Marty (Madagascar)

Madagascar character
name=Marty the Zebra
|

caption=Marty at the zoo
age=10
gender=Male
species=Grevy's Zebra
eye color=Green
fur color=Black and White
place of birth=New York City
portrayer=Chris Rock|

Marty is a fictional character in the 2005 DreamWorks film, "Madagascar". He is an anthropomorphic zebra voiced by Chris Rock. He likes his life in the Central Park Zoo but realizes, now he's 10 years old, that he longs to explore the world outside the zoo.

Marty is unsure whether he's white with black stripes, or black with white stripes. (In a behind-the-scenes interview, co-star Jada Pinkett Smith said she found this hilarious because of Chris Rock's racial humor.) At one point in the movie, Alex says he's black with white stripes, as he has 30 black, and only 29 white (a number he improvises to cover for the fact that he was licking Marty in his sleep).

The Movie

The film begins on Marty's 10th birthday (middle-aged for a zebra). His friends try to give him a great birthday, but somehow, Marty wants more. He escapes the Central Park Zoo, in which he lives, and makes a dash for the wild. His friends, Alex the Lion, Melman the Giraffe and Gloria the Hippopotamus flag him down, but as they're about to take him back to the zoo, police officers appear in all directions, tranquilize the animals, and send them on a ship to Kenya. However, the penguins take over the ship and the four friends are washed up on the shores of Madagascar.

Once on the island, the animals begin to panic except for Marty, who has had his dream fulfilled. Marty sets up a "bar" on the island, known as Casa del Wild (in English "Home of the Wild"). Alex is mad at Marty for getting them shipped to the wild, but he later apologizes to Marty and actually begins to enjoy himself on the island. Unfortunately, his enjoyment brings on his killer instincts, causing him to attack the resident lemurs and his friends, including Marty. The incident made him realize that lions and zebras can't be friends in the wild because Alex was a predator. He and the others wished they could go back. Alex doesn't "go savage" for long, and is later able to rejoin his friends as they head back to the zoo.

The Madagascar Penguins Short

Marty, along with his friends has only a few small cameos in "The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper". He, Alex, and Gloria are seen at the beginning decorating Melman's neck with Christmas lights. At the end, he, his friends, and almost all the other zoo animals are seen singing their own version of "Jingle Bells".