The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper

The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper (2005)

*** (out of 4)

Charming ten-minute short has Private sneaking out of the Zoo so that he can find a Christmas gift for a lonely polar bear. While walking around the streets he ends up getting kidnapped by a mean old lady and soon three other penguins must try and rescue him. Even if you haven't seen MADAGASCAR it's likely you'll still enjoy this short, which has plenty of fast action, a nice pace and some pretty big laughs. I thought the entire story was a fairly strong one that managed to mix in laughs with the Christmas spirit, which is obviously the main time of the year that this is going to be watched. I thought the film displayed a large amount of imagination and this includes the very funny bit where the three penguins try and get into the old woman's apartment building. The snowman gag was terrific as were the scenes inside the apartment building as the penguins must deal with an angry dog. The action in the film is very fast and furious and I think it really does show how much thought went into the production. Quite often these spin off shorts have weak stories to go with them but that certainly wasn't the case here and adults and children should have a good time.

Scrat was arguably the funnies character in 'Ice Age' and he was awarded with his own very funny animated short film. The funniest characters in 'Madagascar' were the penguins and they as well get their animated short. The difference is that this short is actually better than the animated feature film.

I liked 'Madagascar' up to a point but we are spoiled with films like 'Shrek' and 'The Incredibles' and 'Madagascar is nowhere near that good. 'The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper' comes a lot closer.

The story with the penguins out in New York, three searching for a fourth, gives us plenty of laughs. I have seen this before 'Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit' and it was almost as entertaining. That really does say something!

I haven't even seen "Madagascar" yet, but because of this, I want to. I've been bragging about this to my friends ever since I saw it in front of the "Wallace and Gromit" movie. I don't care if I have to buy "Madagascar" just for the penguins, I will. I'll give you insight on what to watch out for without giving away too much: the bowling pin, "kaboom!", the #1 rule of penguins. If you don't like "Wallace and Gromit," fine. Go see it just for this. If you liked "Madagascar," you'll love this. I was always a fan of short animated films. My girlfriend and I both thought this was one of the funniest we've seen in years.

The three main characters of the film Madagascar are fairly stereotyped and have one-hit wonder stamped all over them. The penguins, one the other hand, have true potential as they make reference so many classics of the past e.g. Bilko. The short film demonstrates some of this potential and was a very welcome bonus to the also excellent Curse of the Wererabbit. There were certainly echoes of Toy Story 2, as the old lady tests the penguin to see if he squeaks with a great "bottom gag" much appreciated by the children and a similar plot line which was very well executed. Above all, children appreciated the concept of looking after each other in a world dominated by grown ups and the penguins epitomise this ideal. Needless to say, the animation is excellent.

I saw the Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper before Wallace and Gromit:the curse of the were-rabbit during a special screening a few months ago (if your wondering how could I its because Wallace and Gromit came out a few months ago in Australia) and I was surprised to see this before Wallace and Gromit, I wasn't interested because i haven't seen Madagascar and thought it was going to be a crappy kids short animation film ( like a few of the pixar short animation films),but I was surprised this was entertaining and funnier then the Wallace and Gromit movie that was after it and found it funnier then most other kids animation films. It had a good christmassy feel and I wouldn't mind watching it again especially at Christmas time. I highly recommend this for adults and children alike and hope this appears on the Wallace and Gromit: the cures of the were-rabbit DVD as a special feature!