Plot

The show takes place after the second movie when the monkeys, penguins, and lemurs are seen leaving to New York in the makeshift plane. The series follows the adventures of four penguins; Skipper (the leader of the group), Kowalski (the smartest), Private (the youngest) and Rico (the craziest), in New York City's Central Park Zoo. The Penguins rule the roost at their Central Park habitat, carrying out secret missions in the heart of the city. Joining them is Julien, king of the lemurs, and his subjects Maurice and Mort, their new neighbors, who make up the lemur exhibit at the zoo. Now the penguins must keep things under control, often despite the lemurs' antics.

[edit] Characters

See also: List of characters in Madagascar

The Penguins of Madagascar features all four penguin characters from the Madagascar franchise, as well as the two chimpanzees (Mason and Phil), and the three lemurs (Julien, Maurice and Mort). New to the series is Marlene, a female otter, and Alice, a zookeeper

[edit] Penguins

  • Skipper (voiced by Tom McGrath) is the leader of the group. He usually calls out orders and names plans. It is hinted in the episode "Crown Fools" that Skipper hails from a place where walruses reside. Also, in "Needle Point", it is revealed that he is terrified of needles. In eclisped, it is mentioned that he has an evil dolphin nemesis named Dr. Blowhole.
  • Kowalski (voiced by Jeff Glen Bennett) is the smartest of the group. He forms plans for the group, but they are often disregarded. He also usually takes notes for Skipper. In "Happy King Julien Day", Kowalski is revealed to have an aggressive love for candy. In "Needle Point", it is revealed that he has an extreme fear of the dentist even though he has no teeth.
  • Private (voiced by James Patrick Stuart) is the youngest of the group. He has a British accent and is very good at cracking codes. He also is the most sensitive and naturally motherly as demonstrated in "Paternal Egg-Stinct". Although his birthplace is not confirmed, while watching a documentary on Antarctica, he exclaims "That looks like Uncle Nigel!" hinting that he may have family there, and in Madagascar: Operation Penguin, he is revealed to have a father named "Sam Fishy", although it is unknown where he lives. He is also shown to be an excellent fighter in The Hidden.
  • Rico (voiced by John DiMaggio) is a psychotic explosives and weapons expert. Rico is usually mute, save for an occasional grunting noise or maybe a word or two. In the series, he has a feather mohawk and he also has a scar across his left cheek. He stores objects by eating them then later regurgitates them when needed during various "operations". He is in love with a blonde barbie doll. In Two Feet High and Rising, Skipper stated how he [Rico] passed their psychological evaluation "is completely shrouded in mystery".

[edit] Lemurs

  • King Julien (voiced by Danny Jacobs), is a Ring-tailed Lemur who is Lord-of-the-lemurs, the self-proclaimed lemur king.[5] He speaks with an Indian accent and often misuses idioms. For example, in "Popcorn Panic" he says he will do the opposite of fail then Marlene says he will succeed and he says "No I will not Suck Seed! No one will be sucking seed!" and in Paternal Egg-Stinct, he tries to take control of a duck egg that he has named "Julien Junior" (J.J.) (proclaming "Who's your daddy now? Not me, because I am J.J.'s daddy!"). In "Penguiner Takes All", Skipper tells Julien "Actions speak louder than words", then Julien responds by taking a megaphone and screams "And this speaks louder than actions!" He believes that anything good that happens is because of something he did, or some form of divine intervention even when it is clear that it is not. The penguins find him annoying, and Skipper usually refers to him as "ring-tail". Julien is also a party animal.
  • Maurice (voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson) is an Aye-aye lemur who serves King Julien and caters to his every need. He is a good artist (seen painting in "The Hidden"). He has also shown he is very smart, knowing where mammals come from, and understanding how to operate a helium tank to fill balloons. Though he is loyal to King Julian, Maurice has shown disdain towards him with his selfish personality.
  • Mort (voiced by Andy Richter) is a mouse lemur and a servant of King Julien. He is very loving and easily distracted and obsessive over Julien's feet (something that the penguins tried to cure him of in Two Feet High and Rising), and although he is the only one blindly loyal to Julien, Julien often treats him with open disdain. He is comically hurt in most episodes, but never seems to be any worse for the wear. Skipper occasionally calls him "sad eyes". Mort is incredibly strong as seen lifting several crates of fish cakes in "Go Fish". He also lifts an entire fake palm tree in "2 Feet High and Rising"; however he has been shown to be very weak as well where he was unable to lift the Penguin's TV.

[edit] Others

  • Marlene (voiced by Nicole Sullivan) is a female otter who was transferred to the Central Park Zoo from California.[6] She is close friends with Skipper and sometimes tags along on the missions, but she generally thinks the penguins are crazy. She won her old zoo's Internet popularity contest three years in a row, but was further disqualified because of an unknown scandal.
  • Mason (voiced by Conrad Vernon) is an intelligent chimpanzee. He knows how to speak but doesn't know how to read. He interprets Phil's sign language in situations where it is necessary for him to communicate with the other characters.
  • Phil is also an intelligent chimpanzee. He knows how to read, as he is often seen with reading glasses and a book. Phil cannot speak verbally, but he knows sign language and speaks through Mason, who interprets for him.
  • Alice (voiced by Mary Scheer) is the zookeeper. Though another worker can be heard on her walkie-talkie, she is the only one ever seen.

[edit] Episodes

Main article: List of The Penguins of Madagascar episodes

Seasons Episodes First airdate Last airdate
1 22 November 29, 2008[7] TBA

[edit] History

[edit] Production (2006-2008)

In mid 2006, Nickelodeon and Dreamworks Animation announced that they would collaborate to create a Nicktoon based on the Madagascar films. The new series would star the Penguins from the film series. Nothing had been confirmed on what the series is about, until November 2007.

At first, in November 2007, Nickelodeon advertised a sneak peek of three new Nicktoons coming to Nickelodeon, The Mighty B!, Making Fiends, and The Penguins of Madagascar all on November 25, 2007 part of Superstuffed Nicktoons Weekend. Then December 2007, Nickelodeon had advertised many events that were going to premier on Nickelodeon in 2008 (The Mighty B!, Fairly OddBaby, The Penguins of Madagascar, KCA 2008, Sidekicks, and "Pest of the West").[8] Since then, The Penguins of Madagascar had been delayed at least twice in 2008, and saw a debut in March 2009, most likely due to Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa being delayed to November 7, 2008. On November 28, 2008, Nickelodeon aired an episode from the series as a sneak peek. The Double DVD Pack of Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa includes an early DVD of the show.

Dreamworks licensed to a number of manufacturers, including Hooga Loo Toys, who had a successful run creating a line of plush toys associated with the second Madagascar movie. Based on its success, Hooga Loo was granted a license to create an entire new toy line for the new series. Hooga Loo recruited the creative development team, PANGEA, the company who assisted Playmates Toys in the development of the phenomenally successful "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," to work systemically with Dreamworks and develop toys inspired by and for the series. [9] Fast food restaurants have been courting Dreamworks to glean the rights for a QSR deal. McDonald's produced a collector's dream line based on the second film.

[edit] Nickelodeon Debut

After some delays of the series to air, The Penguins of Madagascar debuted on Nickelodeon in 2009. The series is produced at the Nickelodeon Animation Studio in Burbank, California, with animation carried out in India.[6] Both Nickelodeon and DreamWorks Animation are planning on a 26 episode season.[2] The Penguins of Madagascar aired after the 2009 Kids' Choice Awards on March 28, 2009 at 9:30pm ET/PT.[10]