Madagascar

Post by **Ben** » July 11th, 2005, 8:17 am

Yeah, I agree.

But I didn't think it was too short (or too long for that matter) and was that rare beast: a Hollywood confection that was timed just right.

Many people have said that it loses steam on the island. I didn't quite get that, since act 2 is where the plot really needs to kick in. I loved the "Candy Man" sequence, which was just "out there", though the "Wonderful World" could have been cut a bit. I guess this is where the film could have dragged for anyone, though I felt you needed to come down a bit.

The only thing that bothred were the lemurs, who were basically a one-trick comedy act and easily outstayed their welcome, unlike the penguins who wre used more sparingly and therefore more fresh and funny everytime they came back. The only gag that got tired as well was the animals-into-steaks transformations. Over done.

But, on the whole, it was a fun film, and wasn't too packed with the pop-culture references that can sometimes overburden the DWs flicks.

Second best bit: "Ahhh, you burned it all! You burned it all down!!"

Post by **PatrickvD** » July 11th, 2005, 10:10 am

Ben wrote:Second best bit: "Ahhh, you burned it all! You burned it all down!!"

"darn you!! ...darn you all to HECK"

Post by **Macaluso** » July 11th, 2005, 11:42 am

Ben wrote:
But, on the whole, it was a fun film, and wasn't too packed with the pop-culture references that can sometimes overburden the DWs flicks.

Second best bit: "Ahhh, you burned it all! You burned it all down!!"

Well I think the pop culture references were really awesome this time around, because they weren't about recent pop culture things.

Case in point: the "I like to move it, move it" song.

On another message board I go to, that song developed QUITE the cult following with many members for a while. And they nearly crapped their pants when they heard it in the movie.

And yeah. That planet of the apes parody. I laughed so hard at that (even though that entire thing had NO point to the story

), and I felt good that a lot of my friends didn't get the joke there.

Even that HELP turning into HELL thing. I... didn't realize they weren't gonna do that at all. I loved it ^_^

btw I liked the lemurs. the king lemur was so ridiculous.

Post by **ShyViolet** » July 12th, 2005, 3:12 pm

The only thing that bothred were the lemurs, who were basically a one-trick comedy act and easily outstayed their welcome, unlike the penguins who wre used more sparingly and therefore more fresh and funny everytime they came back

I agree about the Lemurs. It was like: OK, they're crazy party animals. So what? They were just missing something.

The Penguins were just so great because they were in their own little world and so powerful even though they're so tiny. They always had something different up their sleeve, were just so adorable.

And I loved this movie but...if I hear that NY Giants joke just ONE MORE TIME....

It's like that waffle line with Donkey. Funny the first two or three times, but after a while....

Plus not many people have mentioned this, but I found Alex's conflict and struggle with his inner carnivore to be unexpectedly touching. Especially his friendship with Marty.

Post by **Ben** » July 12th, 2005, 8:58 pm

I also forgot to mention the little lemur with the big, adorable eyes.

Um, didn't they already play that joke in Shrek 2...?

Post by **Meg** » July 13th, 2005, 8:17 am

About the king lemur, shouldn't he have technically been a female? Female ring-tailed lemurs are always heads of their groups.

Post by **Ben** » July 14th, 2005, 3:56 am

Yeah, but he likes to move it, move it...?

Post by **Uli** » July 22nd, 2005, 4:26 am

Post by **Ben** » July 22nd, 2005, 1:36 pm

It's the DreamWorks visual trademark, like the Luxo ball in Pixar's films!

Post by **Uli** » July 23rd, 2005, 3:38 am

Post by **ShyViolet** » July 23rd, 2005, 4:00 pm

DW isn't doing very well right now.

Post by **Ben** » July 23rd, 2005, 5:07 pm

Well... they are...???

Their animated films are big hits, Madagascar is the latest, and War Of The Worlds is cleaning up around the globe.

Theatrically, things are well on track. As for home video, well, DWs is one of many studios feeling the DVD pinch, as less than expected copies of films fly off shelves.

This is not poor sales, even. It's that their projections are too high and they flood the market with too many copies, which eventually get sent back and are deemed poor sellers. The movie event for most people is levelling off, and many either see a film in theaters or wait for the DVD. The fact is that more animated films are being seen in theaters, and for some reason the DVDs are not as quick to get bought up.

Part of the problem is two-fold: one is that the films aren't as good as they might be, so DVD sales are down. The other is that they bring them out mid-year - wait and see all those "extra" copies start to mve slowly but surely at the holiday gift-giving time.

So, DWs are doing okay, for a mid-budget studio that has a lot of clout at its top ranks, but is still only a small fish in the big scheme of things, with a fraction of the releases that even a good production house pumps out.

I think it's because DWs have had such success (not, it has to be said, downplayed in anyway by SKG) that now they have a couple of small worries, it gets blown out of all proportion.

Post by **ShyViolet** » July 25th, 2005, 4:10 pm

Oh, that's good. I was reading all this stuff about how DW was in the dumps because of the stock market, the lawsuit, Madagascar not being a "Shrek" sized hit...it's just journalists overreacting, as usual. They keep saying that the DW animation IPO is a "failure" and that SharkTale was a bomb, Madgascar etc...what do they know.

I think Wallace and Gromit will do very well and that will boost the stock.

One thing I wonder about: Will DW be as competitive with Disney now that Eisner is almost gone? How will that affect the whole dynamic?

Post by **Meg** » July 25th, 2005, 4:27 pm

ShyViolet wrote:I think Wallace and Gromit will do very well and that will boost the stock.

Fish, yes! People love W&G!

Post by **ShyViolet** » July 26th, 2005, 3:25 pm

The trailer is SO cute.