The Penguins of Madagascar

Plot

The Penguins of Madagascar is a spin-off of the Madagascar films. The series follows the adventures of four penguins—Skipper, Kowalski, Private, and Rico, who perform various commando-like missions to protect their home in the Central Park Zoo. The penguins often have to deal with problems caused, or made worse, by their zoo neighbors, King Julien XIII (a ring-tailed lemur), Maurice (an aye-aye), and Mort (a mouse lemur).

Characters

The Penguins of Madagascar features the four penguin characters from the Madagascar franchise, as well as the two chimpanzees and the three lemurs. Characters new to the franchise include Marlene the otter and Alice the zookeeper, among others. Tom McGrath, John DiMaggio, Andy Richter, and Conrad Vernon reprise their roles as Skipper, Rico, Mort, and Mason respectively.

All four of the penguin characters are designed differently in the cartoon than they are in the movie to make them more distinguishable and easier to tell apart. Skipper's head is flatter in the series; Kowalski is taller; Rico has an unexplained scar over his mouth, a double chin, and a feathery Mohawk; and Private is shorter, younger, and rounder. Their personalities and abilities were also exaggerated. The texture of the characters was also changed to be better suited for television work.

Main

Skipper (voiced by Tom McGrath) is the leader of the penguins, who devises tactics and gives orders. Arrogant, calculating, strict, temperamental and energetic, Skipper's raving paranoia and tendency to view even the most ordinary activities as a military operation, combined with his experience in covert ops, has driven him to prepare for nearly any situation, no matter how bizarre or unlikely. He is also the second-youngest of the penguins. It is revealed in the episode "Needle Point" that Skipper is afraid of needles. McGrath reprises his role from the films.

Kowalski (voiced by Jeff Bennett) is the oldest of the penguins and is the team's intelligence officer, strategist, and gadgeteer. He is a brilliant inventor, but cannot read (although he does carry around a clipboard upon which he records drawings of their plans). He also tends to over-analyze situations and has created many amazing devices which have put the team in danger. It is revealed in the episode "Needle Point" that he is afraid of going to the dentist. Bennett replaces Chris Miller from the films.

Rico (voiced by John DiMaggio) is the second-oldest of the penguins and is the team's explosives specialist and weapons supplier, who mainly communicates through grunts, coughs and squeals, but sometimes he can speak rather normally. Slightly unhinged, Rico swallows useful tools, such as dynamite, and regurgitates them when needed, to the point of regularly regurgitating objects that appear to be too large for him to have swallowed in the first place. He has been referred to as a psychopath in several episodes. He is shown in some episodes to be in a relationship with a female doll called Miss Perky. DiMaggio reprises his role from the short film The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper.

Private (voiced by James Patrick Stuart) is the youngest of the penguins and is the emotionally sensitive, mild-mannered, English-accented rookie of the team. Though younger and inexperienced than the other penguins, he is the most down to earth; Private tends to offer simpler, more commonsense solutions in response to Skipper and Kowalski's complex strategies, often in an understated tone while those strategies are falling apart (e.g., "The Officer X Factor"). He often shows an eager interest in unicorns, as evidenced by his love of a show called "The Lunacorns" (e.g., "Hello, Dollface," "Operation: Lunacorn Apocalypse"), for which he is often ridiculed. Private is also a skilled fighter. Stuart replaces Christopher Knights from the films.

Recurring

Roger (voiced by Richard Kind) is the penguins' alligator friend who lives in the sewer. They meet him in the episode "Haunted Habitat" when Skipper and Marlene go to investigate in the sewer under Marlene's habitat because of a strange sound. Roger tells the penguins that he is from Florida. He appears again in "Roger Dodger" when the sewer rats terrorize him and in "Gator Watch" when he wants a new home, eventually being captured and sent to the zoo.

Max / "Moon-cat" (voiced by Wayne Knight) is the penguins' stray cat friend. He first meets the four penguins in the episode "Launchtime" when the penguins end up on a rooftop across the street from the zoo instead of on the moon. At first, the penguins thought he was a "moon-cat," but at the end they figure out he was a stray cat, but they still refer to Max as "Moon-cat" out of habit. Max is skinny and hopes to catch a bird in his life. He at first wanted to eat the penguins, but was so touched when they gave him a can of fish that he became their friend instead. He appeared again in "Cat's Cradle," in which he tried to hide from Officer X from Animal Control.

Joey (voiced by James Patrick Stuart) is an anti-social kangaroo with a passion for boxing. He is extremely possessive of his habitat. Most of his comments refer to physically hurting the subject of discussion. He speaks with an Australian accent.

Bada and Bing (voiced by John DiMaggio and Kevin Michael Richardson) are two gorillas who enjoy fighting. They once beat up Mort, which led to Mort growing after he was thrown into Kowalski's latest invention, and they then got beat up by Mort to get a mango. Julien once gave them many bananas but it is possible that they beat him up due to him giving too much to them. They are occasionally used as bodyguards to various characters, specifically anyone claiming to be the king. Some episodes suggest that the penguins are afraid of the gorillas due to their power, but these are outnumbered by episodes in which the penguins easily beat them, typically without provocation. They also tend to play up the stereotype of Italian-American mobsters.

Fred (voiced by Fred Stoller) is a squirrel that takes everything said literally and has a slow monotone speech pattern. Fred lives in a park near the zoo. He dated Marlene in "Otter Things Have Happened," but she later broke up with him. He does not get excited about much, and consistently seems unhappy.

Production

In mid-2006, Nickelodeon and DreamWorks Animation announced that they would collaborate to create a show based on the Madagascar films. The new series would star the penguins from the film series. Nothing was confirmed on what the series would be about until November 2007.

At first, in November 2007, Nickelodeon advertised a sneak peek of three new Nicktoons coming to the channel, The Mighty B!, Making Fiends, and The Penguins of Madagascar all on November 25, 2007, as part of Superstuffed Nicktoons Weekend. Then, in December 2007, Nickelodeon advertised many events that were going to premiere in 2008 (The Mighty B!, Fairly OddBaby, The Penguins of Madagascar, KCA 2008, "Sidekicks," and "Pest of the West"). Since then, The Penguins of Madagascar premiere was delayed at least twice in 2008. It was most likely delayed to make room for the release of Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa on November 7, 2008. On November 28, Nickelodeon aired an episode from the series as a sneak peek. The series officially debuted 4 months later on March 28, 2009, at 9:30 pm ET/PT. The Double DVD Pack edition of Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa released on February 6, 2009, included an unaired episode of the show called "Popcorn Panic." This episode officially aired on TV 3 months later on May 9, 2009. On December 24, 2013, new episodes of the series were moved to the Nicktoons channel.

The series was co-produced by DreamWorks Animation and the Nickelodeon Animation Studio's Burbank location. Animation services were outsourced to India, New Zealand and Taiwan. The producers were planning on a 26-episode first season, but the episode number was changed to 48.

Casting

Some of the voice actors who voiced the characters in the films were unable to reprise their roles for the series. Chris Miller, who had voiced Kowalski, was replaced by Jeff Bennett, while Christopher Knights was replaced by James Patrick Stuart for the voice of Private. Danny Jacobs took over from Sacha Baron Cohen as the voice of King Julien, and Cedric the Entertainer's character, Maurice, is now voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson. Tom McGrath, John DiMaggio, Andy Richter and Conrad Vernon reprised their roles of Skipper, Rico, Mort, and Mason for the TV series, respectively. Other characters are voiced by the same actors who had voiced them in the films, while some characters, like Marlene the otter and Alice the zookeeper, are new characters created especially for the series.

Broadcast

Nickelodeon debut

Nickelodeon aired a "sneak peek" preview of The Penguins of Madagascar in the United States on November 28, 2008, and officially launched the series on March 28, 2009, after the 2009 Kids' Choice Awards.

International

In Australia, The Penguins of Madagascar premiered on April 18, 2009, on Nickelodeon. In Canada, the series premiered on September 12, 2009, on Nickelodeon Canada and YTV. In Ireland, the series premiered on Nickelodeon Ireland and RTÉ Two on April 12, 2009. The series debuted in Australia and New Zealand on April 18, 2009, on Nickelodeon (Australia and New Zealand). In the United Kingdom, the series premiered on April 12, 2009, on Nickelodeon UK, CITV, and Viva. The series was added to Hulu in June 2018. The series premiered on Duronto TV in Bangladesh on March 1, 2021, alongside Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness.

Critical reception

Mary McNamara of the Los Angeles Times gave The Penguins of Madagascar a favorable review. She said that the show had strong comedic timing and action scenes, saying that it recalled both Wile E. Coyote cartoons and 1940s gangster films. Tim Goodman's review in the San Francisco Chronicle is also favorable; he considered the penguins and King Julien as having the most comedic potential from the films, with his review focusing on the voice actors' comedic timing, and said that the show also contained several jokes that would make it appealing to adults.

Brian Lowry of Variety described the show as "loud, exuberant and colorful" and praised its animation quality, but he did not think that it was funny and said that the show seemed more like a "merchandising bonanza."

In other media

Film

A spin-off film featuring the penguins had been in the works since 2005, when the first film had been released, with a release date planned for 2009. In March 2011, DreamWorks announced that the four penguin characters would be given their own feature film, to be directed by Simon J. Smith (the co-director of Bee Movie), produced by Lara Breay and written by Alan J. Schoolcraft and Brent Simons (the writers of Megamind). In July 2012, at Comic-Con, it was announced that the film, tentatively titled The Penguins of Madagascar, would be released in 2015. Robert Schooley, one of the producers of the show, said that the film will be unrelated to the TV show of the same name, but he did say that could always change. In September 2012, DreamWorks Animation and 20th Century Fox, which became the studio's then-new distributor after the end of their distribution deal with Nickelodeon's sister studio Paramount Pictures, announced the release date for March 27, 2015, and a new pair of writers, Michael Colton and John Aboud. In August 2013, it was reported that Benedict Cumberbatch would voice Agent Classified from the North Wind and John Malkovich voiced the film's charming villain, Dr. Octavius Brine/Dave. On May 20, 2014, the film's release date was moved up to November 26, 2014, switching places with DreamWorks Animation's other film Home.

The film received mixed reviews from critics and audiences, and despite grossing $374 million worldwide on a $132 million budget, underperformed at the box office, causing DreamWorks to take a $57.1 million write-down on behalf of the film, along with another DreamWorks Animation film released earlier that year, Mr. Peabody & Sherman.

Toys

DreamWorks licensed a number of manufacturers to create products for the show, including Hooga Loo Toys, which had a successful run creating a line of plush toys associated with the second Madagascar film. Based on its success, Hooga Loo was granted a license to create an entirely new toy line for the new series. Hooga Loo recruited the creative development team, Pangea Corporation, the company who assisted Playmates Toys in the development of the very successful Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, to work systemically with DreamWorks and develop toys inspired by the series. The toy line included a full range of plush characters, as well as collectible figures and wacky vehicles. Fast food restaurants courted DreamWorks to glean the rights for a QSR deal, which finally materialized in late 2009. McDonald's had produced a line of toys based on the second film; this relationship forged a new deal with them.

Licensed merchandise based on the show began debuting in January 2010. In the following month, McDonald's began their "Mission: Play" Happy Meal toy campaign, which featured eight toys based on the penguins in the series.

Video games

The Penguins of Madagascar video game is a Nintendo DS action-adventure game based on the TV show of the same name. The game was released by THQ on November 2, 2010, and was developed by Griptonite Games.

The Penguins of Madagascar: Dr. Blowhole Returns – Again! was released by THQ on September 6, 2011, for Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Nintendo DS.

Rejected revival series

On January 11, 2026, X user Alb3rt0 reported that Kade Byrand, who was a visual development artist for Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, had pitched a revival of the show to DreamWorks Animation Television, but ultimately got rejected later on.