- The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper
"The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper" is a computer-animated short produced by
DreamWorks Animation (with soundtrack byMedia Ventures young-gunJames Dooley ), released inmovie theatres and onDVD in 2005. The 12-minute film showcases the adventures of fourpenguins , sometimes known as theMadagascar Penguins , who live in theCentral Park Zoo and are trained asspies .It premiered in theaters on
October 7 ,2005 with the stop-motion film, "". The short was later included on the "later editions" of the "Madagascar"DVD , which was released onNovember 15 ,2005 .The short was directed by animation veteran
Gary Trousdale , produced byTeresa Cheng , and written byMichael Lachance .Plot
In the story, the youngest penguin on the team, Private, slips out of the zoo on
Christmas Eve to find a present for a lonelypolar bear named Ted. While roaming the streets ofManhattan , he is captured by an old lady who mistakes him for a chew toy for her viciousdog , Mr Chew. The other three penguins, Skipper, Kowalski, and Rico, rescue Private from the old lady's apartment before it's too late.At the end of the film they invite Ted to their home. But he had already invited guests, resulting in a massive sing-a-long to a parody ofJingle Bells .Voice cast
*Chris Miller as Kowalski
*John DiMaggio as Rico
*Tom McGrath as Skipper
*Elisa Gabrielli as theOld Lady
*Christopher Knights asPrivate
*Hope Levy as an Additional Voice
*Rif Hutton as an Additional Voice
*Richard Miro as an Additional Voice
*Mitch Carter as an Additional Voice
*Lynnanne Zager as an Additional Voice
*Bill Fagerbakke as Ted thePolar Bear
*Sean Bishop as the Doorman/TV Announcer
*Manel Fuentes as Skipper (Castilian version) (uncredited)Gags
*Rico is constantly regurgitating a piece of dynamite out of his stomach and asking Skipper's permission to use it.
*Nobody except Skipper knows the "penguincredo " - "never swim alone." – The other penguins also confuse theWalrus credo ("Ha-da-da, ha-da-da doo-da dee-da!") with the other Penguin credo - "never bathe inhot oil andBisquick ."
*In an attempt to get a better view of Private while on the streets of New York, Skipper, Rico and Kowalski try to blend in with passing Catholicnun s.
*When trying to catch up with Private the penguins attach a grappling hook to a taxi. The licence plate of the taxi reads "I8BIGAPEL" i.e I ate big apple (New York)
*During the battle, Skipper uses Rico as amachine gun for cover fire, using swallowedmints as bullets.
*In a reference to the first film, Skipper makes several references to curse words, i.e "Hoover Dam ", "Grand Coulee Dam " or "Shiitake mushroom s".Trivia
*The old lady who captures Private in this short film also played a cameo part in "Madagascar" as the lady who beat up Alex the lion (and Melman the giraffe briefly) with her bag in
Grand Central Terminal .
*This is the first time Rico, one of the penguin characters from "Madagascar", speaks English saying "eggnog" and later "kaboom" (since theHewlett-Packard advert starring the penguins). In the original film, he is mute except for saying the Japanese word "Hai" (meaning "yes") while preparing sushi.
*Gloria's name isn't mentioned throughout the entire short film, but Marty, Alex and Melman are.
*An Alex the lion toy can be seen in the old lady's room. It is destroyed by Mr. Chew, the old lady's dog.
*Even though there are only two chimpanzees in the zoo (Phil and Mason), three are seen in the musical number at the end- one on Melman's neck and the other two next to each other on the ground.
*During the sing-along at the end, look closely at the penguins (they're on the gate that surrounds their habitat), look on the right to see one of the penguins dancing with the bowling pin Skipper mistook as Private.
*During the fight with thepoodle ,slow motion is used, as well as Skipper gesturing with his hand, alluding toThe Matrix .
*The names Rico and Kowalski are used from other movies e.g. Rico (from Starship Troopers) and Kowalski (from Stargate).External links
*imdb title|id=0484439|title=The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper
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