Voice Acting: the Show vs. the Movies

While it's safe to say that I definitely prefer the characters as voiced in the series, not the movies, I think it's probably because I've gotten to know the penguins and by extension lemurs etc. through the series, rather than in the films (where you see disappointingly little penguin action anyway). For me, watching the penguins in Madagascar 1/2/3 is weird, both for the voices and the animating style (obviously the films are still awesome, especially the new one - my absolute favourite quote from that being an interaction between Private and Skipper: "Did I do good?", "No, not really.")

Going off topic a bit but personally I think, too, that there is much more development in the series in terms of the relationships between the penguins, and their hierarchy (obviously they are not the focus in the films, but their interaction seems quite flat, Skipper being the only one with any real dialogue, leaving Kowalski, Rico and Private as, essentially, 'yes-men'). For instance, you see Skipper as more of a father-figure (particularly to young Private), and the various 'bromances', so to speak, are explored.

I completely agree with your point about Bennett's voice for Kowalski: his accent coupled with his delightfully geeky personality (the change in pitch when he's excited about something science-y, etc.) make his facetious quips and disastrous(ly amusing) puns all the better   I also think John DiMaggio does an excellent job with Rico - his voice sounds just like I'd've wanted it to. Being a Futurama fan can't hurt, too! I have a feeling if Rico and Bender met, they'd probably get on...haha - though I'd definitely feel sorry for anyone in their vicinity xD

Yeah, DiMaggio does a fantastic job - he can do as much in one grunt as the others can in a whole sentence, but like you said, the animators play a huge part in Rico's personality - his expressions etc. Plus he's in so much awesome stuff besides Penguins and Futurama: Adventure Time, Batman: Under The Red Hood (incidentally, THE best animated Batman film), Ultimate Spider-Man, Princess Mononoke, to name a few. I love finding out what other voices the actors have done, it's fascinating.

You're right, Burt is awesome - I absolutely adore the episodes A Brush With Danger and An Elephant Never Forgets.

Barry is another character whose voice is done really well. Obviously it fits with his façade of being adorable, but Kevin McDonald does a brilliant job at making him sound evil, too. The problem is, I always see Almighty Tallest Purple and Pleakley when he talks! (I hope you've seen Invader Zim and Lilo & Stitch - though if not, I would highly recommend both ).

Haha, yeah, I completely agree! My sister watched IZ when it first came out as well, but she showed it to me for the first time a few years ago - I really love it. Gir is just the best! :3

All of the voice actors are perfect for their characters in my opinion: Maurice's world-weary and distinctly more adult tone, obviously Mort's shrill and unbelievably annoying voice (haha), Burt and Roger both sounding quite camp - which suits both of their personalities really well - and personally I love how Bada and Bing sound like they're in the mafia xD Something I didn't like, however, was when Victoria Justice and Jeanette McCurdy voiced Becky and Stacy - because I watch(/have watched) both Victorious and iCarly, I can't not picture Victoria and Jeanette! It takes me out of the show a little bit, but not in the same way as with Barry/Almighty Tallest Purple/Pleakley, as they're just other characters, there isn't a real face to put with the voice. Since you've seen Kevin McDonald in The Kids in the Hall, do you get this at all? Like, do you always picture him when watching Barry, and does this affect how you see the episode at all?

Oh, Dib. I always felt so sorry for him. Especially with the whole pig thing!

Haha, now you mention it, I see it! Yeah I definitely felt that with Marty. I think it's pretty awesome how they do that. Like, Andy Serkis (Gollum from LOTR) is directing a performance capture re-make of Animal Farm, and I just remembered thinking, "hey, imagine if they did that with the Penguins". Haha.

Yeah! I got the exact same feeling from that episode. Like, I only vaguely knew who Big Time Rush were (through incessant adverts ALL OVER the TV), but when Skipper said "We're in a rush...big time!" I cringed so much. Though I must admit I laughed probably too much when he said "OH. EM. GEE." :')

I have to agree, but I'd like to see the TV voices to some Movie lines, such as Jeff Bennet do that line from Madagascar 2 before the plane is about to crash.

"We lost Engine One! And Engine Two is No longer on fire!"

That'd have to be very interesting.

Nope. XD I've got more lines!


Madagascar 3: Can we get an Airbus A380?

one this that i bet we can all agree on is that, since the show is about the side characters from the movies, it was possibly intentional that character and personality is added a little more to the characters in the show that we don't focus on a lot in the movies, not only by animation tweaks or personalities that we don't focus on alot in the movies, but verbally as well. anyway, that's one of the reasons that i kinda prefer the voice actors in the show as oppose to the movies (though i'm totally stoked about the upcoming movie). if i mentioned another reason, plenty of people on here who know a bit about me might find it a bit tiring coming from me.