Les pingouins de Madagascar: Mission Noël

I haven't even seen "Madagascar" yet, but because of this, I want to. I've been bragging about this to my friends ever since I saw it in front of the "Wallace and Gromit" movie. I don't care if I have to buy "Madagascar" just for the penguins, I will. I'll give you insight on what to watch out for without giving away too much: the bowling pin, "kaboom!", the #1 rule of penguins. If you don't like "Wallace and Gromit," fine. Go see it just for this. If you liked "Madagascar," you'll love this. I was always a fan of short animated films. My girlfriend and I both thought this was one of the funniest we've seen in years.

The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper (2005)

*** (out of 4)

Charming ten-minute short has Private sneaking out of the Zoo so that he can find a Christmas gift for a lonely polar bear. While walking around the streets he ends up getting kidnapped by a mean old lady and soon three other penguins must try and rescue him. Even if you haven't seen MADAGASCAR it's likely you'll still enjoy this short, which has plenty of fast action, a nice pace and some pretty big laughs. I thought the entire story was a fairly strong one that managed to mix in laughs with the Christmas spirit, which is obviously the main time of the year that this is going to be watched. I thought the film displayed a large amount of imagination and this includes the very funny bit where the three penguins try and get into the old woman's apartment building. The snowman gag was terrific as were the scenes inside the apartment building as the penguins must deal with an angry dog. The action in the film is very fast and furious and I think it really does show how much thought went into the production. Quite often these spin off shorts have weak stories to go with them but that certainly wasn't the case here and adults and children should have a good time.

It's Christmas Eve. Private is concerned about Ted the Polar Bear being sad. He disobeys orders and goes out to get a gift for him. Skipper leads the squad to find him. A mean rich old lady mistakes Private for a toy and buys him for her dog Mr. Chew. Mr. Chew turns out to be a vicious dog and the squad arrives just in time.

The Penguins have always been my favorite characters of the Madagascar franchise. This short has a good density of jokes. The gang is fun. There is good hijinx. The main leads of Madagascar aren't really in this and that is perfectly fine. It's nice that Private is looking out for others and the gang looks out for each other.

Scrat was arguably the funnies character in 'Ice Age' and he was awarded with his own very funny animated short film. The funniest characters in 'Madagascar' were the penguins and they as well get their animated short. The difference is that this short is actually better than the animated feature film.

I liked 'Madagascar' up to a point but we are spoiled with films like 'Shrek' and 'The Incredibles' and 'Madagascar is nowhere near that good. 'The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper' comes a lot closer.

The story with the penguins out in New York, three searching for a fourth, gives us plenty of laughs. I have seen this before 'Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit' and it was almost as entertaining. That really does say something!

I went to see Wallace and Gromit last night and was surprised to see this little gem tagged on to the start.

The story follows a group of penguins that are trying to rescue one of their own after he leaves to buy a Christmas present for someone else, only to wind up being put in a stocking himself.

This short was just as well made as the full length features in every way.

I wasn't overly impressed with Madagascar, but this short was superb. It was far funnier than Madagascar itself, and possibly even Wallace and Gromit. As someone else has already said, it seems odd to tag a Christmas theme on the front of a Halloween one.

It's worth the admission fee for this alone.