Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Sigh. A Closer Look at the Trailer for Madagascar 3

Or: a lesson in creative bankruptcy.

For starters, there is a certain sadness about a third installment. Your initial film establishes the idea. If it's a hit, well, then you go for a sequel, and in so doing, hopefully expand upon what the the first film started. Do things that are possible only now that the characters are familiar. But the third? That's where you make it clear that this is a franchise, not an idea. The point is no longer the characters. The point is the familiarity. See also: Alvin & The Chipmunks: Chipwrecked. And for that rarest of exceptions, apparently, see Toy Story 3.

So yeah: from this trailer, it doesn't look like the characters are going anywhere, except maybe locally - that is, the characters don't change, the locale does. Specifically, it shifts to Europe.

You know, sort of like another recent animated sequel, one that partook of its own heaping helping of creative crapulence:

Once there, we get vaguely James Bond-y espionage actvitity...

Oh, and European-accented rivals:

Again, sigh. It's all too derivative for words. THAT SAID, points to the trailer for Madagascar 3 for not including any toilet jokes in its trailer. (Depending on which one you watch, I think the trailer for Cars 2 may serve up as many as five: Mater getting a bidet wash, Mater going into a ladies' room, a car flying into an septic truck...I'm too depressed to go back and check the others.) Also, Madagascar serves up, with just a couple of days remaining in the year, the most insane image of 2011:

I think The Big Screen just found its mascot.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

Gonzo Report: Downtown thrift shop offers three bands in one show

Come nightfall, Humble Heart hosts The Beat

Or: a lesson in creative bankruptcy.

For starters, there is a certain sadness about a third installment. Your initial film establishes the idea. If it's a hit, well, then you go for a sequel, and in so doing, hopefully expand upon what the the first film started. Do things that are possible only now that the characters are familiar. But the third? That's where you make it clear that this is a franchise, not an idea. The point is no longer the characters. The point is the familiarity. See also: Alvin & The Chipmunks: Chipwrecked. And for that rarest of exceptions, apparently, see Toy Story 3.

So yeah: from this trailer, it doesn't look like the characters are going anywhere, except maybe locally - that is, the characters don't change, the locale does. Specifically, it shifts to Europe.

You know, sort of like another recent animated sequel, one that partook of its own heaping helping of creative crapulence:

Once there, we get vaguely James Bond-y espionage actvitity...

Oh, and European-accented rivals:

Again, sigh. It's all too derivative for words. THAT SAID, points to the trailer for Madagascar 3 for not including any toilet jokes in its trailer. (Depending on which one you watch, I think the trailer for Cars 2 may serve up as many as five: Mater getting a bidet wash, Mater going into a ladies' room, a car flying into an septic truck...I'm too depressed to go back and check the others.) Also, Madagascar serves up, with just a couple of days remaining in the year, the most insane image of 2011:

I think The Big Screen just found its mascot.

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

A Closer Look at the Trailer for Blackthorn

Next Article

A Closer Look at the Trailer for Battleship

Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader