Madagascar - Madagascar Reviews

I just got back from taking my 5 and 6 year olds to see this film, which is a perfect example of a good idea gone awry. Animals escape from the zoo and go back to Africa--sounds like a great concept, right? But sadly, I found this film to be very inappropriate for kids. To start with, it has too much gratuitous violence--lots of scenes with characters punching, kicking, and slapping each other unnecessarily. Repeated to the point of overkill, it is just not funny. The penguins are cute until their leader starts to slap them around. Then to add insult to injury, they tie up and gag an innocent ship captain and slap him in the face for no reason while he is sitting there defenseless. Just when you thought it was safe to take your kids back into the movie theater, you discover the sexual innuendo. Do children really need to see a hippo, the film's only female character, emerge from the water wearing starfish pasties and a crab covering her groin? And then kids are supposed to laugh when they pop off? The lion Alex is briefly shown being awakened from a sex dream during which he was feeling up his own back and was molding his arms in the air to trace the hourglass curves of a woman. The beach house the zebra builds simulates the appearance of a tropical cocktail lounge. Who is writing this stuff, and what were they thinking? Maybe some kids will laugh at characters arm-farting and spitting water in each other's faces, but mine didn't, and when one character said "shut up" to another, my son sat up and exclaimed, "Mommy, he said "shut up!" If you're trying to teach your kids not to talk like this, you might want to be prepared to discuss it... In addition to these elements, the story really peters out by the time the characters get to Madagascar. The break-dancing lemurs are cute and funny. But the film's protagonist, the lion, experiences no real character arc, and the only thing he seems to learn is that his animal friends don't look like a New York prime rib after all. As much as I admire the considerable talent that went into making this film, I can't help but feel cheated and annoyed that Hollywood keeps churning out more and more smart-alecky, wise-cracking camp that really does little to edify children or take them to higher ground. Too many animated movies are rated PG or worse. Instead, kids are desensitized to violence and are overexposed to adult situations and altogether bad influences. The Lion King, rated G, showed us that Hollywood can make animated movies which entertain and teach children a valuable lesson at the same time. I long for more movies like it--my kids have seen it many times and don't get tired of it, because children respond to the essential goodness in characters if they are illustrated with real art. It's as simple as that. So if you want an animal adventure, I would pass on Madagascar--instead, just rent or buy The Lion King and enjoy it with your kids.