Samson the Wild (Kiefer Sutherland) claims to be the king of the jungle. He rules the New York Zoo. His son Ryan can't get the roar right and has a fight with him. The animals play when the zoo closes at night. Ryan goes off in a huff and accidentally gets locked in a trailer container. The containers are being sent to Africa to rescue animals being evacuated from a volcano. Samson sets off to retrieve Ryan with the help of squirrel Benny (Jim Belushi), koala Nigel (Eddie Izzard), giraffe Bridget (Janeane Garofalo), and anaconda Larry (Richard Kind). In Africa, they face off against wildebeest Kazar (William Shatner).
This came one year after Madagascar and sometimes being first is being the winner. That's the case in this one. I don't necessarily blame this movie. I certainly don't claim that this movie copied anything from Madagascar. In fact, I'm sure Disney had a minor meltdown when they saw the similarities. This is less wacky than Madagascar. This story may be a slight improvement. The voice work is less wacky comedy although there is plenty of jokes. The animation is 3D semi-realism which makes Samson look like a stuffed toy. No matter any possible improvements or deficits from Madagascar, the comparison is never far behind and the movie suffers from the perceived lack of originality.