ericadawn16 | Penguins of Madagascar: THE MOVIE!

Short Version...it was everything I wanted.

Long version has SPOILERS

The thing about animated films nowadays is that they can't just have a plot. Audiences aren't satisfied with just a plot. We need a message; a lesson to be learned.

Yet I was so used to watching the animated series on Nickelodeon that I wasn't expecting one. However, it didn't just have one...it had more like 3-5.

The line that struck me the most in the film was this exchange that I unfortunately have to paraphrase:

Penguin: This won't make you liked any better.

Villain: I know but it will make (this group) hated more than me and I'll enjoy that.

This is one of the basest, worst human traits boiled down so simply that a toddler could understand. We enjoy making others LESS than others. We like thinking that we are superior in some way to others. Even in areas that are predominantly one race, then they start using other standards like income, accents, and religion to determine who is better than everyone else.

For a moment or so, I was just stunned by that exchange, by the truth in it and how even more important it is for this week that it's addressed how villains like to put others down to feel better about themselves. I hope at least one of the children watching remembers that and links it one day with the real world around them.

Then, there's Private. Private embodies the stereotypically female role despite being male. As he's told time and time again, he's there to look pretty and not actually be useful to the group. Like many females before him, his pleas for a more active role are refused again and again until the time comes when they are physically unable to refuse him and he finally gets to shine. Everyone is forced to admit being wrong about looks being so important AND that it doesn't feel good for others to tell you how much you don't matter...yes, the second one is another good one for the adults to learn.

It even shows how those who THINK they know best can be terribly WRONG!

The film felt a little long at first but once I realized how they were resolving all the plots, I was totally on board with the length.

No, it's not good with actual female characters. There is only one and she gets very little characterization; just the basic aloof secret agent who likes to roll her eyes a lot.

I want to know where MARLENE IS! I'm going to imagine that she and Maurice are having awesome adventures without them because I can't stand the alternative.

I thought Penguins were cute and then, they invented MERMAID PENGUINS!
Damn, I totally want one.

Mort and Julian show up for the credits! Thus, the film really does have all my favorite Madagascar characters except for Marlene. I love how my mom said the cast was a bunch of nobodies because she only recognized Benedict Cumberbatch and Andy. Yes, she needs not say Richter. There is only one Andy in this household.

I did inform her how Werner Herzog is a pretty big name and was also a voice.

Yep, my recommendations for this weekend are Penguins of Madagascar and Rosewater.

"And that's why you look back during an explosion!"