Madagascar 2: Escape to Africa is the animated sequel to Madagascar that we saw in 2005 with four memorable animals, Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra, Melman the Giraffe and Gloria the Hippo, and their penguin friends from a New York zoo.

Left stranded in Madagascar with hopes of heading home, they boarded a restored plane piloted by penguins. Instead of finding themselves back in the big apple, they crash land in none other than wild Africa. When they come upon the locals, they assume they have little in common with these wild animals since they all have been raised in city life. Little did Alex (voiced by Ben Stiller) know, he recognized the area and was miraculously reunited with his long lost parents. Gloria (voiced by Jada Pinkett Smith) quickly adapts to the African way of life and fits right in with all the other hippos. She manages to get a date from one very large, plump, and most desired male of their pod. Marty (voiced by Chris Rock) doesn’t find as much happiness as the others when he finds out he is exactly identical to all the other zebras and is no longer unique. Melman (voiced by David Schwimmer) finds an unexpected job as a witch doctor but then is convinced he in turn has a disease with no cure. These four previous zoo residents find themselves figuring out who they really are as a turn of events sends them into a new adventure.

Most sequels find themselves repeating the plot from the original with a different cast or keeping the same with a new plot and I think the latter is perfect for this story. The first movie could have been the end to the adventures our four favorite zoo animals, but this movie gives us an alternate ending to the first. Sure, they are happy and settled on their new island, but gives them new adventure and leaves us in a stopping place where viewers don’t feel they have questions left unanswered.

The animation on this sequel is just as good as on the first. The looks of the characters go hand in hand with the voices. Smith gives Gloria a bit of attitude that would probably suit and hippo and Schwimmer plays Melman very passive, shy, and a bit if a weenie which fit’s a skinny giraffe. Marty is a bit of a comic which couldn’t be played any better by anyone other than comic Rock. Alex is a little out of the ordinary. He isn’t a “real” lion. He is a stage performer who doesn’t fight and Stiller puts that little extra touch, making him stand out. These actors and actress bring these animals to life.

Very rarely is the sequel better than the original but in this case, it is! There is new, more interesting action. A sacrifice in a volcano, the old woman from the first reappears, a right of passage ceremony, and a water shortage. There is also a developing romance between Melman and Gloria that give the sequel something the original never had. I give it 4.5 stars.

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