Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted is a 2012 American computer-animated circus comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The film is the third installment of the Madagascar film series, following Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008), and was the first film in the series to be released in 3D. It was directed by Eric Darnell, Conrad Vernon, and Tom McGrath from a screenplay by Darnell and Noah Baumbach, and features Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric the Entertainer, Andy Richter, and McGrath reprising their voice acting roles from the previous installments, alongside new cast members Jessica Chastain, Bryan Cranston, Martin Short, and Frances McDormand. In the film, the main characters—a party of animals from the Central Park Zoo whose adventures have already taken them to Madagascar and Africa—attempt to return to New York, and find themselves traveling across Europe with a circus while being pursued by a relentless Animal Control officer.
Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted premiered at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival on May 18, and was theatrically released in the United States on June 8, 2012. It was the eighth highest-grossing film of 2012 and the highest-grossing film in the franchise, with a worldwide gross of over $746 million. A spin-off titled Penguins of Madagascar was released in 2014. A sequel, Madagascar 4: Australia Circus, was initially planned for a 2018 theatrical release, but was removed from the release schedule following a restructuring of DreamWorks Animation in 2015.
Cast[]
- Ben Stiller as Alex, a lion.
- Chris Rock as Marty, a plains zebra and Alex's best friend.
- David Schwimmer as Melman, a reticulated giraffe, another of Alex's friends and Alex's best friend.
- Jada Pinkett Smith as Gloria, a hippopotamus, another of Alex's friends, Alex's best friend and Melman's love interest.
- John Goodman as James P. Sullivan, a huge, furry blue ogre with horns, a tail, and purple spots.
- Billy Crystal as Mike Wazowski, a short, round green monster with a single big eyeball and skinny limbs.
- Sacha Baron Cohen as King Julien XIII, a ring-tailed lemur who is the king of the lemurs in Madagascar.
- Cedric the Entertainer as Maurice, an aye-aye and adviser of King Julien XIII.
- Andy Richter as Mort, a Goodman's mouse lemur and a companion of King Julien XIII.
- Tom McGrath as Skipper, a penguin who is the leader of all penguins and First Policeman.
- Chris Miller as Kowalski, a penguin and Skipper's right-hand man.
- Christopher Knights as Private, a penguin.
- John DiMaggio as Rico, a penguin.
- Frances McDormand as Captain Chantel DuBois, the leader of the Animal Control.
- Jessica Chastain as Gia, an Italian jaguar and Alex's love interest.
- Martin Short as Stefano, an Italian sea lion.
- Bryan Cranston as Vitaly, a Russian Siberian tiger and a former superstar of the travelling circus.
- Conrad Vernon as Mason, a chimpanzee
- Frank Welker as Sonya, a Eurasian brown bear and King Julien's love interest.