Hatching Top--notch Spies In “PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR”
Get ready for a thrilling rollercoaster ride with the
world-renowned spy penguins – Skipper, Rico, Kowalski and Private in “Penguins
of Madagascar.” The Penguins’ transition
from beloved supporting characters in “Madagascar” to headlining their own big
screen epic was a no-brainer, thanks to their memorable traits.
“What drives the Penguins in all the
films are their distinct and strong personalities,” says director Eric
Darnell. Adds director Simon J. Smith:
“They’re like a band of brothers who above all value their friendship, moral
code and love for one another.” Most
importantly, the Penguins really bring the funny. “The most exciting thing about the project
was to experience the story’s and characters’ humor,” says producer Mark
Swift. “They’re so appealing because
they are so hilarious.”
There’s Skipper, voiced by Tom
McGrath, who created the characters for the blockbuster animated feature
“Madagascar,” which he helmed, along with Darnell. McGrath’s Skipper is the
team’s fearless leader and keeper of the Penguin code. He demands loyalty, obedience and order from
his regimented flock, and asks nothing of his men that he wouldn’t do himself. His right-flipper man, Kowalski, voiced by
DreamWorks animator Chris Miller, is the brains of the operation, and the go-to
guy when the Penguins need a quick, life-saving fix.
The third member of the team, Rico,
is “voiced” by DreamWorks Animation artist and Madagascar 3 director Conrad
Vernon. Rico lives to blow things
up. When he’s kept on a tight leash,
Rico is an effective weapon, but left to his own devices is a loose cannon. Finally, there’s Private, voiced by
DreamWorks Animation editor Christopher Knights; although he is the runt of the
team, Private has the biggest heart of them all. Private is always up for new challenges, but
because the group still sees him as the “baby,” he’s often sidelined during
their missions.
Each of the Penguins makes a
memorable impression, and collectively, they’re a force to be reckoned with.
“The sum of the Penguins is greater than the parts,” says Darnell. “The guys work incredibly well as a group –
far better than they would as individuals.
They’re like four parts of a complete brain: You’ve got Skipper’s
leadership, Private’s heart, Kowalski’s smarts, and Rico’s courage. So the four of them make this whole, and that
makes them a lot of fun.”
In fact, the Penguins are very much
in the tradition of great movie teams, notes McGrath, like The A-Team, The
Dirty Dozen, “Star Trek’s” Kirk and Spock, and even The Marx Brothers. “They’re these huge personalities in a tiny
package,” he says. “And like many great
screen teams, the Penguins are taken out of their comfort zone. They embark on a globetrotting adventure,
where they meet characters who really make the Penguins step up their game.”
Their inextricable bonds and
unforgettable antics are on full display when we discover the origins of the
Penguins in the film’s opening sequences, set in Antarctica’s icy
wasteland. Right off the bat, we’re
aware that these are not your typical penguins.
Skipper, Kowalski and Rico are marching to the beat of a different
drummer, avoiding the documentary-film tropes of penguins waddling across the
icy tundra and triggering audience exclamations of “aren’t they cute!”
A DreamWorks Animation feature
presentation, “Penguins of Madagascar” opens November 26 in 2D, 3D and IMAx
format from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.
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