Penguins of Madagascar is excellently executed. The four penguins, Skipper, Private, Kowalski, and Rico, have unique personalities that never fail to entertain. From serious to innocent, clear to unintelligible, the penguins capture your heart and make you jealous of their mad skills.
Of course, King Julien, his adviser Maurice, and his prop Mort, have also come along for the ride. King Julien is ever the selfish King and party boy. Maurice is still the loyal right-hand man and Mort hasn't given up worshiping the ground King Julien sits, stands, or walks on, and doesn't seem to care when King Julien takes advantage of him or tells him he hates him.
The monkey's are also still around. Just as before, they are a source of intelligence, class, and poo-flinging. The silent one can read and the talker is his translator, and the penguins often go to them for a quick written translation.
These memorable characters from the move Madagascar are joined by many new, just as memorable ones. There's the female otter Marlene, who is a source of sensibility and, as a result, often balances out the penguins when they come up with some of their more unbelievable (or paranoid) ideas. Then there's the kangaroo (Joey?), who is a fantastic boxer and true Australian. He's able to give at least one penguin at a time a hard time. There's also an elephant, who is kind and forgiving, but also easily scared. There's also two gorilla's who can serve as bodyguards and have awesome Brooklyn accents. Put all these animals together with the newest neighbor's and the zoo had definitely turned into a zoo. The newest neighbor's are a bunch of iguana's, who speak with their eyes, and can get down with the lemurs, with their technicolor changing abilities.
Of course, every show has to have its villains, and the main bad guy here is the zookeeper, Alice. She is constantly grumbling and mumbling about animals and suspects that the penguins are more than just regular zoo penguins. She is an obstacle the penguins often have to avoid.
This show is serious and hilarious all at once. It's great for the kid, adult, and secret agent in you. Good for a nice relaxing sit down and to get your mind off other things in your life. Great show for kids (even without the penguin's little moral - and fishy - messages thrown it) and one that adults can enjoy with them.
Usually, I find shows made after movies to be strained and boring, but this one is the exception. It really stands out in a day and age where more and more kid shows are full of toned down and hidden sex jokes or are just teen dramas.
Penguins of Madagascar is a new kind of show and can hopefully pave the way for some more awesome shows to slip onto our TV networks and hearts.
