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The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper

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The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper
Directed byGary Trousdale
Written byMichael Lachance
Produced byTeresa Cheng
StarringTom McGrath
Chris Miller
Christopher Knights
John DiMaggio
Elisa Gabrielli
Bill Fagerbakke
Music byJames Dooley
Production
companies
Distributed byDreamWorks Pictures
Release date
  • October 7, 2005 (2005-10-07)
(with Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit)
Running time
12 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper is a 2005 American animated short film produced by DreamWorks Animation and PDI/DreamWorks and distributed by DreamWorks Pictures. Directed by animation veteran Gary Trousdale, produced by Teresa Cheng, and written by Michael Lachance, it stars the voice cast of Tom McGrath, Chris Miller, Christopher Knights, John DiMaggio, Elisa Gabrielli, and Bill Fagerbakke. Set before the events of the first Madagascar, the 12-minute Madagascar spin-off features the adventures of four penguins, sometimes known as the Madagascar Penguins, who live in the Central Park Zoo and are trained as spies.[1] When Private is captured by Nana by wanting to find a present for Ted during his absence, the other three penguins, Skipper, Kowalski, and Rico, must rescue Private from Nana's apartment, while making last-minute preparations for Christmas at the Central Park Zoo. The music in the short film is scored by James Dooley.

The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper premiered in theaters on October 7, 2005, along with the stop-motion film Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, and then became a bonus feature on the Madagascar DVD shortly afterwards on November 15.

Plot

On Christmas Eve, at Central Park Zoo in New York City, the youngest penguin on the team, Private, is looking around the zoo using the periscope which is decorated as a snowman. While most of the animals seem happy, a polar bear named Ted is all alone. Private therefore decides that a present would cheer up the polar bear, though his fellow penguins don't share the same sentiment. Determined to find Ted's present, Private slips out of the zoo. While roaming the streets of Manhattan, he is captured by Nana who mistakes him for a chew toy for her vicious dog, Mr. Chew. The other three penguins, Skipper, Kowalski, and Rico, set out to rescue Private from Nana's apartment when they discover Private's absence (only when they were going over everything before eating). They escalate into chaos against Mr. Chew, all-the-while, not noticed by Nana, who is occupied watching a football game. When they are done, they stuff Mr. Chew into a stocking. Before leaving, Skipper let Rico detonate the door with a stick of dynamite (which Rico had repeatedly attempted to use prior), finally attracting Nana's attention who ends up punishing Mr. Chew with a big time-out, thinking what the penguins did to her apartment was Mr. Chew's doing.

Returning to the Central Park Zoo, they invite Ted to their home, but Ted already had invited several other guests, resulting in a massive sing-a-long to a parody of Jingle Bells.

Voice cast

Additional voices include Hope Levy, Rif Hutton, Richard Miro, Mitch Carter, Lynnanne Zager

Soundtrack

The original music for the short was composed by James Dooley. According to Dooley, he was asked to score because he "had written all the music for the penguins in the feature length, Madagascar."[2]

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
8."He Looks So Bad"Jim Dooley0:42
9."Where's The Private?"Jim Dooley0:30
10."Analysis!"Jim Dooley0:41
11."I am Walking Here"Jim Dooley0:47
12."Good Boy"Jim Dooley1:24
13."Help Me Guys!"Jim Dooley0:26
14."Storking Stuffer Operation"Jim Dooley1:36
15."Bad Dog"Jim Dooley0:46
16."Jingle End"Jim Dooley0:11
17."Jingle, Jingle, Jingle - Brian Setzer"Jim Dooley1:49
Total length:8:52

Home media

The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper was released on later DVD editions of Madagascar,[3] Shrek,[4] and Shrek 2,[5] all of which were released on November 15, 2005. It was released on Blu-ray on September 23, 2008, as a bonus feature attached to Madagascar.[6]

See also

References

  1. ^ Crump, William D. (2019). Happy Holidays—Animated! A Worldwide Encyclopedia of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year's Cartoons on Television and Film. McFarland & Co. p. 179. ISBN 9781476672939.
  2. ^ Zsolt, Biro; Kulics, Laszlo (June 24, 2006). "Interview with James Dooley". Filmzene.net. Archived from the original on February 1, 2010. Retrieved September 27, 2014.
  3. ^ McCutcheon, David (December 8, 2005). "Madagascar". IGN. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
  4. ^ "Shrek & Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper (DVD) (2001) (Region 1) (US Import) (NTSC)". Amazon. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
  5. ^ "Shrek 2 & Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper (DVD) (2004) (Region 1) (US Import) (NTSC)". Amazon. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
  6. ^ "Madagascar (Blu-ray)". High-Def Digest. October 1, 2008. Archived from the original on June 14, 2012. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
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