 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Madagascar
- Review Date: November 20, 2005
- PG
- Genre: Family and Kids
- 2005
Common Sense Media says
Cute story contains some crude humor and innuendo.
Parents say
QUALITY
Kids say
QUALITY
What parents need to know
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.
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.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about the film's portrayals of friendships and how friends can deal with their companions' different personalities. Did you relate to any of the friendships portrayed here?
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). Why do movies use so many stereotypes? At what point do stereotypes do harm?
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AGE
I recommend this movie for anyone 9 and up. BUT NO YOUNGER!
Awesome movie- perfect for kids 10 and up
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AGE
Good for 6+
I actually liked this movie because it was very funny.
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AGE
fine for 8+
I was a little surprised with this effort from Dreamworks cause it was actually a bit funny.
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AGE
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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AGE
A Movie Good For A Family Laugh
A pretty good movie. A good family movie. Everybody will be laughing during this movie! :)
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AGE
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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Kid, 11 years old
June 14, 2011
AGE
Not Bad
This isn't really a bad movie except for the violence and there are penguins that frequently say hooverDAM trying to make it clean but not wait... What?
And there is a part where hippo comes out of the water wearing a "bikini" it's okay if your kids are not sensitive to violence and nice characters turning In to "monsters"
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AGE
A great animated comedy will appeal to most kids and tweens!
Loved it! It was hilarious! Not a lot to worry about here. Some violence is put into the movie, but it is very mild. In one scene Gloria, the girl hippo, pretends to wear a bikini using sea creatures like starfish and crabs. Besides that, there is nothing to worry about. Families will love this!
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Kid, 8 years old
April 8, 2011
AGE
i sugest that older kids shoud see it with little kids
well it gets a little ifiy at the part with the hanging dead selaten
but it's pretty funny but they say 'hell' and'suck but great movie i give this 8+ *****
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AGE
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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| Topics: | adventures, friendship, misfits and underdogs, wild animals |
| Studio: | DreamWorks |
| Directors: | Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath |
| Cast: | Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, Jada Pinkett Smith |
| Genre: | Family and Kids |
| Run time: | 80 minutes |
| Theatrical release date: | May 27, 2005 |
| DVD release date: | November 15, 2005 |
| MPAA rating: | PG |
| MPAA explanation: | mild language, crude humor and some thematic elements |
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