MAD2 Production Notes FINAL 09-26-08 fileProduction Information In the highly-anticipated sequel to...

Production Information

In the highly-anticipated sequel to “Madagascar”—the number one family

comedy of 2005—Alex (Ben Stiller), Marty (Chris Rock), Melman (David Schwimmer),

Gloria (Jada Pinkett Smith), King Julien (Sacha Baron Cohen), Maurice (Cedric The

Entertainer), the penguins (Tom McGrath, Christopher Knights, Chris Miller) and the

chimps (Conrad Vernon) find themselves marooned on the distant shores of Madagascar.

In the face of this obstacle, the New Yorkers have hatched a plan so crazy it just might

work. With military precision, the penguins have repaired an old crashed plane—sort of.

Once the first flight of Air Penguin is aloft, this unlikely crew stays airborne just long

enough to make it to the wildest place of all—the vast plains of Africa, where the

members of our New York City zoo-raised crew encounter species of their own kind for

the very first time. Africa seems like a great place…but is it better than their Central Park

home?

Also along for the rambunctious ride with the original cast is returning cast

member Andy Richter, back again as sad-eyed mouse lemur Mort, along with new

additions that include Bernie Mac as Alex’s dad, Zuba, the alpha male of the pride; Sherri

Shepherd as Alex’s Mom, thrilled to have her long-lost son back home; Alec Baldwin as

“Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa” Production Information 2

Makunga, who prides himself as the next alpha of the pride; and will.i.am as ultra-stud

hippo and watering hole lothario Moto Moto.

DreamWorks SKG Presents “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa,” a Paramount

Pictures release featuring the voices of Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada

Pinkett Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric The Entertainer, Andy Richter, Bernie Mac,

Sherri Shepherd, Alec Baldwin and will.i.am. The film is directed by Eric Darnell and

Tom McGrath, who helmed the original “Madagascar,” which earned more than

$500,000,000 in worldwide box office. The screenplay is written by Etan Cohen, Eric

Darnell and Tom McGrath. It is produced by Mireille Soria (“Madagascar”) and Mark

Swift (“Bee Movie”). This film has been rated PG for some mild crude humor.

WE LOVE TO MOVE IT, MOVE IT! In the summer of 2005, “Madagascar” scored big with both domestic and

international audiences, racking up more than half-a-billion at the worldwide box office,

making it the top family comedy of the year. Once the fancy-footed lion, a quick talking

zebra, an anxiety-ridden giraffe and a smart ‘n saucy hippo were released into theaters

around the globe, these four New York friends—better known as Alex, Marty, Melman

and Gloria—became the most popular quartet of the season.

Writer/director Eric Darnell remembers being relieved by the reception of

“Madagascar,” but not really that surprised. He says, “‘Madagascar’ was a success

because it had these entertaining and enjoyable characters that people could identify

with—they also connected with them on a human level. And despite their flaws, their

issues, their anxieties, whatever problems they may be facing, you always empathize with

them and want them to come through.”

Writer/director Tom McGrath continues, “We just fell in love with the characters

that we created along with Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer and Jada Pinkett

Smith—and clearly, everyone else did, too. We had this great ensemble cast that we just

totally loved. We took on the theme of civility versus savagery and turned that into a

friendship story about these zoo animals, when their bonds were tested once they got into


the wild. Even at the time we ended the first movie—before it became this huge hit—we

were thinking that we could do so much more with these characters.”

Producer Mireille Soria also reasons, “There is something about the design that

people love. And I think that’s part of it—they’re very graphic—along with being smart

and funny. The first movie was about the importance of friendship and what it means to

be a good friend. One of the things that is so great about New York is its diversity, and

that is reflected in our group—a lion, a giraffe, a zebra and a hippo who are best friends.

And that was something we thought we could explore even further. And we could also

celebrate that.”

It was this desire to continue the exploration of the four zoosters that the

“Madagascar” filmmakers and DreamWorks Animation’s Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey

Katzenberg took with them onto a jet bound for the European premiere. McGrath

explains, “Even before the movie became as popular as it was, we wanted to do another

movie with the characters. We were on our way to Europe and on that plane, we just

started hashing out a story—what if our characters went to Africa, their homeland where

they supposedly belong? This was a wonderful way to continue the ‘fish out of water’

story—four New Yorkers on the plains of Africa.”

While the original directors and producer began to explore this new storyline,

“Madagascar” continued to play to enthusiastic response from moviegoers everywhere.

As the new project began to take shape, producer Mark Swift joined the team.

Swift says, “While Mireille was busy finishing ‘Madagascar,’ I worked on the

short with the penguins called ‘A Christmas Caper.’ So I guess the penguins brought me

into the second film.”

For Darnell and McGrath, it meant the continuance of a working relationship that

had already proved to be a good one. Per Darnell: “The reason why Tom and I work so

well together, I think, is because we can take each other’s ideas, turn them around and

take them to the next level—we bounce them back and forth and come up with something

that’s stronger than the sum of the parts. We try to be together as often as we can,

approve things together and try to work as one mind as much as possible. Sometimes the

needs of production demand that we split up—one of us in animation, one of us in a


recording session—and we do that when we have to. But, frankly, the more we’re

together in the same place at the same time, the better for us.”

The two met at DreamWorks more than eight years ago and found an instant

artistic connection. “Madagascar” gave them the opportunity to work together, as a team.

Tom McGrath: “We both often switch our hats around—when working on, say, the

drama of the scene or the comedy of the scene—and we’ll swap duties. Because we’re

writing partners, it helps us to create a singular vision for the film. And then, in our

duties on the film, we try to stay together as much as we can, splitting duties when

required—I mean, there are hundreds and hundreds of people working on this film, and

we can’t always be in just one place. But when it gets into editorial, that’s where we

really get to sit together and focus on our film—we are fortunate to now have done two

films together.”

For Soria, the re-teaming was essential: “As the writers and the directors, they

embody ‘Madagascar.’ They both bring different sensibilities and we get to take

advantage of both of their great talents. One of the nice things about this sequel is that

we were able to get Tom and Eric, and many of our department heads who were also on

the first film [writer/directors Darnell and McGrath, production designer Kendal

Cronkhite, visual effects supervisor Philippe Gluckman, head of character animation Rex

Grignon, senior supervising animator Denis Couchon, music executive Sunny Park and

Soria herself]. We had an opportunity to return to something that we loved and continue

it. And we already had a shorthand—a lot of that ‘Oh, did I step on your toes?’ kind of

thing…we’d already been there, done that!”

No matter who would be onboard, the filmmakers knew that without a good,

workable story, continuing the journey would be rather fruitless. Mark Swift observes,

“The story always comes first. And since ‘Madagascar,’ everybody loves these

characters, so they have to have these characters back. They are like a family. It

wouldn’t be quite the same if they weren’t there. So, we needed to focus on a story that

was inclusive. And Tom and Eric and Etan Cohen wrote a wonderful script.”

Writer/director Darnell offers, “It’s kind of like a chain reaction. When the New

Yorkers get on that plane in Madagascar to take off, who is on that plane? Well, it’s Air

Penguin, they had to fix the plane and pilot the plane. So on with the penguins. You


can’t leave Julien and Maurice and Mort behind. They’re funny. They’re part of the

group, just like the chimps, Phil and Mason. And boom, you’ve got a big entourage. So

we needed to service these characters, but also the characters they meet in Africa—that’s

a big balancing act.”

It was precisely the popularity of the characters—not just the zoosters, but also

Julien and his cohorts, the penguins, the chimps—that provided one of the biggest

challenges. Writer/director McGrath explains, “Because you love all these characters,

you want to spend time with all of them, but it’s very hard to juggle independent

storylines. And so, that’s always a challenge. I think we pulled it off. All of our

secondary stories support the main story, which is tough to do with a cast of, what, 13

characters?”

The writers put Alex at the core of the film, along with his story of meeting his

parents, who turn out to be completely different. Alex is the King of New York, the

showman, a star—probably not skills that go very far on the vast plains of Africa. For

Marty, who’s always dreamed of running with the herd, how does it really work, to be

part of an enormous group of zebras who are…exactly like you? Gloria, now a little

more grown up, feels it may be time to explore a relationship and has the opportunity to

do just that. Melman not only finds himself included in a tower of giraffes (yes, that’s

the official group name!), but also facing his true feelings for Gloria…just in time to see

her being romanced by another.

The writers reasoned that while the first film had a wealth of broad moments, it

also had subtle, quiet beats, where characters were discovering something within

themselves. With this storyline of exploration—to be part of a family, part of a group—

there were more opportunities for such times. Each zooster undergoes some sort of inner

exploration (who am I really? what is it I really want? is it love or infatuation?), which

meant bigger challenges for the animators: to manifest these emotional searches on the

outside. In short, the zoosters would need to beef up their acting chops, courtesy of their

creators.

While McGrath finishes, “It’s a whole different set of challenges, but that’s what

our animators are trained to do. They’re all really actors at heart who may not want to


step out onstage themselves, but they’ll push their animated creations out there and see

what they can do.”

LAYOVER COMPLETE, FOUR FRIENDS TAKE OFF…

AGAIN With the filmmakers’ desire to take the “Madagascar” characters deeper, with

storylines that were still comedic, but now tinged with a little more emotional depth,

would this appeal to the actors who helped to create such memorable personalities in the

first place? All the actors were pitched the story, and all were sold on the idea—the spark

was there, and so was the returning cast.

The filmmakers also wisely reasoned that with regard to taking the characters

further, revealing more of what makes them tick, they had invaluable tools right in front

of them (well, figuratively speaking, that is)…the actors themselves. Having brought

them to life the first time around, they would know the zoosters inside and out, as it were.

And the key to further exploration of Alex, Marty, Gloria and Melman was something the

four actors who voiced them all possessed—the ability to explore a character, along with

the knack for improvisation.

Darnell describes, “We just give these guys a chance to do what they do best—to

just become these characters and let stuff come out. We just get incredible, hilarious—

and sometimes touching—stuff. You know, it’s the best seat in town. There’s no place

you’d rather be than on the other side of the glass during a recording session. It’s better

than any theater or playhouse.”

All riffs aside, however, there has to be groundwork in place to support the

actors—plot perimeters. So, with the decision to plop them down on the African

mainland, other logical script developments follow…they would meet others of their own

kind, which would give the New Yorker the chance to see who they were, allow them to

test the nurture-versus-nature conundrum and ultimately, to explore where they belonged.

But for Alex the lion, filmmakers wanted to take the journey closer to home—in

fact, take Alex home, where he is reunited with his father and mother, who lost him to


poachers when he was a cub. As his father is the alpha lion in the pride, both he and his

father have certain expectations of the other—how is a show business lion going to fit

into the rough and tumble African world?

“Let’s just say that Alex isn’t at his best when he’s thrown by something,”

explains Ben Stiller. “Even though he’s been through the sort of ‘Jungle 101’ in

Madagascar, the stakes are so much higher in Africa, and the world is so much bigger.

And since his birth family is there, and his dad happens to be the alpha lion of the pride,

expectations are also very high. At first, Alex thinks that it’s all under control—he’ll just

do what he does back home and that should prove his worth. He didn’t get to be the King

of New York, the star of the zoo, for nothing.”

What follows is a misunderstanding, a difference of cultures, and Alex has to play

by the rules of this brave new world, where the losers—to use the show business

vernacular—don’t get the part. This all comes as a big shock to Alex.

For Marty the zebra, his journey isn’t about exploring differences so much as

similarities. Back home, Marty always dreamed of being in the wild, roaming with his

kind. Now, he has that chance…boy, does he have that chance.

Chris Rock says, “There are people in this world who always think that there’s

something bigger and better than what they got. Not that Marty doesn’t appreciate his

friends and all that, but he has it in his head that running with his kind is the ultimate. I

mean, it stands to reason—he’s a rockin’ guy, so why wouldn’t the party be even better if

he was surrounded by a lot of other cool dudes who share his interests?”

On the surface, that logic holds true. The old adage of the more, the merrier. But

psychologists will tell you that it is the differences that enrich the group as a whole.

Rock adds, “It’s like, if your best friend starts acting like you—dressing like you

do, talking like you. At first, it’s probably an ego booster, right, imitation and flattery,

whatever. But then, it would start to get irritating and pretty soon you’d probably start

considering the use of a firearm. Now take that and multiply it by hundreds—all of ‘em

acting exactly like Marty. No wonder the guy has a breakdown. How are you you when

everyone else is you as well?”

Most of the time, Melman, the hypochondriac giraffe, probably wishes he were

less himself. Away from his regime (and meds) in the Central Park Zoo, Melman


matured a bit in the homeopathic world of Madagascar—well, maybe became just a little

less neurotic. But there are still issues for him to face, namely his affection for

Gloria…along with his health, of course.

David Schwimmer relates, “There are some pretty dramatic things that happen to

Melman this time around. When he’s sure that the plane they’re on is going to crash, he

finally confesses his love for Gloria, who’s sound asleep, unfortunately. Then, all of his

self-taught medical knowledge earns him the place of witch doctor to all the other

giraffes. And when he thinks his life is over yet again, he volunteers to sacrifice himself

to save Gloria and his friends. I mean, that’s a lot for one movie.”

While the actor relishes the chance to return to the character, along with the

freedom to improv, it is a logistical concern that he still finds a challenge when

portraying Melman: “I’m still amazed at how the actors are edited to make it seem like

we’re all in the scene together. Since we don’t record together, it’s a challenge not to be

able to improv off of another actor, so my strategy is to give the directors as much as

possible. That way, they have the flexibility in the editing room to put the performance

together. In the end, what’s really strange is seeing the result and noticing that the

animators have given Melman some of my own qualities and behaviors. Regarding

giraffe behaviors, though, I did my research the first time around, but I didn’t do any new

research for this film. I hope it doesn’t show.”

Gloria the hippo has no issues with her self-image. She’s well aware of who she

is, thank you very much. She’s self-confident, sassy and sweet. When she encounters a

bloat (again, the correct term) of hippos at the watering hole, she welcomes them as they

do her—and some really welcome her, like the heartthrob Moto Moto.

Jada Pinkett Smith was enthusiastic to return to the characters of “Madagascar”:

“That film (‘Madagascar’) was the first movie of mine my kids could actually watch.

Well, I think it’s always important for women to see various images of themselves and

understand that it’s all about what you project from the inside out. Gloria has so much

confidence and really just loves who she is. I would hope the film sends a message to

young girls that it’s about how you perceive yourself that’s really important. In this

movie, I get to have fun, and also maybe send a little message.”


Having been to Africa, Pinkett Smith is awestruck by the country: “Africa is a

very hard place to describe. It’s almost more of a feeling that it gives you versus any

observation of it. I mean, it’s magnificently beautiful—I actually went on a safari. My

husband says it better than I ever can when he says, ‘God visits every place else in the

world…but actually lives in Africa.’ And that’s the only way I can really explain it—it’s

very spiritual, and you just feel very rooted.”

As a lot of “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa” deals with roots and identity, it is

probably expected that moviegoers will get to see a glimpse of our characters as baby

animals. And who better to play a baby Alex than Stiller’s own son, Quinlan?

Tom McGrath tells, “Ben Stiller didn’t have any kids when we started the first

movie, and now he has two. So we asked him, ‘Hey, could Quinn be you as a little cub?’

So his wife brought Quinn in and put him in the studio. The character really doesn’t

speak that much, it’s mostly laughter and things. Quinn was perfect. When recording

kids, you’re never gonna get what you want out of them if you ask them for it…it’s all

the stuff in between recording that you end up using.”

Actors routinely sit in tall director chairs when recording, and while in the studio,

Quinlan thought the chair was too high—when he began to wince or cry a little, the

engineers were ready, and captured all of the noises…a lot of which wound up in the

character of baby Alex.

Jada’s daughter Willow—true to form—was also the perfect voice for the baby

Gloria. Filmmakers were duly impressed with her self-assurance and sass, something she

shares with her mother. Like mother, like daughter, the recording sessions also proved to

be a playground for fun. Willow Smith reasons, “Because the lines…like if we mess up,

it’s really, really fun, because I laugh, and then they laugh…and then it’s really fun.”

PORTABLE ROYALTY, FLYING PENGUINS & SPOILED

PRIMATES:

ADDITIONAL PASSENGERS ON AIR PENGUIN


And speaking of self-assured characters who love a laugh—you could even go so

far as to say self-centered characters who demand you laugh—who could forget the

party-loving leader of the lemurs, Julien?

To hitch along with the departing New Yorkers, Julien informs them that the

repaired plane happens to be his (animators didn’t care what justification, they just

wanted him along!). His actual motivation is to expand his kingdom—and what better

place than New York City? Setting foot in Africa, however, he is no less enthusiastic, for

now he has an entire land to conquer…but the furthest thing from Julien’s mind is any

kind of military campaign. He’s so fabulous, his mere presence should inspire legions to

simply follow—right?

Eric Darnell declares, “Julien is a great character, because of the attitude and the

off-kilter point of view that he brings. And who else could do Julien but Sacha Baron

Cohen? There’s this controlled insanity to what he brings, how he reads the lines and

what he adds to the character. No matter what he says, you just can’t help but laugh and

love him.”

And no king can function without an attendant—and right-hand men don’t come

any better than the king’s own cousin, Maurice. Voiced again with the easygoing

baritone of Cedric The Entertainer, the character proves a wonderful counterpoint to the

sometimes frantic Julien—making the pair a kind of Laurel and Hardy duo. For reasons

only known to himself, Maurice loves Julien, in spite of the king’s flaws and out-of-left-

field actions, and is able to put all of Julien’s shortcomings aside and be there for his

king.

Cedric has his own theory about the relationship between the two: “I think that

Maurice is now looking for that validation from the king, something like ‘Hey, man, you

know, I appreciate your years of service. You’re my main man and here you go.’ And at

the same time, he’s a little comfortable in his position, he likes being next to the man.

You’re always first in the door whenever you’re with the king, you’re gonna get first-

class A treatment. Everybody’s gonna do it for ya’. And even though I think this guy’s a

little bit of a bum sometimes…well, he’s my cousin.”

There is no such familial excuse for the behavior visited by the king on his

subject, saucer-eyed, mouse lemur Mort, even though the little guy is extremely devoted


to Julien…unfortunately, Julien isn’t as devoted to Mort. Left off the Air Penguin flight

scheduled for New York City (with an extended layover in Africa), the scrappy and

tenacious Mort finds his own way to the stranded group—he swims the shark-infested

waters of the Mozambique Channel. Andy Richter returns as the voice of Mort, who can

miraculously deliver an entire performance in falsetto and remain cute.

Per Richter: “I get my biggest reactions from really little kids, something about

his tiny cuteness…and probably the slightly irritating nature of his personality, which

also appeals to children. In actuality—not to bite the hand that feeds me—it’s among the

most absurd ways I’ve ever made money. To stand in a windowless room, screaming

like a little girl and getting paid for it, I mean, I can’t really call it a dream come true,

because I didn’t have the good sense to have that dream. If I had a time machine, I’d go

back and dream about this. And then it would be coming true.”

And what would Air Penguin be without penguins? The military quartet emerged

from “Madagascar” with a solid fan base, resulting in a short film and an upcoming

animated series. Not bad for flightless birds who, in the previous film, longed for

Antarctica, only to find the cold not to their liking. Back with the other displaced

zoosters in Madagascar, the four have worked their organizational magic, repaired the

abandoned plane and now are in charge of piloting it—sadly, only across the channel to

Africa. Once there, they throw themselves into the task of getting the plane back together

by applying “spit, grit and a lot of duct tape.” However, they will also need parts (thanks

to some hijacked tourist SUVs) and plenty of opposable thumbs (thanks to legions of

chimps recruited by Phil and Mason).

Writer/director McGrath—who also happens to voice the penguin’s leader,

Skipper—comments, “The penguins are fun, you know, and people really liked the

penguins on the first movie. It’s great to put them in situations and see how their little

military minds react. I guess I landed the part of Skipper because I’m cheap. I’m sort of

a poor man’s version of Charlton Heston and Robert Stack—kind of a tough thinking

man’s man—or penguin’s penguin. This film is a unique opportunity for Skipper, who

already has his team, and now he gets a love interest. She’s a dashboard hula doll—we

thought she’d be the perfect size, and she gets to shake all through the crash sequence. It

started as a joke, but we kept it going.”


Chris Miller is also ‘kept going’ as penguin Kowalski: “I’m not surprised at their

success—you’d have to have a mighty hard heart not to like a penguin. I remember when

I was working on the first film [as a story artist] at the time and Tom really came up with

the concept of the penguins and wrote a scene. When he went to record it, he just sort of

grabbed a bunch of bodies and I just happened to be in the room. And that’s really how I

got the job, I think. No other reason why I would still be a penguin, except I just

happened to be there when Tom said, ‘Come down and let’s record you.’”

Christopher Knights, who voices Private, counts himself lucky as well. He had

performed some temp voices for “Shrek,” and then ended up voicing the Executioner and

one of the Blind Mice. Since then, his voice has been heard in practically every

DreamWorks Animation release. Knights notices, “They seem to have probably doubled

the amount of time the penguins had onscreen in the first one, and I think their role has

been upped—the plane is key to this film. Now they play a very important part in this

movie. Don’t underestimate the power of the penguins.”

Powerful as they may be, they aren’t the best candidates to hold a screwdriver.

So they conscript Mason and Phil, the chimpanzees, who clearly don’t want to do the

work themselves…so they outsource it to their new African chimp acquaintances.

Eric Darnell explains, “The monkeys bring back about 10,000 other monkeys,

who start dismantling what’s left of the old plane. The four New Yorkers argue, sending

them on their separate ways in this strange new world. Eventually, the monkeys go on

strike, because they feel they’re being exploited, denied things like maternity leave and a

dental plan.”

Mason is again voiced by Conrad Vernon—story artist, writer and director, now

helming the 2009 DreamWorks 3D film “Monsters vs. Aliens.” Vernon admits, “When

people find out it’s my voice, they can’t believe it’s me. I started doing this kind of

James Mason with a cheesy accent, which has twisted its way into just some upper class

chimpanzee with a voice of his own. It’s interesting, but it doesn’t sound like me. That’s

why I think most people are surprised when they hear I do the voice. Voice work is

something I do on the side for DreamWorks, but I love doing it.”


SOME NEW FACES IN THE PRIDE… AND AT THE

WATERING HOLE An arrival in a new country is pretty much a guarantee of new faces. You never

know whom you might meet or what opportunities may arise as you are introduced to

more of your species, like friends who share your style, a possible new vocation, a

potential new love interest or…your long-lost parents.

Producer Swift: “The first ‘Madagascar’ basically dealt with who these

characters were and what they meant to each other. On the savanna, our four are faced

with their own kind—a lot of them. So there’s now comparison to other lions, zebras,

giraffes and hippos—so they get to see how they’re alike and how they’re different from

others like them. And on top of that, their friendships are tested, too.”

Character designer Andrew Bialk supplies, “The basic look of the characters in

‘Madagascar’ was inspired by a style of illustration in children’s books from the 1950s.

They have a lot of very sharp lines, contrasted with curved lines, so you get a very nice

graphic illustration. Bringing that to the screen originally was a challenge. Now, it

becomes our challenge to continue that language for all the existing characters, as well as

the majority of the new characters.”

So about Alex’s parents…

McGrath says, “We wanted Alex‘s dad to be the tough, macho, alpha lion. But

we didn’t want him to be some drill sergeant, so we were really sensitive as to who would

make a great voice—who could be tough, but also convey that there was paternal

emotion underneath all of it. We wanted to make sure that there was some fatherly

warmth, even while the script called for some lines that sound a little tough.”

Enter Bernie Mac, whom filmmakers felt had the perfect balance of toughness

and fatherly warmth in his tone and would make an ideal voice for Zuba, the alpha lion of

the pride. As to the family resemblance…well, it is there, but the years of holding the

pride together have left Zuba with a grayish mane, slightly receding, and a few scars.

Eric Darnell tells, “When we were writing Zuba and thinking about this character,

it was really difficult to find the right tone, exactly what this father-son relationship was

going to be. But when we brought Bernie Mac on, he has got such a warmth, such a


paternal quality to the way that he performs this role of Zuba, that you forgive him. You

forgive him his faults, you forgive him his mistakes, as a parent. And you want nothing

more than for Alex and Zuba to reconcile.”

While filmmakers were heavy into post-production in August of 2008, they

learned of Bernie Mac’s passing at age 50. The loss of one of the newest members of the

“Madagascar” family was keenly felt by everyone connected with the film. Head of

DreamWorks Animation Jeffrey Katzenberg speaks for all when he says, “It is

unthinkable that we could suddenly wake up one day and find that such an extraordinary

talent, wonderful man and bigger-than-life personality had just unexpectedly passed from

our lives. It's impossible to overstate how great his gifts and contributions to our movie

have been.”

For Alex’s Mom, writer/directors and producers were searching for that TV

mom—a cushy lap, bedtime stories and homemade cookies on weekends (if lionesses

baked cookies). But they also didn’t want a doormat to Zuba. So the goal was soft but

strong, a mate to Zuba with some toughness and compassion in her heart.

After listening to voices brought to them by casting—the directors rarely ‘see’

actors, it’s all about the voice—filmmakers chose Sherri Shepherd for the quality of her

voice and her sincere and warm laughter.

Per McGrath: “Sherri Shepherd brought this great quality to Alex’s Mom. It’s

pivotal, because she has to stand up between the fighting father and son and be strong,

without being brash. Sherri manages to mix a little bit of attitude and strength—she can

stand up to Zuba and empathize with Alex, and she can put them both in their places

when the situation calls for it.”

The crash of Air Penguin’s maiden flight turns out to be a blessing for Gloria,

who had wanted to jumpstart her dating life for awhile. She is hoping to return to New

York and become involved in the zoo exchange programs, to give herself a shot at love.

But once in Africa, a whole world of possibilities opens up. And a girl as special as

Gloria needs a special guy…for the object of Gloria’s affection, filmmakers and

animators dreamed up the answer to every female hippo’s dreams—a chunky hunk

named Moto Moto (literally “hot hot” in Swahili).


Character designer Andrew Bialk explains, “We knew that Moto Moto would be a

womanizer, a bit of a sexist, so we combined the blocky, stout square shapes of a 1950s

wrestler with the vanity of a Fabio type.”

When looking to find the right performer to breathe verbal life into God’s gift to

the watering hole, the team turned to someone who was recommended by royalty (of

sorts). And it went something like this…

Recording artist will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas had been collaborating with

Justin Timberlake on new material. will.i.am was going to be late to a studio session, so

he phoned, his voice still deep from sleep, and left a message on Timberlake’s voicemail.

Timberlake remarked about the message, and from then on, the two would exchange

messages using different voices. When Timberlake was signed to voice Artie, the king-

yet-to-be in “Shrek the Third,” he mentioned to Jeffrey Katzenberg that will was amazing

at voices. Later, when Katzenberg and will met, the studio chief told the musician that he

should consider doing voicework. Then, when “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa” casting

began, will received a call from Katzenberg asking if he would read.

Eric Darnell: “When will.i.am came in, he told us that he had loved

‘Madagascar,’ and that it’d be great if he could do a voice. And out came this Barry

White-esque, lady’s man voice, and we just looked at each other and couldn’t believe it.

To have that voice coming out of Moto Moto would be just perfect.”

will.i.am comments, “‘Madagascar’ is one of our favorite movies. I think I’ve

seen it, like, 500 times. We were in Johannesburg, in the airport, and our tour manager

says, ‘C’mon, guys, we gotta move it, move it!’ Like the crew, everybody, we use ‘move

it, move it’ all the time. It’s like our whole family’s favorite movie by far.”

Once signed, it was a natural progression that will should collaborate with

Oscar®-winning composer Hans Zimmer on the “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa” score

and songs, duties which he also assumed…sort of on the spot.

The recording artist found himself in the voiceover studio (as any actor would

voicing an animated character). The moment when his character rises out of the water

and first glimpses Gloria was on the page in front of him. will.i.am thought it would be

fun to rhyme something—and someone in the session suggested that this special first

moment should feature a song.


will.i.am recalls, “I thought, ‘Yeah, a song would be cool…that would be

awesome. So I started with rhythm, like a whole bunch of other hippos sighing, and

some hitting her chest, getting a beat. Other animals could clap, right? Maybe monkeys

knocking their heads. You have a whole ensemble of percussion using their anatomy.

Moto Moto would be conducting his jungle, if you will, as the band as he’s confessing his

love for Gloria. ‘I like them big, I like them plumpy. My name is Moto Moto, you say it

double. Say my name girl, Moto Moto. Say it again, Moto Moto!’”

Clearly calling the muse, will.i.am then laid down each track separately and

extemporaneously—the percussion, the sighs, the vocals. The entire song was recorded

in around 30 minutes…all on the fly.

He espouses, “Usually, that’s how it comes, those fast ones, those quick ones. As

soon as you start digging too much, you’re thinking too much. Anybody can think too

much.”

But not anybody can compose a love song for a hippo in a half-hour, or come up

with a song about the search for a home from the hippopotamus perspective: “Thinking

about Moto Moto, to explain his love or his desires…with my interpretation of his

personality, it gives me a different angle in the studio. Most of the time, if I’m writing

for Usher, I’m thinking Usher; if I’m writing it for Fergie, I’m thinking of Fergie. But

since I’m writing for a character that doesn’t exist here, I can go as far as I want with it.

He says stuff to the ladies I could never say.”

Working with Zimmer brought out the best in both and a singular collaboration—

slickly produced, sweeping ‘big picture’ scoring, spiced with percussive, urban rhythms;

African chants, choirs, harmony and beats; and a simple, folk-like guitar track.

Will continues, “‘The Traveling Song’ I got as a track from Hans Zimmer, and he

said, ‘Just take a listen to this.’ Then I just started, ‘reach’…my life, you know? ‘Been

around the world on ships and planes, feeling out of place, really feeling strange. Take

me to a place where they know my name, cause I ain’t met nobody that looks the same.

I’m a fish out of water lying out of the jungle, a fish out of water lying out of the jungle.’

I brought in my perspective of always traveling, not really knowing what home is, you

know?”


That perspective included his experiences as a youth growing up as the only

African-American family in his Southern California neighborhood—a one-hour car ride

away was school that will.i.am attended in the affluence of the then-predominantly white

suburbs of Pacific Palisades. His friends were from all over… “and in a way, that’s how

I see the animals in ‘Madagascar.’ They live in a zoo and they’re not around any of their

natural habitat or others like them.”

The differences of the musicians affected both in differing ways. will.i.am

remarks, “I don’t know if I taught him anything, but he taught me stuff, I’ll tell you that.

His studio is pretty righteous, and his gear is pretty sick. I’m a geek and I like gear, so

there are a couple of ideas I ripped off from how his studio is set up. He was amazing—

he was working on our movie the same time he was working on ‘The Dark Knight.’

Unbelievable.”

AFRICAN GRUDGE MATCH:

ALEX FACES AN OLD RIVAL… AND AN OLD LADY Years before the African arrival of the New Yorkers, when Alex was a cub, it was

a lion named Makunga who had been a contributing factor in the young lion’s first

disappearance—Makunga had challenged Zuba, diverting his attention, allowing Alex to

wander off. For Makunga, it was a small victory that would pay off down the line—one

less competitor for the position of alpha lion. Now that Alex has returned, Makunga is

far from thrilled. In fact, he’s determined to see that Alex and his family are ousted for

good—which would leave the pride little choice but to acknowledge him as alpha lion.

So just who could bring justice to Makunga—a strong, if not vain, male lion, self-

important, slick, a schemer and an all-around no-good guy?

Tom McGrath offers, “Alec Baldwin—someone at DreamWorks referred to him

as ‘the delicious Alec Baldwin,’ because of his amazing voice, which is just the best,

especially for animation. When you listen to him, he’s so rich and he has such a great

range. So when this character popped up in the story—Alex’s father’s nemesis—we

wanted someone that had this authoritative tone, with a kind of grit to it. But we didn’t


want a heavy, heavy character—we wanted someone who could bring some comedy.

Alec can deliver the heavy-handed, villain stuff, but he just turns it, creates this edge to

the character that’s unique and funny. There’s a relish there. There’s meanness there,

but an enjoyment at the center of it.”

On why he became involved, Baldwin states, “Because the first film was so

funny. And you see the other people who are connected with the film and you say, ‘Well

gosh, if they got those people to do the film, it must be pretty good.’ Jeffrey and

everybody at DreamWorks are making the most sophisticated and creative and the best-

rendered animated films that can be made today. And when it’s the people from

DreamWorks asking, you know it’s gonna be a good project.”

On his character, he muses, “Makunga is another one of those really vain and

narrow-minded, self-serving and really pathetic characters. But it makes it all the more

fun, I think, when they get the rug pulled out from under them in the end. It’s a kids’

movie, so I don’t think anybody’s really in any danger—I don’t think he’s having people

beat up with a pipe. It’s not ‘The Sopranos.’ So I think in a lovable, clever, laugh-a-

minute way, he is making the lives of thousands of other people miserable.”

And speaking of miserable people, remember the old lady who beats the living

daylights out of Alex in Grand Central Station—the one who swings one mean handbag?

Well, guess who happens to be on the first tour SUV that the marooned zoosters

encounter? Yup, it’s Nana, again voiced by the nothing-like-her-character Elisa

Gabrielli, who winds up face-to-face with Alex.

Producer Mireille Soria: “Elisa was part of the loop group and had a few lines

that we used on ‘Madagascar,’ and her old lady just came in and kicked Alex in the

batteries, as we say. When we started the second film, it was really Tom who said, ‘What

if when the zoosters get to Africa, they see this SUV full of people, and they chase it,

which leads them to a cliff that gives them their first great view of the plains? And what

if Nana is on that SUV?’ We just thought it’d be fun to bring her back, even for a scene

or two.”

ANYTHING BUT PLAIN:


CREATING (AND POPULATING) AFRICA What Alex, Marty, Melman and Gloria see when they reach that vista is their first

truly inspiring glimpse of the beautiful and expansive African landscape. The

filmmakers reasoned that in their previous film, the environment of Madagascar was

pretty much a pass to create a fantasy land…but when you start dealing with the real

landscapes of one of the most beautiful and photographed countries on the Earth—well, a

little realism would have to come into play. They turned to research, looking at films,

photography, books and the internet. But a wiser head prevailed.

Eric Darnell: “Jeffrey [Katzenberg] told us that we needed to go there, to see it

ourselves. I mean, some of us figured, you know, trees and grass, it probably looks a lot

like Simi Valley, right? But when we got there, we realized that nothing looks like it. I

never imagined that I’d actually go on an African safari, but it was an amazing

experience, and also a great bonding experience for the crew. All the key creative leads

went together, and spent several days out there, living in tents on the savanna. To be able

to experience this landscape and this place together as a creative team was just absolutely

invaluable. Because after we came back, and for the next two or three years, we could

say, ‘Remember when we were on the Masai Mara, the sun was going down and there

were zebras walking across the grass?’ Everybody remembers and they connect to that,

and then we put the important components of that experience into our film. The trip was

invaluable.”

Tom McGrath: “When you get to Africa, you realize just how big the place is. I

mean, there are grass and trees and plants that look like familiar places, but when you get

there, it opens up and it feels like you can actually see the curve of the Earth. And at that

point, we realized, ‘Wow, we really need to get the scope to sell Africa in this movie.’

And two-thirds of what you see when you’re there is sky. And we just realized that it has

to be a huge part of our set…how are we going to do that?”

Producer Mark Swift relates, “The senior leadership on the show visited about

five different locations in Africa. When you get to Africa—and so many people have

said this—it’s a magical place. You get things from it that you never imagine when you

see it on television or in the movies. What we all took away with us, visually, was the

enormity of the sky. The land is extremely flat, and there are these beautiful volcanoes in


the distance. But the skies and the clouds—those became really important elements for

us. And then just seeing the sheer amount of animals all mingling with each other also

made us realize that we were going to need a huge crowd system worked out for this

movie.”

So production concentrated on utilizing the DreamWorks arsenal to create scale,

as producer Soria explains: “The big challenge on this movie was the crowds, everywhere

we went. Because of where this story takes them, they are meeting herds of zebra, big

numbers of hippos, a pride of lions. The concern was that there were a lot of animals of

different sizes…and how were we going to shoot that? So everything was bigger—the

sky, the crowds. It ended up being a challenge of scale.”

Kendal Cronkhite, production designer of both the original and “Madagascar:

Escape 2 Africa,” was charged with the visual orchestration of all this…scale. In the first

film, her designs were more fantastical, simple yet stylized. For the follow-up, the world

had to be a bit more tangible, more sophisticated, yet the designer was able to transfer the

overall design elements and simplicity already visualized on the screen and ‘Africanize’

them, producing an ‘Africa’ not seen before—rooted in realism but filtered through an

animator’s lens. She was able to also incorporate the scope of the environments,

particularly the grass, and create an epic quality.

A majority of Cronkhite’s time was devoted to dovetailing a realistically-based

Africa with stylized animals. One way for her to do this effectively was to establish a

related environment for each character. She elaborates, “Where the plane crashes into the

savanna, the directors wanted a real no-man’s-land kind of feel. We return to this set

many times, as the penguins are rebuilding the plane with all the chimps, and it turns into

a big construction site—the surrounding foliage is really rough and scrubby. Around the

watering hole we have distinct areas for the zoosters and their groups. We have the

giraffe area, with tall and sweeping and curved acacias—they have this chartreuse-

colored bark that’s really beautiful. The hippo area uses quiver trees—which are really

unusual-looking, like big red wine goblets—and lots of ferns, palms and those kinds of

more lush trees, because it’s sort of a spa-like area. It’s on the edge of the waterhole and

it’s got little pools divided by rocks.


“And then as you come over to the zebra area,” continues the production designer,

“it’s grass, so that they can just run—basically grass, rocks and, ironically, zebra trees,

which are another type of acacia. The lion area, it’s a rock kopje, which is a little rock

outcrop with boulders of lava rock. The area also has many species of plants, such as

umbrella trees, which are a type of cactus shaped like an umbrella.”

The zoosters’ plane hop to a different location also brought more concerns and

challenges. The majority of the first film took place in jungles, presenting the characters

in front of living walls of flora. Africa is practically an exact opposite—where down go

the walls and 100-mile views to the horizon are revealed.

In addition, because of the more personal storylines, the sequel still needed to

maintain the fun, broader aspects of the first, but have the ability to change gears and

deliver a more subtle, sophisticated style of animation when the subject called for it. The

tone was to be fun, but still with a believability of danger.

Returning head of character animation Rex Grignon explains, “We’re not

abandoning the style that we established in the first film. It’s a really important part of

this world. But what this film gives us is an opportunity to get a little more personal with

our characters—when that happens, it’s not really time to be doing big, crazy kinds of

stuff. But we don’t want the film to bog down, either. There’s still a lot of great fun and

silly stuff in it, but there are moments when we do get in closer—when Alex learns about

his past—so there’s some sincere stuff that we want to be real with. But, of course, when

the penguins are hijacking an SUV, and there’s a big finale—you’ve got to have that

really fun stuff. We’ve never lost that. We’re just striving for character continuity while

allowing them to explore a bit more.”

Something that would go very far in filmmakers’ effort to maintain the comedy

while adding a little emotionality would be the cinematography. As the window between

computer animation and computer-generated imagery grows ever smaller, the crossover

of talent between the worlds of live-action and animation continues. Guillermo Navarro,

Academy Award®-winning cinematographer for “Pan’s Labyrinth,” signed on for the

voyage to Africa with the “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa” team.

McGrath reasons, “In our first film, we had to lock off shots and it ended up

looking somewhat like a series of post cards. We knew we wanted to do a moving


camera through a lot of these spaces. A live-action cinematographer would be able to

help us develop a more cinematic language for this movie. Mireille Soria brought in

Guillermo, and he’s fantastic, and he opened our eyes to a lot of things.”

Darnell continues, “Everything that you could do with a real camera in the real

world, you can do with our virtual cameras: zoom in, zoom out, incorporate different

lenses, move the cameras in any way you want. And we can do that even more, because

we don’t have to pay for a helicopter or an expensive dolly, if that’s what we need. And

since cinematography was so critical, especially for this movie—with all the scope and

the size of the environments, as well as the action—we needed someone with a live-

action frame of mind.”

Navarro began with an “Intro to Cinematography” class for the filmmakers and

crew. It commenced with the photographer holding a rolling camera and demonstrating

how he finds shots in live-action filmmaking. Then, he began passing the camera around,

first to the directors, then others, asking his “students” to find their own shots. The

resulting footage was full of moments of discovery—their experience in a loose, free and

easy environment became valuable when they moved into the computer, where

conditions are more time-consuming and labor intensive.

When the team shifted to flat, 2D storyboards, into which they wanted to

introduce a moving camera, Navarro advised them to gather people in a room, set them

up with the script, and explore the scene through the camera. Again, worthwhile results,

as they discovered how the scenes were (or were not) playing—the participants were also

themselves the animators, who now had greater knowledge of the emotional arcs for the

characters in those scenes. One such sequence put through this exercise was the

argument among the four friends, which escalates as the monkeys’ deconstruction of the

plane becomes more zealous.

McGrath laughs, “We probably have the high school play version of this entire

movie on videotape. Those exercises of actual filming and solving problems on the fly

actually impacted how we eventually made our film.”

The “animators as actors” idea was taken even further, when they were immersed

in several days of workshops in order to challenge themselves as artists. Characters were

dissected through discussion and questioning—resembling the preparation an actor might


go through in exploring the backstory on a character he was to portray. Then, prior to

executing a shot, the animator might act out the scene multiple times with variations,

each time playing the character in the shot. This allowed a more in-depth look into the

characters themselves, to get at more of the emotions the filmmakers were so keen to

discover, giving the animators keys to more subtle expression of both surface reactions

and subtext.

Supervising animator Cassidy Curtis even expressed, “I worked on almost all of

the characters, and some of the new ones are really fun to explore. Tom and Eric are so

receptive to the ideas that we bring to them, and the communications process has been a

two-way street and very collaborative. To watch the animators get up in front of the

directors with a new idea for something, and to see them try it out and have the directors

say, ‘Yeah, that’s pretty funny, let’s try it’—and then to see the expression on the

animators’ faces when they come out of dailies, having seen their idea realized—it’s just

great and a really satisfying way to work.”

To fully coordinate the efforts of hundreds of film artisans, DreamWorks again

employed the HP-designed technology that links their two California campuses—one in

Glendale (southern) and PDI in Redwood City (northern)—the Virtual Studio

Collaboration system (VSC). Such a hook-up puts DreamWorkers in the same room,

essentially, with 30-foot-square video walls. This technology proved especially useful to

producer Mireille Soria, whose husband and family keep her rooted in Southern

California. Having jumped at the chance to return as producer on the sequel, her

traveling was significantly curtailed up to Redwood City (where the majority of the crew

was working), thanks to the video conferencing that kept all departments on the same

page and up-to-speed.

MAKING THE MOVIE EVEN MORE EFFECT-IVE Returning visual effects supervisor Philippe Gluckman thought that the effects in

the first film had been difficult to achieve…until he realized the challenges that lay ahead

for him in “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa.”


Gluckman explains, “To create all the jungle in the first one, with the density of

plants—at the time, it was a big achievement, particularly since it was jungle plus crowds

and things like fur. But in some ways the jungle before—even though there were a lot of

plants—it would mask the view after a certain point and, therefore, you didn’t have to

produce as many plants just because they would be obscured. But the landscapes in this

film, because it’s so much more open that you see basically all the way to the horizon, the

element that probably becomes the most complex is actually the grass. You see grass all

the way to the horizon. You also see crowds going all the way into the distance. And the

grass is very difficult, because basically, the computer has to generate every single blade

of grass…and that becomes just a lot of data to handle.”

As a result of the African trip, Gluckman also realized that not only would the

expansive sky prove problematic, so, too, would the clouds that sometimes dot and, at

other times, overwhelm the space. He particularly found the way the clouds were lit to be

fascinating—“there’s an element of unpredictability to it all.”

To help replicate this unpredictable Mother Nature and her mercurial way of

playing with light and clouds, proprietary software was created that could produce the

clouds themselves as 3D elements, which then allowed the computers to light them—as

difficult and as memory-consuming a task as it was.

He continues, “We pushed the limits of technology, trying to get the light to shine

through the cloud to get a unique translucent behavior. This brought us some really

amazing images that either were used directly, where the clouds are actually 3D

elements, or were used as the basis for the painters to start with. And it gave us looks

that were really fascinating.”

Darnell comments, “Think of it as being inside of a globe with painted clouds that

surround you. But we decided to make these three-dimensional clouds, which are much

more computationally expensive and technically challenging. But to really give us the

sense of scale and size, and to see these rolling shapes playing against each other in

perspective—well, that is something that’s very difficult to do with a painting or a

backdrop. And these three-dimensional clouds gave us the opportunity to really bring the

sky to life, while giving it the same kind of scope and scale and perspective that we were

getting on our landscapes in Africa.”


But to incorporate those clouds into the frames, and have them actually support

the composition of the frame, the job fell to the matte painters. McGrath says, “We have

this crew of incredibly talented matte painters who come in and create these skies for us,

which can move and reflect light as well. And since two-thirds of our screen in much of

the movie is domed with this sky, we really relied heavily on the matte painters to

support the sets we built and the compositions of the frame.”

Into those frames, other challenges would wander—like thousands of animals—

and others would simply be there—like moving water or, perhaps even more

problematically, a billion blades of grass. This three-foot grass does more than just cover

the savanna, it also has to ‘act’—compact under hooves and footfalls, part when animals

are passing. Again, technology to the rescue, with another system to grow and

individually control these blades of grass. This sort of advancement made the original

film seem light years ago, as the characters of “Madagascar” couldn’t pick up an object

or touch their hair in the beginning of the first film. DreamWorks computer artisans kept

pushing the possibilities and advancing—the characters had moving hair and when they

fell on the ground, the hair could compress.

Head of effects Scott Peterson offers, “We do a lot with the grass. Where it’s

trickiest is actually where the grass meets up with the characters. We had to put

animation into the grass, so that if a character is stepping on it, the grass is reacting

properly, and we found out that making the grass collide properly actually doesn’t look

very good. So we have to embellish it with lots of almost very directed wind—this gives

it a secondary motion.”

Such careful effects treatment of things like grass, foliage animation and dust is

called an invisible effect—invisible in the sense that it should organically fit into the

scene without pulling attention. Countless hours are spent attempting to make such

animation real and integral to the scene.

Something else that has to be carefully engineered is crowd control, which would

become especially important to all of the herds of animals at play on the African savanna.

Darnell says, “As soon as you put a hundred different characters into a shot, you have to

find a way to make it feel organic. If you have a little cycle of a character waving,

‘Yay!,’ it’s easy. But if that shot lasts too long, you start to see it repeat. And if you


haven’t done enough variations of that, pretty soon this guy’s doing this, and then three

guys over, he’s doing the same thing. Your eye can easily pick up these patterns. And so

it’s a real challenge, both creatively and technically, to animate these big populations in a

way that feels natural and organic. But even more difficult for us sometimes is getting

our characters to pop off of these big masses of animals. You know, zebras are designed

with black and white stripes for a very specific reason—that’s so when they’re running in

a herd, you can’t pick out one from the other. So being able to pick Marty out—

sometimes we’d put him in a little more light, or darken the other zebras with dust or dirt,

or drop them out of focus a little bit. We ended up creating the same challenges for

ourselves that Mother Nature intentionally creates—we drop our lions into the very

authentic African savanna, and suddenly, where’d they go? You can’t find him, because

he does what he’s supposed to do, which is blend in with this grass so the prey can’t see

him. So we had to do things to bring up the color of our lions and knock back the color

of the grasses so that we could defy Mother Nature and actually see our characters

onscreen.”

Such involved work to capture all the detail and movement gave “Madagascar:

Escape 2 Africa” an unintended record over the preceding film. It took 12 million render

hours to complete “Madagascar,” while the follow-up would require close to 30 million

to complete.

WELL, AT LEAST IT WAS A NON-STOP FLIGHT…

The process for developing a great comedy action sequence doesn’t happen

overnight—it is an add-to and take-away process that can last months…swapping around

cinematography, various lines of dialogue and other variables. But no matter how many

filmmaker hours are spent trying to fashion a great sequence, that wished-for magic will

never materialize unless the idea that originated it all is a good one…like a plane piloted

by penguins that remains briefly aloft, only to plummet to the African continent in short

order.


Tom McGrath tells, “One night, I just had this brain fever, so I roughly boarded

up this idea on how this plane crash sequence could play out. It was really broad strokes.

But all the time that we were developing it, we kept going back to those boards.”

Eric Darnell adds, “It’s a testament to Tom’s talent that the sequence ended up

pretty much exactly the way that he boarded it that night.”

That group process Mireille Soria referred to as “the Knights of the Roundtable,

when everyone gathered together to get and give input…from the very beginning, that is

how we went about solving any problems that came up.”

Filmmakers weren’t too proud to use any tool or suggestion when it came time to

create or improve on the already created—the crash sequence being a sterling example.

They utilized Navarro’s technique of plotting through camera by strapping animators and

layout artists in an upside-down couch and filming them with a shaking camera, looking

at possible angles and movements. Visual effects added realism through details such as

blowing curtains, wind whipping through the manes and pieces of the plane being peeled

away, like a space capsule on re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere.

The ultimate goal was to tweak this plane wreck of comedic proportions up to a

level 10: the plane gathers velocity as it spins out of control, a plume of smoke emitted

in a perfect corkscrew; the camera shakes as it captures the various reactions of the

passengers; flames are visible through the windows as the aircraft barrels through the

sky; the light inside the plane rolls around as the fuselage itself rolls toward the earth.

Darnell observes, “You feel like you’ve been in this plane crash with these guys. And yet

it’s also entertaining and funny, because it’s driven by the characters, along with these

great, solid comedic action concepts that were part of the genesis of the idea in Tom‘s

thumbnail sketches.”

Scott Peterson sums up, “So in any shot in the plane crash sequence, we could

have anywhere from 15 to 30 effects elements. We might spend about six weeks working

on one shot, which could be only a couple of seconds long. At the risk of understating

the obvious, plane crash shots are very involved.”

AS THE SUN SETS ON THE AFRICAN PLAIN…


For the filmmakers who committed several years of their lives to completing

“Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa,” each had his/her own goals to achieve within the film,

yet all were devoted to the tale of the zoosters’ continued attempts to get back to their

Central Park home.

Mark Swift feels, “Each character grows in this film. For Alex, it’s about finding

out how he can be himself as a lion in Africa. For the other characters, it’s their

storylines as they meet their own kind. Marty, for the first time, is getting to run with a

herd, something he’s always dreamed about…but how does that really sit with him once

he meets all the zebras? For Gloria, it’s time to start a relationship, maybe a love interest,

so this is her first time actually meeting male hippos. And Melman‘s story really is one

of discovery—that he’s actually in love with Gloria and has been all along.”

Mireille Soria somewhat personally reflects, “They’ll always be New Yorkers.

They are New Yorkers at heart. It’s where they’re from. It’s where they will ultimately

get back to. There was a big debate for us—do they stay in Africa? Or do they go back?

Alex has a family now, and I have a family. Even though my kids are older, I don’t want

them to leave home ever. Yet, that’s the goal—to raise independent kids—so we are

walking that line of Alex’s parents being able to acknowledge that his path may be away

from them, but that doesn’t mean that they are separated as a family, per se. And that

doesn’t mean that they don’t love each other. So it’s kind of a challenge, because a lot of

our audience, to be honest, won’t get that—the kids. But the parents will…boy, will they

get that.”

Tom McGrath thinks, “This movie is bigger, better, more fun, but it also has a

story that people can relate to a little bit better, I think. Audiences should find themselves

in situations that they can identify with—maybe not a spiraling plane, but parental issues,

identity issues, love. I mean, we still want people to laugh—that’s our main goal—but

we also want to move them a little. And we feel like this film just has a prime

opportunity to tell a great story and to move audiences more than the first.”


About the Voice Cast

BEN STILLER (Alex) is a prolific actor, director, producer and writer who

continues to imprint his unique perspective on film, television and stage.

Stiller was recently seen starring opposite Robert Downey, Jr. and Jack Black in

“Tropic Thunder,” an action comedy about a group of self-absorbed actors who set out to

make the biggest war film ever. Stiller also co-wrote, directed and produced the film

through his Red Hour Films production banner.

Stiller recently completed production on “Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the

Smithsonian,” the follow up to the 2006 blockbuster “Night at the Museum.” Amy

Adams, Christopher Guest, Hank Azaria and Bill Hader join the all-star returning cast

including Robin Williams, Dick Van Dyke, Owen Wilson and Ricky Gervais, to bring to

life the Smithsonian Institution, which houses the world's largest museum complex.

“Museum” is slated for release May 22, 2009.

Stiller most recently signed on to star opposite Reese Witherspoon in Cameron

Crowe's “Untitled Project,” which will begin production in early 2009.

Stiller has been directing, acting and producing films consistently over the last

decade, including “Reality Bites,” his motion picture directorial debut in 1994, “The

Cable Guy” starring Jim Carrey, which he directed in 1996, and “Zoolander,” which he

co-wrote, directed and produced in 2001 through Red Hour Films, along with producing

partner Stuart Cornfeld. He has also starred in numerous hits, including “Flirting with

Disaster” written and directed by David O. Russell, “Meet the Parents” and its sequel

“Meet the Fockers,” “There’s Something About Mary,” “Dodgeball: A True Underdog

Story,” “Starsky & Hutch” and the animated hit “Madagascar,” as well as the box office

blockbuster “Night at the Museum” for 20th Century Fox, which grossed nearly $600

million worldwide. In 1998, Stiller portrayed Jerry Stahl in “Permanent Midnight,” the

true-life story of a heroin-addicted comedy writer. That same year, he also appeared in

“Your Friends and Neighbors” written and directed by Neil LaBute.

Producer credits include “Zoolander,” “Starsky & Hutch,” “Dodgeball: A True

Underdog Story,” “The Ruins” and the smash hit “Blades of Glory” starring Will Ferrell.


Stiller earned an Emmy Award for his writing on the critically acclaimed

television series “The Ben Stiller Show,” which lasted all of 12 episodes. He also

appeared on Broadway in the Tony Award-winning production of “The House of Blue

Leaves” by John Guare, and off-Broadway in Neil LaBute’s “This is How it Goes”

directed by George C. Wolfe.

Lauded by awards and critics alike, CHRIS ROCK (Marty) is one of our

generation’s strongest comedic voices. Rock kicked off his first stand-up tour in over

three years – “No Apologies” –with a New Year’s Eve date at New York City’s Madison

Square Garden. Featuring all new material, Rock then headed to the United Kingdom,

where he performed for his first time ever overseas. He immediately sold out his original

set of 2008 UK tour dates, and to satiate the fervent demand, an additional week-long

overseas leg was added. Rock’s tour returned to the United States in early February,

where it lasted through May, with additional international dates following in Australia,

South Africa and Europe, before returning to the US throughout the summer. On May 23,

Rock broke the Guinness World Record for the largest audience ever at a comedy show

in the UK, by selling out the O2 Arena on two consecutive nights with an audience of

15,900 each night.

Coinciding with the tour, Rock also released his first “best-of” album, “Cheese

and Crackers: The Greatest Bits,” through Geffen Records. Featuring 19 tracks of

Rock’s most notorious moments, “Cheese and Crackers” showcases the Brooklyn-raised

comic’s insight on everything from race relations and politics to sex and the infamous

“N-word.”

Rock was honored with HBO’s esteemed “Comedian Award” at the 2006 Las

Vegas Comedy Festival. The Brooklyn-raised comedian has garnered three Emmy

Awards and three Grammy Awards and has seen his former eponymous talk show

become one of HBO’s highest-rated and most talked-about programs.

Currently serving as both co-creator and narrator of the acclaimed hit television

series “Everybody Hates Chris,” now on the CW network, Rock has also appeared as a

guidance counselor in the Rock-inspired sitcom about a black kid in a mostly white

school in 1980s Brooklyn, which debuted on UPN in 2005. Since then, it has been


named one of Entertainment Weekly’s “Top New Series,” making it the most-watched

comedy in UPN’s history. In 2006 the show earned both a Golden Globe nomination for

Best Television Series Musical or Comedy and a Writers Guild Award nomination for

Best New Series.

Rock was most recently heard voicing Mooseblood the mosquito in Jerry

Seinfeld’s animated “Bee Movie,” which also starred Renée Zellweger and Matthew

Broderick. In March of 2007, Rock starred in “I Think I Love My Wife,” a film which

he also wrote and directed. Rock made his directorial debut with “Head of State,” which

opened Number One at the box office. He starred as an unlikely Washington, D.C.

alderman chosen to be a presidential nominee, while Bernie Mac portrayed his older

brother who becomes his running mate. He also starred in both “The Longest Yard” with

Adam Sandler, a remake of the 1974 classic, as well as in the box office animated hit

“Madagascar,” featuring the voices of Ben Stiller, Sacha Baron Cohen, Andy Richter,

Jada Pinkett Smith and David Schwimmer.

Rock’s feature film debut was in “Beverly Hills Cop II” with Eddie Murphy. He

went on to write, create, star in and produce the rap comedy “CB4” in 1993, a satire of

the world of hardcore rap, which opened Number One at the box office. Other film

credits include “Boomerang” with Eddie Murphy; “Panther,” a drama spotlighting the

lives of the 60s activist group The Black Panthers, directed by Mario Van Peebles; “New

Jack City” with Wesley Snipes (a film marking Rock’s dramatic debut as a desperate

crack addict); and “I’m Gonna Git You Sucka!” with Keenen Ivory Wayans. The

summer of 1998 saw Rock co-star in two $100-million-plus grossing films: “Lethal

Weapon IV” and “Dr. Dolittle.” Rock starred in Kevin Smith’s “Dogma,” which also

featured Ben Affleck, Salma Hayek and Matt Damon. He also starred in the Jerry

Bruckheimer-produced “Bad Company,” opposite Anthony Hopkins; the romantic

comedy “Down to Earth,” co-directed by Paul and Chris Weitz and co-written by Rock;

and the dark comedy “Nurse Betty,” directed by Neil LaBute, in which Rock co-starred

with Morgan Freeman and Renée Zellweger.

After gaining early success as a stand-up comedian, Rock joined the cast of

NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” in 1989. In 1993, he taped his first HBO special “Chris

Rock: Big Ass Jokes,” which was honored with a CableAce Award. Rock served as the


sole 1996 presidential campaign correspondent for the acclaimed “Politically Incorrect,”

then on Comedy Central, and received an Emmy nomination for a shared writing credit in

the category of Outstanding Writing for a Variety or Music Program for the show.

Rock’s true emergence as a celebrated talent can be traced to his next HBO special,

“Bring the Pain,” which was honored with two Emmy Awards for Best Writing and

Outstanding Special in 1997. “Bring the Pain” was released as a home video, as well as a

Grammy Award-winning CD. Rock went on to host the acclaimed “Chris Rock Show,”

which began airing on HBO in 1997. Rock and his popular talk show were honored with

several Emmy nominations for both writing and best host. The show then received an

Emmy Award for Best Writing in 1999.

His next HBO stand-up special, “Bigger & Blacker,” taped on the stage of

Harlem’s fabled Apollo Theatre, earned three Emmy nominations for Rock, while the CD

went on to win the Grammy Award for Best Spoken or Comedy Album. Rock’s most

recent HBO special, “Never Scared,” aired in April, 2004, was nominated for two

Emmys, its CD also earning the Grammy for Best Comedy Album. In 2003, Rock

embarked on his North American stand-up tour, entitled the “Black Ambition Tour” that

ran in 64 cities with over 80 shows through March of 2004.

Rock hosted the “77th Annual Academy Awards” in 2005, as well as the “MTV

Video Music Awards” in 1999 and 2003. Rock’s debut book, Rock This, spent time on

both The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal bestseller lists.

DAVID SCHWIMMER (Melman) recently directed “Little Britain USA” for

HBO and acted in the film “Nothing But The Truth” for Rod Lurie. He is the co-founder

of Chicago’s Lookingglass Theatre Company, where he has acted in and directed many

productions including “The Master and Margarita,” “West,” “Eye of the Beholder,” “The

Odyssey,” “The Idiot,” and his adaptations of Studs Terkel’s book “Race” and Upton

Sinclair’s “The Jungle.” He starred in the premieres of Roger Kumble’s “D Girl” and

“Turnaround,” Warren Leight’s “Glimmer Brothers” in Williamstown, and Neil LaBute’s

“Some Girl(s)” in London as well as “The Caine Mutiny Court Martial” on Broadway.

Notable television and film credits include “Madagascar,” “Duane Hopwood,”

“Big Nothing,” “Band of Brothers,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Six Days Seven Nights,”


“Apt Pupil,” “Kissing a Fool,” “The Pallbearer,” and the hit comedy series “Friends,” for

which he received an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor. His

film directing debut was the UK hit comedy “Run, Fat Boy, Run” starring Simon Pegg,

Thandie Newton and Hank Azaria.

JADA PINKETT SMITH (Gloria) has proven herself to be one of today’s most

versatile and talented stars both on and off screen. Jada was most recently seen on the

big screen opposite Meg Ryan and Eva Mendes in the long-awaited remake of “The

Women” from writer-director Diane English.

As an actress, Pinkett Smith has amassed an impressive list of film credits,

including a recent teaming with box office superstars Adam Sandler and Don Cheadle in

“Reign Over Me” for Columbia Pictures, as well as a pivotal role opposite Tom Cruise

and Academy Award® winner Jamie Foxx in Michael Mann’s “Collateral.” She is

perhaps best known as the take-charge Niobe in the hugely successful sequels “Matrix

Reloaded” and “Matrix Revolutions.”

Just as she does on screen, Pinkett Smith continually challenges herself off screen

with new and exciting projects. “The Human Contract” is one of several projects being

produced through her production company, 100% Womon. Not only does she co-star

with leads Jason Clarke and Paz Vega, but she also directed the film and wrote the

screenplay. Pinkett Smith’s previous effort at putting pen to paper resulted in the New

York Times bestseller Girls Hold Up This World, published in 2005.

As producers, Pinkett Smith and husband Will Smith were the creators and

executive producers of the CW Network’s “All of Us.” They are currently in

development on several television and film projects slated for production in 2009.

A native of Maryland, Pinkett Smith studied dance and acting at the Baltimore

School of Arts and the North Carolina School of the Arts. Her big break came when she

landed a role on the long-running NBC series “A Different World.”

SACHA BARON COHEN (King Julien) was, until recently, best known to the

public as his alter ego Ali G, the in-your-face host of HBO’s popular multiple Emmy

Award- nominated comedy variety/talk show “Da Ali G Show.” The show was already


the Number One comedy phenomenon in Baron Cohen’s native England when he

brought it to the United States, where it became an instant sensation on HBO. After

completing two seasons, Baron Cohen set out to conquer the world with “Borat: Cultural

Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazahkstan,” a feature film

starring his second alter ego, Borat Sagdiyev, a Kazahkstani news reporter. Baron Cohen

is now known worldwide for creating “one of the greatest comedies of the last decade

and perhaps even a whole new genre of film” (Neil Strauss of Rolling Stone magazine).

After opening Number One in 24 countries, grossing over $250 million worldwide and

taking home the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Comedy/Musical, as well as an

Academy Award® nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay, it’s safe to say that we have

yet to see the best of Baron Cohen.

Since its release in November 2006, “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for

Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazahkstan” has garnered numerous awards and

nominations, including being named one of the 10 Most Outstanding Motion Pictures of

the Year by AFI and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Picture, Comedy/Musical.

Individually, Baron Cohen won the Los Angeles Films Critics Association Award for

Best Actor, the San Francisco Films Critics Circle Award for Best Actor, Toronto Film

Critics Association Award for Best Actor and a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a

Comedy/Musical.

The HBO show has received six Emmy Award nominations, including two in

2003 for Outstanding Non-Fiction Program and Outstanding Writing, Non-Fiction

Program and three in 2005 for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series;

Outstanding Writing, Variety, Music or Comedy Series; and Outstanding Directing,

Variety, Music or Comedy Series. The show also received many accolades in the UK

prior to its stateside debut, with Baron Cohen garnering two BAFTA Awards (Best

Comedy Performance and Best Comedy Programme).

Baron Cohen originated the character of Ali G in 1998 on the British television

comedy “The 11 O’Clock Show.” Two years later, Channel 4 Television launched “Da

Ali G. Show,” which quickly gained a cult following that grew as word-of-mouth spread

all the way to Buckingham Palace, since the Queen of England is an acknowledged

devotee of the series. Baron Cohen serves as an executive producer on the series, in


addition to acting and writing for it. In 2003, HBO began airing “Da Ali G. Show” in the

United States.

Baron Cohen’s past film projects include the hit feature comedy “Talladega

Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby” with co-stars Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly, and

voicing King Julien in the DreamWorks animated feature “Madagascar,” which grossed

over $500 million worldwide. Most recently, he was seen in Tim Burton’s Oscar®-

winning “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” starring alongside Johnny

Depp and Helena Bonham Carter.

Baron Cohen has twice hosted the MTV Europe Music Awards, first as the

character of Ali G in November, 2001, in Frankfurt, Germany; and then as Borat in

November, 2005, in Lisbon, Portugal.

CEDRIC THE ENTERTAINER (Maurice) is best known for his crowd-

pleasing roles in such hit films as “Barbershop,” “Be Cool” with John Travolta,

“Madagascar,” “Intolerable Cruelty” with George Clooney and “The Original Kings of

Comedy,” MTV’s documentary feature directed by Spike Lee. In April 2004, Cedric

starred in and produced the box office hit “Johnson Family Vacation,” which was ranked

as the #1 comedy in America for two consecutive weeks.

On the big screen, Cedric has also been seen in “Street Kings” opposite Keanu

Reeves; “Welcome Home, Roscoe Jenkins” with Martin Lawrence; “Talk To Me”

starring Don Cheadle; “Codename: The Cleaner” opposite Lucy Liu; “The

Honeymooners,” in which he starred as Jackie Gleason’s famed character Ralph Cramden

and received thumbs up from Roger Ebert; “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate

Events” with Jim Carrey; “Man of the House” with Tommy Lee Jones; “Barbershop 2”;

“Big Momma’s House,”; “Kingdom Come” with Whoopi Goldberg; and “Serving Sara”

with Matthew Perry. He also displayed tremendous vocal talent in the family features

“Charlotte’s Web,” “Dr. Dolittle 2” and “Ice Age.” In July 2006, Cedric debuted his

first-ever HBO Comedy Special, the highest rated special of that year for HBO.

Upcoming appearances include “Cadillac Records” with Adrien Brody and

Beyoncé Knowles, “Johnson Family Vacation 2” and “Flash,” co-starring rapper Nelly.


Cedric has celebrated many career successes spanning television, live

performances and film. Some of his notable accolades include nabbing the AFTRA

Award of Excellence in Television Programming for his Fox Television series “Cedric

The Entertainer Presents” and a record-breaking four consecutive NAACP Image Awards

for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his portrayal of the lovable

Coach Cedric Robinson on the WB’s #1-rated “The Steve Harvey Show,” which ran for

six seasons. His first comedy book, Grown-Ass Man, was released in January 2002 and

sold out across the country. In 2001, a viewing audience of over 144 million saw Cedric

star in the Bud Light commercial that landed in the #1 spot during the Super Bowl

broadcast, for which he was subsequently dubbed by USA Today as “Madison Avenue’s

Most Valuable Player.” In 1994, Cedric received the Richard Pryor Comic of the Year

Award from Black Entertainment Television for his groundbreaking work as host of “Def

Comedy Jam” and BET’s “Comic View” (1994-95 season).

Now helming his own production company, A Bird and A Bear Entertainment,

Cedric will develop and produce feature films. “Johnson Family Vacation” was the first

feature under the new company.

As a philanthropist, Cedric founded the Cedric The Entertainer Charitable

Foundation, which provides scholarships and outreach programs to enhance the lives of

inner-city youth and their families in his hometown of St. Louis, Missouri. He plans to

extend the foundation nationally.

Actor and writer ANDY RICHTER (Mort) rose to fame while having the best

seat in the house on NBC’s “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” as O’Brien’s sidekick for

seven years, beginning with its premiere on September 13, 1993.

Richter and the “Late Night” writing team were nominated yearly for the Emmy

Award for Best Writing in a comedy or Variety Series and won the 1997 Writers Guild

Award for Best Writing. Richter has made quite a leap off of the late night couch since

his departure from the show in 2000.

Re-teaming with co-creator and producer Conan O’Brien in 2007, Richter

returned to the small screen in the comedy “Andy Barker, P.I.” Andy Barker, an earnest,

hard-working CPA, is mistaken for a retired private investigator when he takes over his


vacated office space. Embracing the twist of fate, the modest, gentle-minded accountant

dives into his double life with the help of his strip-mall neighbors (Tony Hale from

“Arrested Development” and Marshall Manesh from “Will & Grace”).

In 2002, Richter starred in and produced the FOX comedy “Andy Richter

Controls the Universe,” in which he portrayed a struggling writer with an overactive

imagination. That year, it was named “the funniest new comedy of the spring” by TIME

and garnered an Emmy nomination for writing. In 2004, Richter returned to television,

and to FOX, on its newest hit comedy “Quintuplets,” playing the father of teenage

quintuplets. He has also had memorable cameo roles in such popular series as “Arrested

Development,” “Monk,” and – in a hysterical three-episode arc as Christine’s unlikely

secret affair – on the critically acclaimed series “The New Adventures of Old Christine.”

Richter continues to be very active in the feature film world as well as television.

He was most recently seen in the Will Ferrell basketball comedy “Semi-Pro.”

Other feature film credits include “Blades of Glory”; “Talladega Nights: The

Ballad of Ricky Bobby” with Will Ferrell, Amy Adams, Sacha Baron Cohen and John C.

Reilly; “If I Had Known I Was A Genius”; “Seeing Other People”; “New York Minute”

with Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen; “Elf,” again with Ferrell, “Dr. T and the Women”;

“Scary Movie 2”; and the animated feature “Madagascar” alongside Ben Stiller, Chris

Rock and Jada Pinkett Smith.

Richter attended the University of Illinois Urbana/Champaign and Columbia

College, where he studied film and video. He currently lives in Los Angeles with his

wife and two children.

BERNIE MAC (Zuba) has gone from the small comedy clubs of Chicago to

become the highest-grossing comedian today, selling out arenas and theatres all across

the country.

Mac can be seen in the upcoming Dimension Films comedy “Soul Men” with

Samuel L. Jackson. They star as estranged soul-singing legends on a reunion tour.

Mac signed a first look deal with Lions Gate Entertainment. His production

company, MacMan Entertainment, along with partner Steven Greener, will produce/star


in feature films for the studio, as well as develop four Dean Martin-style celebrity roasts

that will go directly to DVD.

He can be seen in the recent Lions Gate feature “Pride.” The film is based on the

true life story of determined swim coach Jim Ellis (Terrance Howard), who starts a swim

team for troubled teens at the Philadelphia Department of Recreation. Mac plays the

janitor, who, with Ellis, fights to keep the recreation center open for the kids. Last May,

Mac re-teamed with the original cast for the Warner Bros. feature “Ocean’s Thirteen.”

In 2002, Mac created the family comedy “The Bernie Mac Show,” in which he

also starred. He received Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a

Comedy Series in 2002 and 2003, and the show won an Emmy for Outstanding Writing

in a Comedy Series in 2003. The show also received the Peabody Award; two Television

Critics Association Awards for Best Comedy Series and Best Comedy Performance; and

a NAACP Image Award for Best Comedy Series and Best Actor.

Mac was seen in the feature films “Head of State”; the highly anticipated sequel

“Charlie’s Angels 2: Full Throttle”; the holiday hit “Bad Santa”; the Disney feature “Mr.

3000”; and the remake of “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.”

Never one to focus on any one medium, Mac wrote his first book, entitled I Ain’t

Scared of You, which was published in Fall 2001. In it, he rips through such topics as

sex, religion, hygiene, celebrity and more without missing a beat. This past April saw the

release of his second book, a more traditional autobiography, Maybe You Never Cry

Again, in which Mac expounds upon growing up in Chicago and the hardships and

obstacles in his path to the top.

As a founding member of the “Kings of Comedy” comedy tour, Mac displayed

his trademark rapid fire and hard-hitting delivery. The success of the tour spawned Spike

Lee’s 2000 concert film “The Original Kings Of Comedy,” which has grossed nearly 40

million dollars.

Born and raised in Chicago, Mac made his television debut on the landmark HBO

comedy series, “Russell Simmons’ Def Comedy Jam,” which led to him being cast in the

Damon Wayans feature “Mo’ Money” (his feature film debut). Other film credits include

the Eddie Murphy/Martin Lawrence comedy “Life,” “House Party 3,” “How to Be a

Player” and “What’s the Worst That Could Happen.”


Whether on stage or screen, comedienne/actress SHERRI SHEPHERD (Alex’s

Mom) never fails to delight audiences with her magnetic personality and hilarious sense

of humor, both of which are showcased in her position as co-host of ABC’s Emmy-

nominated “The View.” She served as co-host of the 2008 Daytime Emmy Awards along

with Cameron Mathison. She has appeared as the hysterical Angie Jordan, wife to

Tracey Morgan’s character on the Emmy-winning “30 Rock.” Shepherd will be seen in

the upcoming feature film “Push,” alongside Paula Patton and Lenny Kravitz, which is

directed by Lee Daniels (“Monsters Ball”).

The Chicago native co-starred for four seasons with Sara Rue and Andy Dick on

the ABC workplace comedy “Less Than Perfect.” She co-starred opposite Queen Latifah

in MGM’s “Beauty Shop,” performed a cameo in New Line’s “Cellular” with Kim

Basinger and appeared with Bernie Mac in “Guess Who.” Shepherd enjoyed her

recurring role as Brad Garrett’s partner ‘Sgt. Judy Potter’ on CBS’ “Everybody Loves

Raymond.” She is the voice of twin toucans Cheryl and Meryl in the Disney Channel’s

comedy series “Brandy & Mr. Whiskers,” about a poodle and a rabbit stuck in the

rainforest. She released a collection of her ‘gospel’ stand-up comedy CD entitled “No

Refund, No Exchange.” A favorite on the talk show circuit, Shepherd has regularly

appeared on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” “The Late Late Show

with Craig Ferguson” and “The Tonight Show.” Shepherd starred in the Miramax

Pictures release “Who’s Your Caddy?” as Lady G. Shepherd says, “I play Big Boi’s

(Outkast) right hand ‘man.’” A groundbreaking performance on the hit NBC series

“Friends” earned her the reputation of being one of Hollywood’s most reliable sources

for brilliant comedic delivery.

Shepherd continues to defy industry boundaries and has appeared on every major

network. She appeared as ‘God’ on “Joan of Arcadia” for CBS, co-starred opposite

Brooke Shields on NBC’s “Suddenly Susan,” recurred on the WB’s “Jamie Foxx Show,”

and guest-starred on FOX’s “Living Single.” She played stage manager ‘Melva’ on chef

Emeril Lagasse’s show-within-a-show, “Emeril,” and starred as ‘Joanne Waters’

alongside John Cleese and Ed Begley, Jr., in ABC’s short-lived satirical comedy


“Wednesday 9:30 (8:30 Central).” She guest-starred several times on another short-lived

series, David E. Kelley’s “Wedding Bells.”

A self-described “class clown,” Shepherd always wanted to pursue a performing

career. She relocated to Los Angeles during high school and considered being a

mortician, but opted for a job as a legal secretary instead. In 1990 she came face-to-face

with destiny: after witnessing Andrew Dice Clay on stage, she was egged on by her

friends to put her own act together. Her love for performing was instantaneous; success,

however, was not. For five years, Shepherd toiled as a secretary by day and hopped on

the bus at night to do her standup. She finally got her first real break with the comedy

“Cleghorne!” starring “Saturday Night Live” alum Ellen Cleghorne.

She’s been fortunate enough to work steadily while fine-tuning her craft through

comedy, scene-study and improvisational workshops. As an accomplished stand-up

comic, she has performed at The Comedy Store, The Improv and Laugh Factory in

Hollywood. She also has her own comedy DVD titled “No Refund, No Exchange.”

Shepherd attributes her success to her faith in God, her grandmother, and her

father’s constant encouragement to become anything she wished through hard work and

humor. She also has a tremendous amount of respect for other performers and mentions

Whoopi Goldberg, Angela Bassett, Janet Jackson and Michael Jordan among her

professional role models.

Her favorite role is being mother to three-year-old Jeffrey Jr. Shepherd is

hilarious at giving off-center perspectives on almost any subject. Away from the set, she

enjoys karaoke, skating, church activities and a good game of Taboo.

ALEC BALDWIN (Makunga) is a graduate of New York University (BFA-

Tisch, ’94). He last appeared on stage in the Roundabout’s 2006 production of

“Entertaining Mr. Sloane,” directed by Scott Ellis. Other stage includes “Loot”

(Broadway-1986; Theatre World Award), Caryl Churchill’s “Serious Money”

(Broadway-1988), “Prelude to a Kiss” (Circle Rep.-1990; Obie Award), “A Streetcar

Named Desire” (Broadway-1992; Tony nomination), “Macbeth” (NYSF-1998), “The

Twentieth Century” (Roundabout-2004). (Also performed at The Hartman in Stamford,

Williamstown, Bay Street.)


Baldwin has appeared in over 40 films, including “Beetle Juice,” “Working Girl,”

“Miami Blues,” “The Hunt for Red October,” “Glengarry Glen Ross,” “Malice,” “The

Juror,” “The Edge,” “Ghosts of Mississippi,” “State and Main,” “The Cat in the Hat,”

“The Cooler” (National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor, Oscar®

nomination), “The Aviator” and “The Departed.”

On television Baldwin currently stars with Tina Fey on NBC’s “30 Rock,” winner

of the 2007 Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series. In 2007, Baldwin received the SAG,

Golden Globe and Television Critics Awards as Best Actor in a Comedy Series for the

show. His company, El Dorado Pictures, has produced several projects, including

“Nuremberg: Infamy on Trial” for TNT (Emmy nomination) and “The Confession” for

Showtime (WGA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay).

Baldwin is also a dedicated supporter of numerous causes related to public policy

and the arts. He serves on the boards of People for the American Way, The Hamptons

International Film Festival and the East Hampton Day Care Center. He is an active

supporter of The Radiation and Public Health Project, Guild Hall of East Hampton, The

Public Theatre/New York Shakespeare Festival, The Roundabout Theatre, People for the

Ethical Treatment of Animals and The Water Keeper Alliance, among many others.

will.i.am (Moto Moto / Co-Composer / Co-Songwriter) is the frontman and

producer behind the multi-platinum recording group The Black Eyed Peas. He has

steered them into becoming one of the most popular groups in music. They have sold 18

million albums worldwide, have won three Grammy Awards and been nominated for ten.

The group, though, is a partnership among four people. “A will.i.am solo album is a

different entity. It’s not a Peas record.”

On his own, will.i.am has established himself as one of music’s top producers.

He has collaborated on tracks with Justin Timberlake, John Legend, Kelis, Nas, The

Game, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Sergio Mendes, Carlos

Santana, The Pussycat Dolls, Busta Rhymes and fellow Black Eyed Pea Fergie. He has

developed into a highly revered, sought-after musician, songwriter and producer. So

when it came time to work on his solo material, will.i.am not only had a blank canvas on

which to work, but also a palette of A-list talent to team up with.


But “Songs About Girls” is not a cavalcade of other people’s talents. “I didn’t

want to come out and say, ‘Hey, I’m a producer and here are all my friends,’” he

explains. “I wanted to be my own man and do my own thing and really try out some

ideas that have been bubbling in my head.”

Indeed, “Songs About Girls” is a musically adventurous album that is solely the

funky, eclectic brainchild of will.i.am, taking inspiration from a range of sounds from

around the world. It is also a conceptual album, with a story rooted in its creator’s own

personal evolution. While on the surface “Songs About Girls” could be interpreted as an

ode to the female gender, it is actually an album inspired by a longtime personal

romance. “It’s about one particular relationship that, reflecting on it, I was really sorry

how it ended up,” will.i.am explains. “It was just me being a young dude making dumb

decisions. But I was just growing up into a man, learning how to juggle a career with a

relationship.”

In many ways, the making of “Songs About Girls” served as therapy. “It was a

way to get closure on something that had been lingering in my soul for many years,” he

says. “I've made a lot of mistakes in my life and hurt a lot of people I've loved. I have no

regrets, really, because I've learned from those mistakes but I'm sad I hurt these people

along the way.”

A sort of adventurous spirit flows throughout “Songs About Girls.” will.i.am has

previously released two compilations of production projects on British label BBE

Records, but “Songs About Girls” is the first effort outside of the Peas to really harness

all his creative energies. Indeed, the process of creating this album has reignited a lot of

his creative spirit. “It really made me aware of how much is possible musically,” he says.

He also shot an accompanying movie for “Songs About Girls” set in Brazil. He has plans

to do another solo album that will serve as the movie’s soundtrack. And he will soon go

back into the studio with apl.de.ap, Taboo, and Fergie for the next Black Eyed Peas

album.

In January 2008, will.i.am wrote the song, “Yes We Can,” in support of the 2008

U.S. presidential campaign of Barack Obama, which in turn became a music video

directed by Jesse Dylan. The video first appeared on the website for Dipdive and, within

a week of its appearance, racked up three million views and over four million views on


YouTube. This resulted in a Daytime Emmy Award win for Best New Approaches in

Daytime Entertainment.

In addition to music and fashion, will.i.am has recently been cast as John Wraith

in the upcoming “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” a prequel to the X-Men film series.

Says will.i.am: “It’s really this incredible thing to create for a living and I’m very

appreciative of that fact. I mean, how cool is that?”

About the Filmmakers

ERIC DARNELL (Director / Screenplay) wrote and directed the 2005

worldwide DreamWorks Animation SKG blockbuster “Madagascar.” He also previously

directed the studio’s first computer-animated feature film, “Antz.”

Darnell joined PDI/DreamWorks, the studio’s northern California campus, in

1991, where he helmed numerous commercial and film projects, drawing upon his multi-

faceted talents in animation, visual effects and art direction. His in-house animated short

entitled “Gas Planet” garnered international recognition, including the Ottawa Animation

Festival Special Jury Prize.

Also for DreamWorks, Darnell assisted with computer animation research and

development for the studio’s first traditionally animated feature, “The Prince of Egypt.”

Darnell earned a BA in broadcast journalism from the University of Colorado and

an MFA in experimental animation from CalArts. While completing his MFA, he was

awarded filmmaking grants from both the Ahmanson Foundation and the Princess Grace

Foundation.

Prior to joining DreamWorks Animation SKG, Darnell worked as a freelance

animator. His credits include directing the animated music video “Get Up” for the rock

band R.E.M.

TOM MCGRATH (Director / Screenplay / Skipper) has been working in the

field of entertainment for more than 18 years. In addition to making his feature film

directorial debut with the global hit “Madagascar” (on which he also served as writer), he

also showcased his acting talents on the film, voicing the lead penguin, Skipper.


Following the runaway success of “Madagascar” (and while working on its

sequel) McGrath also voiced Skipper for the short “The Madagascar Penguins in: The

Christmas Caper” and provided voices for “Flushed Away” and “Shrek the Third.”

McGrath previously worked in the areas of story and concept design for such

features as “Cats & Dogs” and “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” He also worked as an

animator and story artist on such animated films as “Space Jam” and “Cool World.” His

television work includes directing on “The Ren & Stimpy Show,” as well as other

projects for Nickelodeon. In addition, McGrath has worked on the shorts “Herd” and

“The Thing What Lurked in the Tub,” and as a directing animator on national

commercials for Coors Light and Subaru.

McGrath graduated from the Character Animation program at Cal Arts after

studying Industrial Design at the University of Washington.

ETAN COHEN (Screenplay) has established himself as one of the premiere

feature comedy writers in the business, having written projects for some of the movies’

biggest directors and stars, including Jay Roach, Mike Judge, Ben Stiller and Will Ferrell.

He began his career at 19 while studying in a Jewish seminary on the West Bank in

Israel, when he wrote a spec episode of “Beavis and Butthead” and made a cold

submission to the show’s staff. Mike Judge, who created and was running the show, read

it and asked Cohen to start writing for “Beavis and Butthead” immediately. His

sophomore year at Harvard coincided with the beginning of what became a three-year

stint writing for the popular series. Among the episodes he wrote was one that featured

Beavis and Butthead counterfeiting money by simply photocopying it and, shortly

thereafter, a group of Columbia University students were found to have adopted the

counterfeiting process they saw in the episode.

Cohen graduated from Harvard with a degree in Yiddish and moved to Los

Angeles. Once there, he entered into a deal with Disney Television Animation. After

that, he went to be a staff writer on ABC’s “It’s Like, You Know” (created by Peter

Melman of “Seinfeld”), with Jennifer Grey playing herself. Cohen was then recruited by

Judge to work on FOX’s “King of the Hill” as a story editor and ended his stint there as

co-executive producer. During that time, Cohen signed an overall deal with FOX TV and


won an Annie Award for outstanding writing in animation for the episode “Ceci N’est

Pas Une King of the Hill” (2004). During that period, Cohen began writing feature

scripts and has since transitioned into exclusively writing features.

Cohen recently wrote and directed the short film “My Wife Is Retarded,” which

debuted at the 2007 U.S. HBO-Aspen Comedy Arts Festival, where it won the prize for

Best Short Film. Most recently, he wrote (along with Ben Stiller and Justin Theroux) the

big budget film-within-a-film epic war comedy “Tropic Thunder.”

Cohen married his college sweetheart, Emily, whom he met while they were both

working on The Harvard Lampoon. She is currently working as an artist and illustrator in

Los Angeles. They have three children.

Accomplished film and television producer MIREILLE SORIA (Producer)

segued into producing animated features with the Academy Award®-nominated animated

adventure “Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron” and “Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas,”

following a successful career developing and producing a varied group of live-action

feature film and television projects. With two well-received animated features under her

belt, Soria next produced the DreamWorks Animation SKG global hit “Madagascar.”

While jumping immediately into producing its sequel, she pulled double duty by

simultaneously executive-producing the short “The Madagascar Penguins in: The

Christmas Caper.”

Prior to taking the producing reins for “Spirit,” Mireille had had a producing deal

at Fox Family Pictures, where she produced the romantic Cinderella story “Ever After,”

starring Drew Barrymore and Anjelica Huston. Soria also executive-produced the Disney

Channel horror comedy “Under Wraps.”

Soria had previously held the post of vice president of production for Walt Disney

Pictures. During her tenure, she oversaw the development and production of such

projects as “The Mighty Ducks” and its two sequels, “Cool Runnings” and the live-action

version of Rudyard Kipling’s “The Jungle Book.” Soria had come to Disney from the

Steve Tisch Company, where she served as vice president while also developing and

producing several projects.


Soria began her career as manager of dramatic series development at ABC. Two

years later, she joined Columbia Pictures Television as director of current programs. She

returned to ABC as director of dramatic series development, and was responsible for

developing the groundbreaking and award-winning series “thirtysomething.”

Soria hold a Master of Arts degree from the University of Iowa.

MARK SWIFT (Producer) most recently served as co-producer of DreamWorks

Animation’s “Bee Movie,” starring writer/producer Jerry Seinfeld and Renée Zellweger.

Swift came aboard the “Madagascar” bandwagon when he produced the 2005

short “The Madagascar Penguins in: The Christmas Caper.” Previous to that he served as

associate producer on the Academy Award®-nominated 2004 hit animated comedy

“Shark Tale.”

Swift joined DreamWorks Animation in 1995 as one of the key production

supervisors during the company’s early years. He first served as the animation

production supervisor on the traditionally animated epic adventure “The Prince of

Egypt.” He later became production manager for the animated adventure “The Road to

El Dorado,” and then went on to work on the action adventure “Sinbad Legend of the

Seven Seas.”

Swift got his start in animation nearly 20 years ago as a runner at Steven

Spielberg’s Amblimation Studio in London. While in London, he worked on the features

“An American Tail: Fievel Goes West,” “We’re Back! A Dinosaur’s Story” and “Balto.”

Swift grew up in Birmingham, England, and attended Manchester University, with a

course focus in economics.

Prior to her helping the zoosters escape to Africa, KENDAL CRONKHITE

(Production Designer) served in the same capacity on the original blockbuster family

adventure “Madagascar.” In her role as production designer, Cronkhite is responsible for

the “look of the film” by managing the art/character departments and communicating

with the other departments to assure the quality and continuity of the film.

Cronkhite joined PDI/DreamWorks as an art director in its pioneering days and

worked on the studio’s first computer animated film, “Antz.” Prior to joining the


company, she served as a freelance editorial illustrator in Canada and New York.

Cronkhite was also the assistant art director on Tim Burton’s “The Nightmare Before

Christmas” and the art director on Disney’s “James and the Giant Peach.”

Cronkhite received her BFA from the Art Center College of Design with a major

in illustration.

SHANNON JEFFRIES (Art Director) returns to “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa,”

again serving as art director, as she did in the original film and in the short “The

Madagascar Penguins in: The Christmas Caper.” In this role, Jeffries works closely with

production designer Cronkhite to help establish the “look of the film.” She provides

supportive materials to keep each department in sync with the integrity of the film

throughout production.

Jeffries joined the studio in 1996 as a visual development artist and worked on the

studio’s first computer-animated film, “Antz.” She held the same title on the global hit

“Shrek 2,” the sequel to the Academy Award-winning animated feature “Shrek.”

Prior to joining the company, Jeffries was involved in many facets of the art

world, including freelance work as a print media illustrator and furniture designer. Some

of her other work as a visual development artist can be seen in animated films such as

“The Incredible Mr. Limpet,” “Frankenstein” and the Harry Potter films. Jeffries also

wrote, directed and produced an award-winning animated short, “Hats and Dogs.”

Jeffries earned her BFA in illustration from the Art Center College of Design in

Pasadena.

Like so many of his “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa” department heads,

PHILIPPE GLUCKMAN (Visual Effects Supervisor) returns to the continuing

adventures of the Central Park Zoo friends in the same role he executed on the original

“Madagascar.”

Having been with PDI/DreamWorks Animation since 1994, Gluckman previously

served as sequence supervisor on the Academy Award-winning hit “Shrek” and

associate visual effects supervisor for PDI/DreamWorks’ first CG animated feature,


“Antz.” More recently, he served as co-visual effects supervisor on the record-setting

“Shrek 2” and as visual effects supervisor on “Shrek the Third.”

Gluckman earlier worked as a senior animator/technical director on such projects

as “Batman and Robin,” “Batman Forever,” “Marvin the Martian” and numerous

commercials.

Before joining the studio, Gluckman worked as senior animator at Ex Machina in

Paris on projects ranging from commercials to theme park rides. Gluckman began his

career as a traditional 2D animator, as a partner with Storyboard and as an assistant

animator at Cartoon Farm, both located in Paris.

He holds a degree in graphic arts from the Ecole Nationale D’Arts Appliques,

Paris.

Prior to his work on “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa,” SCOTT PETERSON

(Head of Effects) served as lead effects animator on all three films in the Shrek franchise

– “Shrek,” Shrek 2” and “Shrek the Third.” Peterson began his career at the studio as an

assistant effects animator on “Antz.”

Throughout Peterson’s 11-year tenure at the studio, he has developed numerous

effects solutions for trees, plants, stereoscopic waterfalls and mud, and was also

instrumental in creating a surface-based technique to model hairstyles. Peterson’s other

credits while with DreamWorks include work on the popular Universal theme park ride

“Shrek 4D” and “The Madagascar Penguins in: A Christmas Caper.” He also directed

and animated the award-winning PDI/DreamWorks short film “Sprout.”

Prior to joining the company, Peterson worked in a multimedia lab at the

California Polytechnic State University authoring interactive CDROM-based educational

software. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in computer science from the same

university.

NOL MEYER (Head of Layout) has worked in a variety of animation layout

capacities since joining DreamWorks animation in 1995, when he served as a member of

the layout team for the studio’s first traditionally animated feature, “The Prince of

Egypt.” Next, he worked as a key layout artist on the comedy adventure “The Road to El


Dorado” and as a workbook layout artist on “Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron.” 2003’s

“Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas” saw Meyer working as an animatic artist.

Raised in Greenwood Village, Colorado, Meyer graduated from Cherry Creek

High School in 1991. In 1995, he graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in

illustration from the University of San Francisco.

REX GRIGNON (Head of Character Animation) reprises his role from the

original “Madagascar,” where he also worked as head of character animation. He

followed his work on the 2005 hit serving in the same capacity in the short “The

Madagascar Penguins in: A Christmas Caper.” Most recently, he worked as an animator

on the global hit and Cannes sensation “Kung Fu Panda.” He has been animating for

more than 22 years and has also worked on three previous hit computer-animated films –

DreamWorks Animation’s “Antz” and “Shrek” and Pixar’s “Toy Story.”

Grignon co-founded PDI’s Character Animation Group in 1990. As a part of this

group, he played a lead part in creating the Emmy Award-winning M&M Mars TV

special “The Last Halloween” and “Muppet Vision 3-D,” along with numerous

commercial spots featuring the Pillsbury Doughboy. He left PDI briefly to take on the

role as a character animator on Pixar’s “Toy Story” and returned as co-supervising

animator on PDI/DreamWorks’ “Antz.”

Grignon was awarded a Presidential Scholarship to work and study at the New

York Institute of Technology’s Computer Graphics Laboratory, renowned for its

pioneering work in CGI. He has taught character animation classes at Cogswell

College in Sunnyvale, California, and the Academy of the Arts College in San

Francisco. He has spoken at the American Film Institute, Stanford University,

Sheridan College, the University of Washington, SIGGRAPH and a number of other

animation festivals around the world.

HANS ZIMMER (Co-Composer / Co-Songwriter) is one of the film industry’s

most prolific composers, with well over 100 film scores to his credit.

In 1994, he won both an Academy Award® and a Golden Globe Award for his

score to the animated blockbuster “The Lion King,” which also spawned one of the most


successful soundtrack albums ever. Zimmer’s music for “The Lion King” continues to

draw applause in the award-winning stage production of the musical, which earned the

1998 Tony Award for Best Musical, as well as a Grammy Award for Best Original Cast

Album.

Zimmer has garnered six additional Academy Award® nominations, the latest for

his “Gladiator” score, for which he also won a Golden Globe Award and earned a

Grammy Award nomination. He has also been Academy Award®-nominated for “The

Prince of Egypt,” “The Thin Red Line,” “As Good as It Gets,” “The Preacher’s Wife”

and “Rain Man.” He earned his eighth Golden Globe nomination for his score for the

worldwide blockbuster “The Da Vinci Code.” He had previously earned additional

Golden Globe nominations for his work on “Spanglish,” “The Last Samurai,” “Pearl

Harbor,” “Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron” and “The Prince of Egypt.” He holds nine

Grammy nominations.

Zimmer’s scoring artistry was most recently heard in the history-making hit “The

Dark Knight” and in DreamWorks Animation’s blockbuster “Kung Fu Panda.” Zimmer

scored two of the biggest hits of 2007: “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” and

“The Simpsons Movie.” His long list of film credits also includes “Vantage Point,” “The

Holiday,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,” Gore Verbinski’s “The Weather

Man,” the DreamWorks blockbuster “Madagascar,” the Warner Bros. hit “Batman

Begins” (co-written with James Newton Howard), “Matchstick Men,” “Black Hawk

Down,” “Hannibal,” “Crimson Tide,” “Thelma & Louise,” “Driving Miss Daisy,”

“Mission: Impossible II,” “A League of Their Own,” “Black Rain,” “Backdraft,” “True

Romance” and “My Beautiful Launderette.”

His upcoming feature scoring projects include the big screen adaptation of the

stage hit “Frost/Nixon.”

# # #

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