The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper (2005)

brilliant actors, brilliant editing

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

THe Penguin Christmas Caper is a blisteringly funny and fast paced little short that is far funnier that the film from which it spun.Private, the least insane of the gang of Madagascar Penguins, decides to venture out into the streets of New York to buy a present for the lonely Polar Bear, who is all alone on Christmas. He is mistaken for a chew toy, and brought home by an old lady to be a present for her vicious, salivating but tiny dog. THe rest of the crew embark on a rescue mission.Skipper barks orders, Kowlaski has the logistics and Rico, he just wants to blow something up. The jokes are in every line, and every corner of every frame of this short. Its ten minutes well spent. ***1/2 out of ****.

The Wallace and Grommit feature originally was prefaced with a short about how tedious the process of creating it was. The opening cities reported that the short was ruining the fun of the feature, so at the last minute, this was inserted.It was originally intended for another purpose, and a Christmas release, then shelved because it is so bad.You see, we already know a lot about what makes an animated feature appealing, and the Dreamworks formula just doesn't cut it. Oh, they make money, but the mark is set by Pixar.Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.

The three main characters of the film Madagascar are fairly stereotyped and have one-hit wonder stamped all over them. The penguins, one the other hand, have true potential as they make reference so many classics of the past e.g. Bilko. The short film demonstrates some of this potential and was a very welcome bonus to the also excellent Curse of the Wererabbit. There were certainly echoes of Toy Story 2, as the old lady tests the penguin to see if he squeaks with a great "bottom gag" much appreciated by the children and a similar plot line which was very well executed. Above all, children appreciated the concept of looking after each other in a world dominated by grown ups and the penguins epitomise this ideal. Needless to say, the animation is excellent.

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.