Computer Graphics World

October 2008 14 ■ ■ ■ ■ CG I e last time we saw the wacky zoosters in DreamWorks' feature animation Madagascar, they were still looking for a way back to their cushy life in the Central Park Zoo after an accidental trip to the island of Madagascar. In the sequel, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, also created at PDI/Dream- Works, Alex the lion (Ben Stiller), Marty the zebra (Chris Rock), Gloria the hippopotamus (Jada Pinkett Smith), and Melman the giraff e (David Schwimmer) do return home in a way, but not to the home they expect. e fi lm opens with the penguins, who caused so much trouble in the fi rst fi lm, fl ying the zoosters off the island. Of course, with the penguins fl ying, everything goes wrong. e plane is rickety. e engine catches fi re. Melman fl ies down the aisle. e plane crash-lands spectacularly, barrels straight at the camera, and the zoosters' new adventure begins. " e main through line is that Alex meets his parents and gets in touch with his roots," says Eric Darnell, who co- directed this fi lm and the fi rst one with Tom McGrath. Alex's father, Zuba (played by the late Bernie Mac), is king of the lions. When he learns that Alex's stage name is 'King of New York,' he believes his son has followed in his paw steps. " e truth comes out, though," Darnell says. All the other charac- ters have stories as well. Marty, who had dreamed of return- ing to the wild, joins a million-zebra herd. "He gets along swimmingly until he has an identity crisis," McGrath says. Melman, the hypochondriac, discovers other giraff es that are even more preoccupied with medical conditions. ey ask if he'd be their witch doctor, which leads to hilarious and scary consequences. And, Gloria the hippo meets Moto Moto (Will.i.am). "He's the Fabio of hippos," McGrath says. But, to compli- cate things, Gloria discovers she has a secret admirer, too. Meanwhile, Zuba has an ongoing turf battle with Makun- ga (Alec Baldwin), another lion. "And, we have about 45 other stories," Darnell says. "Everyone is back. We have new characters. And, they all tell stories, all kind of on the same theme, crisscrossing each other, and then it all comes togeth- er at the end." e theme? "To thine own self be true," McGrath says. In addition to the directors, characters, and voice talent, many people from Madagascar joined the Madagascar 2 crew, including head of character animation Rex Grignon, produc- tion designer Kendal Cronkhite, and visual eff ects supervisor Philippe Gluckman. Nol L. Meyer, who had been a layout artist for e Prince of Egypt and other traditional animated features at DreamWorks, became head of layout, and Scott Peterson, most recently an eff ects animator and lighting lead for Shrek the ird, joined the crew as head of eff ects. swimmingly until he has an identity crisis," McGrath says. Melman, the hypochondriac, discovers other giraff es that are even more preoccupied with medical conditions. ey ask if he'd be their witch doctor, which leads to hilarious and scary consequences. And, Gloria the hippo meets Moto Moto (Will.i.am). "He's the Fabio of hippos," McGrath says. But, to compli- cate things, Gloria discovers she has a secret admirer, too. Meanwhile, Zuba has an ongoing turf battle with Makun- ga (Alec Baldwin), another lion. "And, we have about 45 other stories," Darnell says. "Everyone is back. We have new characters. And, they all tell stories, all kind of on the same theme, crisscrossing each other, and then it all comes togeth- theme, crisscrossing each other, and then it all comes togeth- er at the end." e theme? "To thine own self be true," McGrath says. In addition to the directors, characters, and voice talent, many people from Madagascar joined the Madagascar 2 crew, including head of character animation Rex Grignon, produc- tion designer Kendal Cronkhite, and visual eff ects supervisor Philippe Gluckman. Nol L. Meyer, who had been a layout artist for e Prince of Egypt and other traditional animated features at DreamWorks, became head of layout, and Scott Peterson, most recently an eff ects animator and lighting lead for Shrek the ird, joined the crew as head of eff ects.

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