Prismark10
This was the first short spin off of the Penguins of Madagascar. The main characters just turn up at the end.It is an agreeable short which kids will like especially with the Sgt Bilko riff mixed with Tony Curtis's impression of Cary Grant in Some like it Hot.On Christmas Eve the youngest penguin, Private is sad that the polar bear at the zoo is all alone while the rest seem to be happy the night before Christmas.The rest of the penguins realise that Private has wandered off to find the polar bear a present and before long an elderly lady has taken him to her New York apartment and it is up to the rest to rescue him especially as she has a vicious poodle after him.It is decent enough animation for a short with some inventive moments and some fast moving action.
Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)
This is an 11-minute short film from 10 years ago and was released directly after the first Madagascar movie. The main characters from the film have short cameos at the beginning and end of this one here, but it's really all about the penguins this time, quite a while before they got their own television series and, more recently, their own theatrical movie.The penguins are busy with Christmas preparations, but one of them feels sorry for the polar bear being alone during the holidays and heads off to town to buy him a little present. Unfortunately, during this adventure, he gets caught by the Old Lady (another cameo) and is in danger of becoming a present himself. Luckily, his pals are already on their way to rescue him and fight an evil poodle while they are at it.The film's director is Gary Trousdale, who directed very famous animated movies such as "Beauty and the Beast" and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" long before this was made. Michael Lachance, the writer, worked also on "King Fu Panda", "Shrek 2" and of course "Madagascar". These 11 minutes are mostly for children. You could see that they did not want to go too serious for example in the one scene when we see fish wrapped as Christmas presents and they were still alive and moving. Death should not have a place in light films like this one. All in all, worth a watch I would say, especially if you like the feature films. I always found the penguins funny and it's nice to see them get some love here. Oh and feel free to sing along at the end. Recommended.
taurenchieftain228
First of all, when me and my bro's saw this movie (ages 16, 20, 22, and 23) we were bagging up! It was so funny we had to watch it three times because we missed some stuff because we were laughing so hard. The best character was Rico (Kaboom!) and the second best was Skipper, however the best part was when Kawolski used the abacus to calculate the number of presents-to-people ratio. Also the trip-on-a-lid part was well done too what with the jump spin and stomach slide thing. The animation and voice for the doorman (what with his dumbfounded look and all) were great, and the part where Rico almost dropped the anvil on the old woman was hilarious as well. Last but not least, the part where Skipper keeps slapping the bowling pin was great, and had the best replay value. -joshua "the man" ...
yoda3010@yahoo.com
I haven't even seen "Madagascar" yet, but because of this, I want to. I've been bragging about this to my friends ever since I saw it in front of the "Wallace and Gromit" movie. I don't care if I have to buy "Madagascar" just for the penguins, I will. I'll give you insight on what to watch out for without giving away too much: the bowling pin, "kaboom!", the #1 rule of penguins. If you don't like "Wallace and Gromit," fine. Go see it just for this. If you liked "Madagascar," you'll love this. I was always a fan of short animated films. My girlfriend and I both thought this was one of the funniest we've seen in years.
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