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Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa poster

Movies that feel likeMadagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008)

Alex, Marty, and other zoo animals find a way to escape from Madagascar when the penguins reassemble a wrecked airplane. The precariously repaired craft stays airborne just long enough to make it to the African continent. There the New Yorkers encounter members of their own species for the first time. Africa proves to be a wild place, but Alex and company wonder if it is better than their Central Park home.

If you loved Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, the closest films we have are Penguins of Madagascar (2014), The Lion King 1½ (2004) and Trolls (2016). All three share Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa's epic and whimsical feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Horton Hears a Who! (2008).

🍅 64% Rotten Tomatoes★ 6.7 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Tom McGrathepicwhimsicalwittyplayfulwarmcozy
7 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Disney Plus

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If Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa hit the spot, these will too

Looking for the series itself? Also in this series: Madagascar (2005) · Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted (2012)

Penguins of Madagascar poster
Penguins of Madagascar
2014 · dir. Simon J. Smith
🍅 74%★ 6.6family · animation · adventure

The same penguin crew, now spun off into their own gadget-filled caper

The difference: A globe-trotting spy spoof, further from the original zoo-ensemble story

Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private join forces with undercover organization The North Wind to stop the villainous Dr. Octavius Brine from destroying the world as we know it.

The Lion King 1½ poster
The Lion King 1½
2004 · dir. Bradley Raymond
🍅 76%★ 6.5adventure · animation · comedyDisney+

Comic best friends bumbling their way across the African savanna

The difference: A direct-to-video prequel told through just two sidekicks, not a full ensemble

Timon the meerkat and Pumbaa the warthog are best pals and the unsung heroes of the African savanna. This prequel to the smash Disney animated adventure takes you back -- way back -- before Simba's adventure began. You'll find out all about Timon and Pumbaa and tag along as they search for the perfect home and attempt to raise a rambunctious lion cub.

Trolls poster
Trolls
2016 · dir. Mike Mitchell
🍅 76%★ 6.4adventure · animation · comedy

A mismatched pair forced together on a rescue mission full of mishaps

The difference: A jukebox-musical quest with villains hunting the heroes for food

After the monstrous Bergens invade Troll Village, Princess Poppy, the happiest Troll ever born, and overly-cautious, curmudgeonly outcast Branch set off on a journey to rescue her friends. Their mission is full of adventure and mishaps, as this mismatched duo try to tolerate each other long enough to get the job done.

Bolt poster
Bolt
2008 · dir. Chris Williams
🍅 90%★ 6.8animation · family · adventureDisney+

An animal hero on a journey home, discovering the world differently than expected

The difference: A Hollywood-stardom satire about a dog who thinks his powers are real

Bolt is the star of the biggest show in Hollywood. The only problem is, he thinks it's real. After he's accidentally shipped to New York City and separated from Penny, his beloved co-star and owner, Bolt must harness all his "super powers" to find a way home.

Over the Hedge poster
Over the Hedge
2006 · dir. Karey Kirkpatrick
🍅 75%★ 6.7adventure · animation · comedyRent or buy

A ragtag animal crew scheming their way through a world not built for them

The difference: A suburban raccoon-heist comedy, set in one hedge instead of a continent

A scheming raccoon fools a mismatched family of forest creatures into helping him repay a debt of food, by invading the new suburban sprawl that popped up while they were hibernating – and learns a lesson about family himself.

Flushed Away poster
Flushed Away
2006 · dir. David Bowers
🍅 72%★ 6.6adventure · animation · comedyNetflix

The same mix in both: scale, then whimsy

London high-society mouse, Roddy is flushed down the toilet by Sid, a common sewer rat. Hang on for a madcap adventure deep in the sewer bowels of Ratropolis, where Roddy meets the resourceful Rita, the rodent-hating Toad and his faithful thugs, Spike and Whitey.

The Boss Baby: Family Business poster
The Boss Baby: Family Business
2021 · dir. Tom McGrath
🍅 47%★ 5.9animation · comedy · adventureParamount+

The same hand behind both of them: Tom McGrath

The Templeton brothers — Tim and his Boss Baby little bro Ted — have become adults and drifted away from each other. But a new boss baby with a cutting-edge approach and a can-do attitude is about to bring them together again … and inspire a new family business.

Bee Movie poster
Bee Movie
2007 · dir. Simon J. Smith
🍅 49%★ 6.1family · animation · adventure

A comic hero questioning whether there's more to life than the routine

The difference: A courtroom-lawsuit satire about bees and humans, talkier than an adventure

Barry B. Benson, a recent college graduate who wants more out of his life than making honey, decides to sue the human race after learning about the exploitation of bees at the hands of mankind. What will happen next?

Horton Hears a Who! poster
Horton Hears a Who!
2008 · dir. Jimmy Hayward
🍅 79%★ 6.8animation · comedy · familyNetflixMax

Both land wit and play at once

The difference: Played as fantasy first

An imaginative elephant named Horton hears a faint cry for help coming from a tiny speck of dust floating through the air. Horton suspects there may be life on that speck and despite a surrounding community, who thinks he has lost his mind, he is determined to save the tiny particle.

Ferdinand poster
Ferdinand
2017 · dir. Carlos Saldanha
🍅 71%★ 6.7animation · family · adventureMax

A gentle soul mistaken for something he's not, forced into a wild situation

The difference: A bullfighting-world story about one mellow bull, not a group escape

Ferdinand, a little bull, prefers sitting quietly under a cork tree just smelling the flowers versus jumping around, snorting, and butting heads with other bulls. As Ferdinand grows big and strong, his temperament remains mellow. But one day five men come to choose the "biggest, fastest, roughest bull" for the bullfights in Madrid— and Ferdinand is mistakenly chosen.

Rio poster
Rio
2011 · dir. Carlos Saldanha
🍅 72%★ 6.9animation · adventure · comedyDisney+

Warm and cozy in the same breath

Captured by smugglers when he was just a hatchling, a macaw named Blu never learned to fly and lives a happily domesticated life in Minnesota with his human friend, Linda. Blu is thought to be the last of his kind, but when word comes that Jewel, a lone female, lives in Rio de Janeiro, Blu and Linda go to meet her. Animal smugglers kidnap Blu and Jewel, but the pair soon escape and begin a perilous adventure back to freedom -- and Linda.

The Secret Life of Pets 2 poster
The Secret Life of Pets 2
2019 · dir. Chris Renaud
🍅 60%★ 6.4animation · comedy · family

An anxious hero forced out of their comfort zone by unfamiliar terrain

The difference: A suburban pet-family sequel about facing fears, not island escape

Max the terrier must cope with some major life changes when his owner gets married and has a baby. When the family takes a trip to the countryside, nervous Max has numerous run-ins with canine-intolerant cows, hostile foxes and a scary turkey. Luckily for Max, he soon catches a break when he meets Rooster, a gruff farm dog who tries to cure the lovable pooch of his neuroses.

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The best-reviewed films that share Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa’s defining feeling.