Madagascar 2 : Alex the lion and friends catapulted to Africa

In the first film, best-friends-forever Alex the lion, Marty the zebra, Melman the giraffe and Gloria the hippopotamus found themselves marooned on the island of Madagascar. This sequel sees the irreverent inmates of New York's Central Park Zoo patch up an aircraft in an attempt to return home. But of course, nothing goes to plan and the team finds itself catapulted down to the wild plains of Africa!

Whereas the original failed to satisfy some of its more mature viewers, going against Dreamworks' intentions to capture an audience aged from 7 to 77, "Madagascar 2" makes up for it with flying colours. The jokes are more frequent and varied and the plot shows a better sense of timing, with enough new twists to ensure there is never a dull moment.

On the bonus front, there is a fascinating "making of", which illustrates the techniques needed to pull off a top-notch animation such as this.