Overview
See production notesIn Antarctica, penguin chicks Skipper, Rico, and Kowalski rescue an egg from leopard seals on an abandoned whaling ship and are sent on an iceberg. When the egg hatches, the trio adopt the chick as their brother, Private. Ten years later, Circus Zaragoza is continuing their American tour in Kentucky. The penguins leave to celebrate Private's birthday by breaking into Fort Knox to get Cheesy Dibbles from a vending machine, despite Private's wish of being recognized as a meaningful and valued team member. The penguins are subsequently kidnapped and taken to a submarine in Venice, where they meet Dave, a Giant Pacific octopus who was once an attraction at the Central Park Zoo until they upstaged him when they arrived. After being repeatedly transferred between numerous zoos and aquariums around the world, continuously upstaged by penguins, Dave disguised himself as a human scientist named Dr. Octavius Brine to enact his revenge. Rico swallows a vial of Dave's snow globe collection from every zoo and aquarium that he was transferred to and his chemical, the Medusa Serum before the penguins escape. Fleeing through Venice while pursued by Dave's octopus henchmen, the penguins are rescued by the North Wind, an inter-species intelligence agency consisting of a Eurasian wolf leader whose name is classified (Skipper calls him "Classified"), polar bear muscle Corporal, harp seal demolitionist Short Fuse, and snowy owl intelligence analyst Eva. The penguins show the North Wind the Medusa Serum, but Dave calls to reveal he actually has much more serum. The North Wind gets alerts of Dave kidnapping captive penguins around the world. Deeming Skipper's team a liability to the mission, Classified tranquilizes them and puts them on a plane bound for a North Wind safe house in Madagascar. The penguins escape the plane, and, using Dave's snow globes, realize Dave targets every zoo and aquarium he was kicked out of, with the Shanghai Zoo as his next target. The penguins forms a plan to stop Dave, and Private reluctantly agrees to be the bait. They manage to trap Dave with a dinosaur skeleton just as the North Wind shows up. Dave escapes through a drain and captures the Shanghai penguins along with Private. Skipper, Rico, and Kowalski hijack the North Wind's jet to pursue him. At Dave's lair, Private learns that Dave plans to use the Medusa Serum to turn penguins into monsters for the public to hate and exterminate. Upon reaching Dave's hideout, the penguins and the North Wind clash over their different plans to infiltrate the submarine, before Skipper relents and goes with the North Wind's plan. The penguins distract the octopus guards while the North Wind sneak inside, but both teams are captured. Dave tests the Medusa Serum on Private, but he escapes using a paper clip he swallowed earlier, unbeknownst to everyone present, who believe Private has been vaporized. Private finds and frees the North Wind, but they refuse to help without their equipment, so Private goes alone. As Dr. Brine, Dave unleashes the mutated penguins on New York City. Private obtains Dave's ray, finds Skipper, Rico, and Kowalski, and restores their sanity. As the penguins and the North Wind battle Dave and his henchmen, Private inserts himself into Dave's ray, using the power of his cuteness to restore the other penguins. This causes Private to gain a magenta purple hue, as well as spots and antlers, and Dave is now shrunken and trapped inside one of his snow globes, which Skipper gives to a little girl. Skipper deems Private the most meaningful and valued member of the team, to the approval of the North Wind, who give the penguins jetpacks. Later, the penguins return to the circus and use Dave's machine to return Private to normal, using Mort as the power source. It works and Mort remains the same, outwardly, but is able to devour King Julien in one gulp.
Plot from Penguins of MadagascarCC BY-SA 4.0
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Quotes
See all quotesDocumentary filmmaker: [first lines; narrating] Antarctica, an inhospitable wasteland. But even here, on the Earth's frozen bottom, we find life. [The wind blows away the snow, revealing an egg and it rolls down the hill] And not just any life… penguins. Joyous, frolicking, waddling, cute and cuddly life. Look at them, tumbling onto their chubby bum-bums. Who could take these frisky snow-clowns... Skipper: [interrupting the narration] Seriously? Does anyone even know where we're marching to? Penguin #1: Who (knows, who) cares? Penguin #2: I question nothing. Penguin #3 and #4: Me, too. Skipper: Well, fine. We'll just fly to the front of the line and see for ourselves. Kowalski, Rico, engage aerial surveillance. Kowalski: Skipper, we appear to be flightless. Skipper: [looks at his wings] Oh, well, what's the point of these? Skipper: Whoa, I like it! Hey, this could be our thing! What're we gonna call it? Let's call it the, uh... high one. Skipper: Hey, anybody see that? That's an egg! I
Penguins of Madagascar, CC BY-SA 4.0
Skipper: Kowalski, analysis? Kowalski: We are really... awesome at this! Skipper: Boys, we did it! Mission accomplished! Hey, we can do our thing! High one! Skipper: Ooh. My bad. Rico: Uh-oh! Skipper: Look, it's... it's the miracle of birth. Kowalski: A moment of extraordinary beauty. Skipper: Daaagh! That is disgusting! I think I have amniotic sac in my mouth! Private: Hello. Are you my family? Kowalski: [cuts Skipper off] You don't have a family, and we're all going to die. Sorry. Private: [concerned] Wh-Wha...? Kowalski: What? I-I thought that was what we were all nodding about. Skipper: [nudges Kowalski again] No one's gonna die! [to Private] You know what you've got, kid? You've got us. We've got each other, and if that ain't a family, I don't know what is. Skipper: [tussles Private's head] So adorable. Kowalski, what's our trajectory? Kowalski: 95% certain we're still doomed. Skipper: And the, uh... other 5%? Kowalski: Adventuring and glory like no penguins have ever seen before.
Penguins of Madagascar, CC BY-SA 4.0
Skipper: Private, if you could have anything you wanted in the whole wide world, what would it be? Private: Well, gee, Skipper. I think to be a meaningful and valued member of this team. Skipper: Oh, well, we got you something else. Private: A vending machine? Skipper: Well, not just any vending machine, Private. The last remaining home in America's nanny states for those succulent and chemically-hazerdous bits of puffed heaven called... Private: [gasps] Cheezy Dibbles! Skipper: [gives Private a coin] Happy ding-dong birthday, ya little scamp!
Penguins of Madagascar, CC BY-SA 4.0
We're behind enemy lines and incredibly thirsty. [throws a bag of Cheesy Dibbles away] Rico, bust us out of this delicious prison. Nice work, Rico. You're a meaningful and valued member of this team. [off-screen] Private, quit lolly-gagging, and regular gagging!
Penguins of Madagascar, CC BY-SA 4.0
Kowalski: It looks like some sort of giant laser sent to kill us all, sir! Private: Ooh, another one! Skipper, Kowalski and Rico: NO! [stop Private from pressing a third button. Suddenly, drops of water drop down on the panel and on the flippers. The penguins look up and see something] Male voice: ♪ Naughty, naughty ♪ Dr. Octavius Brine: Pretty birds belong in their cages. Penguins: Ew! Dr. Brine: Now, that's just hurtful. And I was so happy to see you again. [untangles himself] Skipper… [Skipper gasps] …Kowalski, Rico… [bends down to Private] and sweet little Private. [taps on Private's beak] Boop! Skipper: Who are you? (And how do you speak animal?) Dr. Brine: The humans know me as Dr. Octavius Brine - renowned geneticist, cheese enthusiast, and frequent donor to NPR pledge drives… but you know me by a different, much older name. A name perhaps you hope you'd never hear again. A phantom! A shadow of a former life! I... am... [transforms into a purple octopus, who emerges from the cos
Penguins of Madagascar, CC BY-SA 4.0
Skipper: We're not going anywhere with you. [munches] We don't even know who the hell you are. Classified: The North Wind is an elite undercover interspecies… [Skipper munches on Cheezy Dibbles each time, interrupting him] The North Wind is an elite undercover interspec… an elite undercover interspecies… task… force. Dedicated to help… helping… Dedicated to help… [groans] Dedicated to helping animals who can't help themselves. [Skipper munches again for the last time] Like penguins. Skipper: [crumbles up the bag and tosses it] Really? And you are? Classified: My name is classified. Skipper: Classified, eh? What is that, uh, Dutch? I can't really hear the accent. Classified: Excuse me? Skipper: There's the accent. Classified: No, my (actual) name isn't "Classified". My name is classified because I am the leader of this strike team. The seal is Short Fuse, weapons and explosives. The bear is Corporal; he's our muscle. And the owl is Eva, intelligence and analysis.
Penguins of Madagascar, CC BY-SA 4.0
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