Okay, I’m just appalled at how people have dissed the movie The Wild by saying it’s basically the same as Madagascar. I’m here to set the record straight.

They are very different movies. To wit:

The Wild (TW) doesn’t have a zebra, a hippo, a lion and a giraffe as the main cast. It has a Koala, a snake, a squirrel, a lion and a giraffe.

In M, the zebra longs for the wild. In TW, it is a lion.

In M, a lion figures out how to steer a boat bound for the wild. In M, it is a penguin.

In M, when they are first wandering through the wilderness, the lion steps on a thorned vine. In TW, it is the koala.

In M, the group encounters a group of dancing Lemurs who have a secret agenda that involves the lion. In TW, the group encounters a group of dancing wildebeasts who have a secret agenda that involves the lion.

The wildebeasts are choreographed, the lemurs dance freeform.

In the Madagascar christmas short, the heroes are terrorized by a poofy, white, bloodthirsty poodle in a New York apartment. In The Wild, the heroes are terrorized by a poofy, white, bloodthirsty poodle in a New York alley.

In Madagascar, the heroes are aided by psychotic penguins who believe themselves to be secret agents. In The Wild, our heroes are aided by psychotic chameleons who believe themselves to be secret agents.

So, there you go. Completely different.

Well, the animation in The Wild is more realistic. There’s that, too.