Alex | |
---|---|
Madagascar character | |
First appearance | Madagascar (2005) |
Voiced by |
Ben Stiller (films and TV specials) Wally Wingert (first video game and spin-offs) Quinn Dempsey Stiller (cub) Declan Swift (cub) Crispin Freeman (second and third video games, All Hail King Julien) |
Information | |
Species | African lion |
Marty | |
---|---|
Madagascar character | |
First appearance | Madagascar (2005) |
Voiced by |
Chris Rock (films and TV specials) Phil LaMarr (video games) Thomas Stanley (foal) |
Information | |
Species | Plains zebra |
Melman Mankiewicz | |
---|---|
Madagascar character | |
First appearance | Madagascar (2005) |
Voiced by |
David Schwimmer (films and TV specials) Stephen Stanton (video games) Zachary Gordon (calf) |
Information | |
Species | Reticulated giraffe |
Gloria | |
---|---|
Madagascar character | |
First appearance | Madagascar (2005) |
Voiced by |
Jada Pinkett Smith (films and TV specials) Bettina Bush (video games) Willow Smith (calf) |
Information | |
Species | Hippopotamus |
Skipper | |
---|---|
Madagascar character | |
First appearance | Madagascar (2005) |
Voiced by | Tom McGrath |
Information | |
Species | Adélie penguin |
Kowalski | |
---|---|
Madagascar character | |
First appearance | Madagascar (2005) |
Voiced by |
Chris Miller (films and other media) Jeff Bennett (The Penguins of Madagascar) |
Information | |
Species | Adélie penguin |
Rico | |
---|---|
Madagascar character | |
First appearance | Madagascar (2005) |
Voiced by |
Jeffrey Katzenberg (Madagascar) John DiMaggio (most media) Fred Tatasciore (second video game) Conrad Vernon (The Penguins of Madagascar) |
Information | |
Species | Adélie penguin |
Private | |
---|---|
Madagascar character | |
First appearance | Madagascar (2005) |
Voiced by |
Christopher Knights (films and video games) James Patrick Stuart (The Penguins of Madagascar) |
Information | |
Species | Adélie penguin |
King Julien XIII | |
---|---|
Madagascar character | |
First appearance | Madagascar (2005) |
Voiced by |
Sacha Baron Cohen (films) Danny Jacobs (TV series and specials, video games, The Penguins of Madagascar, Madagascar 3 soundtrack) Keith Ferguson (first video game) |
Information | |
Species | Ring-tailed lemur |
Maurice | |
---|---|
Madagascar character | |
First appearance | Madagascar (2005) |
Voiced by |
Cedric the Entertainer (films and TV specials) John Cothran, Jr. (first video game) Fred Tatasciore (second and third video games) Kevin Michael Richardson (television) |
Information | |
Species | Aye-aye |
This is a list of characters that have appeared in the Madagascar films, the television series The Penguins of Madagascar, and the Netflix series All Hail King Julien.
Tom McGrath explained in an interview that the intention of Madagascar was not to take a political stance on whether "zoos are bad and the wild is better, or that the wild is bad," but to show "the most extreme 'fish out of water' story that [they] could do". McGrath stated "the basic irony to the story is that, you think animals do belong in the wild, but if they're so accustomed to civility, they wouldn't know where food even came from," and the animals were meant to "love the zoo and to love where they are because they've got" 5,000 square feet (460 m2) "right off Fifth Avenue".
McGrath also described, during the research of Madagascar, they "found these crazy, weird animals that were already cartoons in their own right."
Alex (born Alakay) is a male African lion. Alex is headstrong, protective and self-proclaimed leader of his friends. He is best friends with Marty the zebra (Chris Rock). He is used to the life of comfort in the zoo, but learns to adapt to the wild. He's smart, quick thinking and fast on his feet. He is a dancer by nature, often impressing others with his aerobatic feats. He does tend to be a little self-absorbed, often not seeing the problems of others above his own.
Alex enjoys his life at the zoo and has plenty of friends and is surprised when hearing Marty's wish to leave and live in the wild (or run free in Connecticut as stated in the movie). As a cub, Alex was born on an African wildlife reserve and named Alakay. He has brown and yellow fur, whiskers, a black nose, a big mane, and a long tufted tail. He was the son of the alpha lion, Zuba (Bernie Mac), and was constantly given lessons on hunting, though he displayed no interest in the activity. During one of the sessions, Alex was captured by poachers, but the crate he was contained in fell into a river and eventually floated to New York. He is found by humans who renamed him Alex and took to the Central Park Zoo. In Madagascar, after Marty, Alex's best friend, leaves in an effort to take a train to the wild, Alex, Gloria the hippopotamus (Jada Pinkett Smith), and Melman the giraffe (David Schwimmer) pursue him and are shot with tranquilizer darts by humans. The animal-rights activists pressure the zoo into releasing them back into the wild, but on the ship to the preserve, Alex and his friends fall into the ocean. They wash ashore on Madagascar, and, while Marty is excited to be free, Alex wishes to go home. He grows very hungry after days of being unable to eat, not realizing that steak is animal flesh. Hunger drives Alex into a crazed state, and after almost killing Marty in hunger (by biting him on the butt when he thought it was a piece of steak), in a moment of lucidity, he goes into self-imposed exile, barricading himself in the fossa territory of the island. Marty pursues him, unwilling to leave his friend, but is attacked by the fossa, the native predators of Madagascar. Alex works to defend Marty, and is later given sushi by the penguins to satiate his hunger.