Madagascar gang off to Europe

CANNES, France (AP) — Google “Madagascar’’ and two of your top three results will not be the country that lies off the coast of southeast Africa, but the DreamWorks Animation movie franchise.

The first two installments have earned more than $1.1B worldwide. The third, Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted, is now showing, the beginning salvo in a global release strategy that continues throughout the summer. A spin-off for the films’ stealthy commando penguins is currently being developed, too.

If the expanse of the Madagascar’ franchise appears global, that’s not a coincidence. There’s no bigger proponent of the international movie marketplace than DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg. And in the 3-D Madagascar 3, he has a globe-trotting, European road trip that suits both the film’s story and its worldwide box office appeal.

“Animation is kind of an international language,’’ says Tom McGrath, one of the three directors of the film, along with Eric Darnell and Conrad Vernon. “Hopefully what appeals to people is that we took liberties, equal opportunity insulting of every nationality. Hopefully, we didn’t leave anyone out.’’

In the film, the familiar group of New York City zoo animals — Marty, Alex the lion (Ben Stiller), Melman the giraffe (David Schwimmer) and Gloria the hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith) — plot their escape from the wilds of Africa, where the 2008 sequel left them. With the aim of returning to their performing perches in Manhattan’s Central Park Zoo, they latch on to a traveling circus in Europe, a plot that introduces a host of new locales and new characters.