dam!" THere are even some blatant swears, such as he-- and dam-. Then finally, the worst part. In the middle to end of the movie, there is a montage to "what a wonderful world, where smal, cute animals are killed. The worst one is last, when, after being depressed, the animals come upon an ADORABLE baby duck. Your heart skips a beat on just how cute it is. And then, your hopes are dashed away because a shark comes up and violently eats it.This disturbed me SOOOO much when I first saw it....... And I was in the seventh grade!!!!!! Maybe it's just because I'm empathetic or something, but I hate this scene, and i never watch it.
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I rate this title iffy for age 3 and give it
- My concerns are:
- Excessive violence
- Inappropriate language
- Drinking, smoking, or drug use
- My highlights are:
- Good role models
I like it
I've seen the show of it.
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I rate this title on for age 8 and give it
good movie a must see
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I rate this title on for age 3 and give it
good but
2nd one is better some violence when the penguins knock the captain out cold they use a buzzoka to distart the fusa gloria wears a braw for a short time for little kids private says suck but any age
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I rate this title on for age 8 and give it
- My concerns are:
Good.
When Marty blows out his birthday candles, he spits then bites into the cake. But I still like the film
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I rate this title on for age 2 and give it
FUNNY
Great movie. It is very funny, and the characters made me lol. I really liked this movie. It's the kind you can watch over and over again.
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I rate this title on for age 7 and give it
An average fun movie with a lot jokes
The movie was fun but the story was average and fun I give it 3 stars because it was not that good but it has a lot of fun with the animals
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I rate this title pause for age 10 and give it
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I rate this title pause for age 8 and give it
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I rate this title on for age 0 and give it
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| 100% | of parents say it has language their kids can't use |
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