This movie focuses on four different talking animals at the Central Park Zoo. There is Alex the lion, Melman the giraffe, Gloria the hippo, and Marty the zebra.

For Marty’s 10^th birthday, he wishes to go to the wild—except that it displeases his friends. At some point, he and the other three main animals get shipped to Madagascar. They encounter lemurs and go on some crazy adventures.

Although I enjoyed it as a kid, I’m not sure what I’d think of it now as an adult. It actually received mixed reviews, including at the time of its release.

Nevertheless, it still remains quite memorable for me today. Below are some moments from the film that stand out to me.

1: The birthday song for Marty

For many years, movies and TV shows were not allowed to have the normal “Happy Birthday” song sung unless they paid millions of dollars to Time Warner. Otherwise, they would get sued. However, around 2016, the song was ruled into the public domain.

Until then, a lot of movies and TV shows would either skip the singing all together or have a made-up birthday song sung. For Madagascar, there was a twist on the regular “Happy Birthday” song. The lyrics were changed from the second stanza and on. It went as follows:

Happy Birthday to you,

You live in a zoo,

You look like a monkey,

And you smell like one, too

This was an actual “Happy Birthday” parody used in real life when kids were trying to be silly. There are other versions of this, as well.

Anyway, the above lyrics were used for Marty’s birthday celebration, sung by Alex, Gloria, and Melman. They also each sang one word at a time instead of all the words together, like we do in real life.

I don’t know if the creators had to pay royalties for that version of “Happy Birthday to You.” But I did find it clever and kind of funny at the time of its release.

2: The lemurs’ version of “I Like to Move it”

I first discovered this song from this film. The lemurs would constantly sing it once the four main characters made it to Madagascar. They even sang it in the end credits, and the four main creatures would dance to it.

Now when I hear this song, I automatically think of the lemurs from this movie.

3: When Marty said “Oh, sugar honey iced tea!”

When Alex and Marty discover each other on the island, the action goes into slow motion. At first, they are happy to see each other. But then Alex gets angry, and Marty says the quote above.

As a child, this glossed over my head. But as an adult, I know what it means. It is actually pretty common for filmmakers to sneak in adult jokes in innuendos into family-friendly entertainment. Kids won’t understand it. But grown-ups will. Of course, the creators avoid going too far. Otherwise, the movies wouldn’t be rated G or PG.

4: How the animals types are not at the Central Park Zoo in real life 

I actually live not too far from New York City. I live on Long Island to be precise. And I’ve been to the Central Park Zoo many times.

They do not have lions, zebras, giraffes, or hippos. They don’t even have chimpanzees. I mention that because they were in the movie version of the zoo, even though they were minor characters.

That being said, they do have penguins. They are in an indoor exhibit behind glass.

But that’s the exception when it comes to what animals are in the film versus what they have in real life.

5: The penguins

Unlike Marty’s friends, the penguins supported his idea of going to the wild. They were even planning to go there themselves.

The penguins’ names are Skipper, Kowalski, Rico, and Private (I don’t know why he was given that name). They each have distinct personalities.

Skipper is a confident leader. Kowalski is logical and smart. Rico can be crazy. And Private is naïve and sensitive.

But despite the movie’s mixed reviews, the penguins got their own movie in 2014, called Penguins of Madagascar. Surprisingly, it did a bit better than Madagascar.

Conclusion

All in all, those are the most memorable moments from 2005’s Madagascar. Like I said before, I am not sure of what I would think of the movie today.

But if you’ve never seen it, I’d say it’s worth a watch. If you’re a parent, maybe your children will like this.

What do you think of my picks? Let me know in the comments if you’d like.