DreamWorks Animation’s talking-animal movie classic, Madagascar, is coming back to theaters to celebrate its 20th anniversary next month.
The company behind Shrek, Kung Fu Panda, and more animated classics announced its original fish-out-of-water story will make a surprise return to movie theaters when it premieres January 16, 2026. Accompanying the announcement is a trailer that reminds viewers, young and old, of characters like Alex the lion (Ben Stiller), Marty the zebra (Chris Rock), Melman the giraffe (David Schwimmer), and Gloria the hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith) and their trip to Madagascar.
Alex, Marty, Gloria, and Melman are back. Celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Madagascar, back in theaters January 16th. pic.twitter.com/mHEbrtNB2W
— DreamWorks Animation (@Dreamworks) December 10, 2025
DreamWorks’ move to bring Madagascar back to theaters arrives as a bit of a belated celebration, with the original film having released back in May 2005. Its plot tells the story of four Central Park Zoo animals – as well as a squad of talented penguins – who escape from captivity in hopes of discovering a new home in the wild.
Following some antics around New York, they find themselves lost at sea and eventually stranded on the titular island, where they run into a community of ring-tailed lemurs that really like to move it. Madagascar had generally positive ratings amongst fans and critics (we gave it a 7/10 review in 2005) and landed a worldwide box office total of more than $542 million (via Box Office Mojo).
DreamWorks took that success and ran, going on to unleash two direct sequels – Escape 2 Africa and Europe’s Most Wanted – which brought the animal troop out of the jungle and into new locations in 2008 and 2012. A penguin centered spinoff titled Penguins of Madagascar then followed in 2014. Madagascar has stayed caged since, but the January re-release should allow DreamWorks to gauge interest among fans.
While we wait for more details, you can see what else the animation studio is up to, including the latest details on Shrek 5. You can also check out our reviews for Madagascar 2 and 3, as well as its Penguins spinoff.
Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).
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