Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa - Move It! Move It! Double DVD Pack

DreamWorks animated film "Madagascar" came out a few years ago and was a big hit. Its sequel, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, did equally well at entertaining audiences this past fall.

On the newly-released two-disc DVD, viewers can once again enjoy the exploits of Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra, and their friends, as they roam around the plains of Africa in search of their roots.

The extras-pack DVD set includes a wealth of bonus features:

"It's a Family Affair: The Cast of Escape 2 Africa" is a featurette with Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, Jada Pinkett Smith and David Schwimmer, Alec Baldwin and others talking about their roles and making the sequel.

Pardon the pun, but the late Bernie Mac is also lionized for his role in the film.

Co-writer and director Tom McGrath discusses his role as the memorable voice of the head penguin, Skipper, who sounds a lot like Phil Hartman.

"Crash Landing" shows how the animators put together the crash landing sequence, by filming themselves piled onto a tipped-over couch to simulate a plane going down.

"African Adventure" discusses how a safari by the production team to study the animals and landscapes in Africa affected the plot and animation in the film.

"The Making of Escape 2 Africa" has the producers and animators talking about how the sequel was pulled together.

The filmmakers' Commentary is by directors and co-writers Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath, and producers Mireille Soria and Mark Swift, who play off each other quite well and provide quite a bit of background info on the project.

"Jambo Jambo: Swahili Speak" provides language lessons for about two dozen simple words and phrases.

"Test Flight of Air Penguin Game" is a game you can play on your remote, although when you click on the outboard motor, it sounds like the penguin says, "You'll drop from the sky like a fuckin' scrod."

Four Music Videos with animated animals dancing are also included for the songs "The Traveling Song," "Move It, Move It," "Big and Chunky," and "She Loves Me."

DreamWorks Animation Video Jukebox is a fun feature, offering seven video music clips from Shrek, Shark Tale, and Flushed Away.

Audio tracks and subtitles on this disc are in English, Spanish and French. You'd hope parents are utilizing these features to teach their kids a second language.

The second disc of the set contains several worthwhile bonus features.

There are two episodes of the new Nickelodeon series "The Penguins of Madagascar." The episodes are the entertaining "Popcorn Panic" and "Gone in a Flash."

"The Bronx Zoo: Madagascar" is about the new Madagascar exhibit at this New York City landmark. The exhibit, located in the historic Lion House, features several varieties of lemurs, 100,000 hissing cockroaches, ring-tailed mongooses (not mongeese), tortoises, and crocodiles.

"Alex's Dance Off" teaches young viewers some of Alex the Lion's best Zoolander dance moves.

"The Heart of a Lion" is a fascinating, 12-minute, kid-friendly documentary about a pride of lions living in Tanzania's spectacular Ngorongoro Crater.

When inserted in a PC, DVD-ROM activities such as video games demonstrations, printables, and Web links become accessible.

There are also several Penguin Easter Eggs, which this reviewer could not find.

Subtitles on this second disc are in English, French and Spanish.