The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper
Directed byGary Trousdale
Written byMichael Lachance
Produced byTeresa Cheng
StarringChris Miller
John DiMaggio
Tom McGrath
Elisa Gabrielli
Christopher Knights
Bill Fagerbakke
Music byJames Dooley
Production
companies
Distributed byDreamWorks Pictures
Release date
  • October 7, 2005 (2005-10-07)
(with Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit)
Running time
12 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper is a 2005 American animated short film produced by DreamWorks Animation. The 12-minute Madagascar spin-off features the adventures of four penguins, sometimes known as the Madagascar Penguins, who live in the Central Park Zoo and are trained as spies.[1]

The short premiered in theaters on October 7, 2005 with the stop-motion film Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. It was directed by animation veteran Gary Trousdale, produced by Teresa Cheng, and written by Michael Lachance.

Plot

Focusing on the Madagascar penguins and taking place before the events of the first Madagascar, the youngest penguin on the team, Private, slips out of the zoo on Christmas Eve to find a present for a lonely polar bear named Ted. While roaming the streets of Manhattan, he is captured by Nana (the aggressive elderly lady from the first film and second film) who mistakes him for a chew toy for her vicious dog, Mr Chew. The other three penguins, Skipper, Kowalski, and Rico, rescue Private from Nana's apartment before it is too late. They escalate into chaos against Mr. Chew, all-the-while, not noticed by Nana, who is occupied watching a football game. When they are done, they detonate the door with a stick of dynamite (which Rico had repeatedly attempted to use prior), finally attracting Nana's attention who ends up punishing Mr. Chew with a big time-out, thinking what the penguins did to her apartment was Mr. Chew's doing.

They invite Ted to their home, although he has already invited several other guests, resulting in a massive sing-a-long to a parody of Jingle Bells.

Voice cast

Soundtrack

The original music for the short was composed by James Dooley. According to Dooley, he was asked to score because he "had written all the music for the penguins in the feature length, Madagascar."[2]

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
8."He Looks So Bad"Jim Dooley0:42
9."Where's The Private?"Jim Dooley0:30
10."Analysis!"Jim Dooley0:41
11."I am Walking Here"Jim Dooley0:47
12."Good Boy"Jim Dooley1:24
13."Help Me Guys!"Jim Dooley0:26
14."Storking Stuffer Operation"Jim Dooley1:36
15."Bad Dog"Jim Dooley0:46
16."Jingle End"Jim Dooley0:11
17."Jingle, Jingle, Jingle - Brian Setzer"Jim Dooley1:49
Total length:8:52

Home media

The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper was released on later DVD editions of Madagascar,[3] Shrek,[4] and Shrek 2,[5] all of which were released on November 15, 2005. It was released on Blu-ray on September 23, 2008, as a bonus feature attached to Madagascar.[6]

See also

Notes

References

  1. ^ Crump, William D. (2019). Happy Holidays—Animated! A Worldwide Encyclopedia of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year's Cartoons on Television and Film. McFarland & Co. p. 179. ISBN 9781476672939.
  2. ^ Zsolt, Biro; Kulics, Laszlo (June 24, 2006). "Interview with James Dooley". Filmzene.net. Archived from the original on February 1, 2010. Retrieved September 27, 2014.
  3. ^ McCutcheon, David (December 8, 2005). "Madagascar". IGN. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
  4. ^ "Shrek & Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper (DVD) (2001) (Region 1) (US Import) (NTSC)". Amazon. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
  5. ^ "Shrek 2 & Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper (DVD) (2004) (Region 1) (US Import) (NTSC)". Amazon. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
  6. ^ "Madagascar (Blu-ray)". High-Def Digest. October 1, 2008. Retrieved August 12, 2012.

External links

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Films directed by Gary Trousdale
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