Compare Essay ( Madagascar & The Wild )

  Animated movie were becoming a burgeoning demand in the film industry and

continues to go till today. Animated film is a collection of illustrations that are

photographed frame-by-frame and then played in a quick succession. Since its

inception, animation has had a creative and imaginative tendency. Being able to

bring animals and objects to life, this genre has catered towards fairy tales and

children’s stories. However, animation has long been a genre enjoyed by all

ages. As of recent, there has even been an influx of animation geared towards

adults. Animation is commonly thought of as a technique, thus it’s ability to span

over many different genres.

To begin with, I am a movie fanatic and my favorite genre is animated film.

Watching animated film to me is like escaping from a dull daily routine into the

world of fantasy where everything is beyond my imagination. They carry me to

other dimensions,or in other words,a virtual reality world anime and etc. And

recently, I have watched two popular animated movie which are “Madagascar”

and “the Wild”. I find these two movies are sharing some similarities. There are:

The main character is a Lion,said lion and his friends live in a zoo,the zoo is in

New York,one of the characters wants to escape to the wild, the gang winds up in

the wild where they encounter obstacles and inter species love.

First and foremost, actually the both movies are shared a same synopsis: A lion,

giraffe and their animal buddies are forced to leave a New York City Zoo when

they follow a friend out of the big apple and onto a boat bound for Africa. I

considered The Wild to be heavily derivative of the 2005 film, Madagascar. USA

Today suggested that it was "the most wildly derivative animated movie in ages",

while Variety described it as "ultimately done in by the persistent stench of been-

there-seen-that".

However, similarities include its setting in New York's Central Park Zoo, similar

animals as characters, and the primary plot of introducing zoo animals to the

wild. The name of the film and the tag line, "Start spreading the news", a play on

the opening line from the Frank Sinatra song "New York, New York", were both

used as integral plot points in Madagascar. Moreover, they have same story plot

too: Despite this, At New York's Central Park Zoo, a lion, a zebra, a giraffe, and a

hippo are best friends and stars of the show. But when one of the animals goes

missing from their cage, the other three break free to look for him, only to find

themselves reunited ... on a ship en route to Africa. When their vessel is hijacked,

however, the friends, who have all been raised in captivity, learn first-hand what

life can be like in the wild.

In addition to that, they are using lion as the main character. The lion is

headstrong, protective and self-proclaimed leader of his friends. 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. He 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).

Last but not least,, a few critics defended The Wild as the superior film. Critic

Mike Sage wrote "don't be mistaking this for a Madagascar rip-off, when it was

that sloppy DreamWorks turd that only managed to make it to theaters first

because of corporate espionage". Without addressing which film was the original

concept, Tim Cogshell of Boxoffice Magazine simply wrote "for the adult who

may very well have to experience this film, and who may have experienced

Madagascar, The Wild is better.

In Conclusion, both animated films are different movie but they have a lot of

similarities in theme,story plot,events,characteristics and others. However, here

is a lot that we can learn from this fun animated film! Apart from the many

humorous jokes, the adorable characters, the stunning visuals, and an

entertaining story, Madagascar offers us the opportunity to pick up a lesson or

two. An adult can use instances from the film to highlight to kids the value of

friendship, of sticking together even in troubling times, of adjustments, and of

never giving up hope. There are strains in friendship, caused by Alex(lion)’s need

for meat, but it is apparent that these are friends for life when Marty(Zebra) thinks

of saving Alex’s life, in spite of endangering his own life in the process.

Reference:

http://thescriptlab.com/screenplay/genre/animated

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0351283/plotsummary

http://africasacountry.com/2010/10/africa-on-film-madagascar/

http://www.bucketbros.com/text/disney-dreamworks-feud.html

http://www.forbes.com/forbes/welcome/