The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper

The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper
Directed by	Gary Trousdale
Produced by	Teresa Cheng
Written by	Michael Lachance
Starring	Chris Miller John DiMaggio Tom McGrath Elisa Gabrielli Christopher Knights Bill Fagerbakke
Music by	James Dooley
Production company	DreamWorks Animation
Distributed by	DreamWorks Pictures
Release date	October 7, 2005 (2005-10-07)
Running time	12 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper is a computer-animated short produced by DreamWorks Animation. The 12-minute Madagascar spin-off features the adventures of four penguins, sometimes known as the Madagascar Penguins, who live in the Central Park Zoo and are trained as spies.

The short premiered in theaters on October 7, 2005 with the stop-motion film, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. It was directed by animation veteran Gary Trousdale, produced by Teresa Cheng, and written by Michael Lachance.

Focusing on the Madagascar penguins and taking place before the events of the first Madagascar, the youngest penguin on the team, Private, slips out of the zoo on Christmas Eve to find a present for a lonely polar bear named Ted. While roaming the streets of Manhattan, he is captured by Nana (the mean old lady from the first film) who mistakes him for a chew toy for her vicious dog, Mr Chew. The other three penguins, Skipper, Kowalski, and Rico, rescue Private from Nana's apartment before it is too late. They escalate into chaos against Mr. Chew, all-the-while, not noticed by Nana, who is occupied watching a football game. When they are done, they detonate the door with a stick of dynamite (which Rico had repeatedly attempted to use prior), finally attracting Nana's attention and leaving Mr. Chew to take the fall for what the penguins have done to her place.

At the end of the film they invite Ted to their home. But he has already invited several other guests, resulting in a massive sing-a-long to a parody of Jingle Bells.