Madagascar (franchise)

Madagascar is a media franchise owned and produced by DreamWorks Animation. The voices of Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer and Jada Pinkett Smith are featured in the films. It began with the 2005 film Madagascar, followed by Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa in 2008 and Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted in 2012. A spin-off film featuring the penguins, titled Penguins of Madagascar, was released in 2014. A fourth main film, Madagascar 4, was announced for 2018, but has since been removed from its schedule indefinitely due to the studio's restructuring in 2015.

The overall plot through the series follows the adventures of four anthropomorphic Central Park Zoo animals who have spent their lives in blissful captivity and are unexpectedly shipped back to Africa initially but get shipwrecked to Madagascar. Now they must struggle to survive while attempting to return to New York City with the help of a crafty cadre of Adélie penguins and with many other characters along the way. The franchise's films have received mixed-to-positive critical reviews.