Madagascar

Post by **Christian** » May 3rd, 2005, 6:18 pm

I don't know but I think one should be called Chilly Willy and another should be called Opus.

Post by **ShyViolet** » May 3rd, 2005, 9:44 pm

So far my favorite character is the Lion. (Ben Stiller)

Post by **Christian** » May 3rd, 2005, 11:24 pm

ShyViolet, I'm disappointed that you don't have any questions for me to ask K.

Post by **ShyViolet** » May 4th, 2005, 12:03 am

Sorry, I guess I just couldn't think of any!

Hmmmm.....how about.....will he EVER do a commentary on any of the DW DVDs, with or without the other directors? THAT would be interesting.

Oh, well, that's it for now!

If you get a chance, thanks ahead of time!

Post by **ShyViolet** » May 4th, 2005, 12:19 am

Ask them about "The Wild"...

Also what about "Wild Life"? (That very risque project that Disney killed)
They both take place in New York, don't they?

Post by **Uli** » May 5th, 2005, 11:17 am

Post by **Jens** » May 5th, 2005, 11:53 am

1. If they aren't affraid that the general public won't like the different style of the Madagascar characters.

2. Why they always choose Big names for the voices, and not less big names but with better voices.

Post by **Josh** » May 5th, 2005, 4:27 pm

I really like your #2 question, Jens, and wouldn't hearing an answer to that myself.

Post by **Josh** » May 5th, 2005, 7:56 pm

I didn't feel as though this news was professional enough to report on the main page. Still, I think it's noteworthy that 'magatsu' has posted a pretty positive early review of Madagascar in a new forum thread at IMDB.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0351283/boa ... d/18809935

Post by **ShyViolet** » May 5th, 2005, 9:02 pm

Uh...I think this person made a mistake...Madagascar is completely home-grown DreamWorks, NOT PDI.

Post by **Christian** » May 5th, 2005, 11:47 pm

Everybody at the press junket kept saying they worked for "PDI/DreamWorks."

Post by **Christian** » May 6th, 2005, 2:53 am

JK kept talking about it. He would say, "Well, they're famous because they're really good at what they do. That's why we use them." I guess it's about maintaining the status quo. He kept talking about how spectacular his big name voice talent was although none of them talked about themselves that way. Somebody asked them if any of them had auditioned for their part and Ben Stiller piped right in and said, "I absolutely guarantee you that if I had auditioned for this part I wouldn't have got it." Which was funny because he just decimated everything Katzenberg had been saying.
The voice work was pretty decent in the movie. There was never anything that really rubbed me the wrong way but on the other hand there was nothing about any of the performances that made think, "I sure am glad they got Mr. Famous to do such-and-such a character because, boy, he really nailed it." And at the beginning of the film I kept getting the distinct impression that they were just reading their lines. Still, it doesn't ruin the movie. The movie to me has been just like every other DreamWorks movie so far: if you have an hour and half to kill then go ahead and watch it. It was still pretty engaging and the colors were nice and I noticed that they worked in a lot of cartoony effects that I hadn't seen in previous CGI movies.

BTW, the penguins are Kowalski, Private, Skipper, and Rico.

Post by **Uli** » May 6th, 2005, 3:52 am

Post by **Ben** » May 6th, 2005, 9:08 am

Violet... Surprised you didn't realise that Antz and, to an extent, Shrek were actually animated by PDI in a Disney/Pixar like deal between DreamWorks and Pacific Data Images (PDI).

After being impressed with their Antz work, and going in on Shrek, DreamWorks elected to buy out PDI, and even though the unit is now called DreamWorks Animation, the PDI logo still appears on the films themselves.

Just check out the credits of any DWs CG film, or the back cover to films up to (and including Shrek 2) for the PDI/DreamWorks connection. Now renamed DWs Animation, the PDI seems to be fading a bit now, but essentially the staff are a mix of PDI originals and some Disney folk that JK lured over with him.

Just for the record!

Post by **ShyViolet** » May 6th, 2005, 10:40 am

Oh, O.K. I knew about Shrek and Antz, but I thought Madagascar was "all DreamWorks."

Thanks for the correction.

Sometimes all this stuff with mergers and whatnot can be tricky.

Madagascar

Madagascar early review