"Cause I been travelin'
Been travelin' forever
But now that I found a home
Feels like I'm in heaven
Been travelin' forever
But now that I found a home
Feels like I'm in heaven
— Will.i.am., "The Traveling Song"
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa is a 2008 computer-animated comedy produced by DreamWorks Animation, and is the first sequel to 2005's Madagascar as well as the second installment of the Madagascar franchise.
The film takes place shortly after the first movie. The penguins fix a crashed airplane and the zoo animals (plus King Julien and Maurice) try to fly back to New York but run out of fuel (or perhaps more accurately, run out of plane) and crash. They land in a wildlife reserve and discover not only that there are others like them, but also that the lion pride in charge is Alex's family. Though Africa initially appears to be a paradise for the Zoosters, things quickly go amiss as each member of the group finds complications and they’ll need to rely on each other in their new home.
This film is followed by a third film titled Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted, which came out on June 8, 2012.
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- Accidental Hero: Taking out the dam, which returned the water to the reserve, happened due to a miscommunication in the monkeys' relaying of his message to Marty and Skipper. Alex just wanted to get out of there due to Nana having a gun.Alex: She's got a gun. Let's get out while we can! Pass it on!
Mason: Let's have some fun and take out the dam! Basset hound!
Alex: No, pull up! They'll kill us! There's got to be another way! Pass it on!
Mason: Don't pull up, kill us. There's no other way. Basset hound! - Accidental Misnaming: Downplayed: Melman calls Moto Moto "Mototo" at one point.
- Actor Allusion: The subplot with Melman's crush on Gloria is remarkably similar to another subplot: TV's Friends where David Schwimmer's character Ross Geller and his Belligerent Sexual Tension with Rachel Green, which would eventually be resolved in the Grand Finale.
- Advertised Extra: Moto Moto received a lot of press and was hyped up as one of the main new characters and a new love interest for Gloria. He ends up being a Romantic False Lead and has minimal screentime.
- All Love Is Unrequited: The childhood flashback shows Melman crushing on Gloria, who had a crush on Alex.
- The Alleged Car: Plane in this case. So much so, that one of the visual signs of its malfunctioning is that one of the engines isn't on fire. The plane also has at least three skeletons still on board from its last flight - one in second class, one in first class, and one in the cockpit. A fourth skeleton was left behind in Madagascar hanging from a parachute trapped in a tree.
- All There in the Manual: Alex's mother's name is confirmed in the film novelization—Florrie.
- Anachronism Stew: As detailed below, a newspaper implies that the films take place sometime in the 80s. However, at one point in this film, Alex admits to breaking Marty's iPod, something that wasn't released until 2001. Alex also steals Nana's cell phone, which is an early 2000's style flip phone.
- Anguished Declaration of Love: Melman to Gloria when the plane is crashing and he thinks they're all going to die. Only problem is, she's sleeping.Melman: (shouting) I LOVE YOU, GLORIA! I always have!Gloria: (asleep; snoring)
- Animal Sweet on Object: Skipper, the leader of the penguins, falls in love with a hula girl bobblehead. He even marries it at the end of the film.
- Annoying Laugh: Melman finds Gloria's laugh "amazing", but nobody else does.
- Apathetic Citizens: Probably one of the most satisfying aversions in Animation: Makunga's terrible leadership and general self-serving jackassery is met with shock and disgust by the animals in the reserve, to the point that they unanimously and openly agree that they want Zuba back in charge.
- Appease the Volcano God: King Julien suggests a sacrifice to the volcano to bring back the water to the reserve. Melman, who thinks he's got only 24 hours to live, volunteers. The shark chasing Mort gets "sacrificed" instead.
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking:
- When the penguins get the airplane ready for take-off:Skipper: Lights.Kowalski: Check.Skipper: Flaps.Kowalski: Check.Skipper: Engine.Kowalski: Check.Skipper: Coffee maker.Kowalski: Check.
- This comes up again at the end of the film, only with the engine and coffee maker swapped out for all the diamonds and gold.Skipper: Diamonds and gold.
Kowalski: Check.
- When the penguins get the airplane ready for take-off:
- Art Evolution: The animation in the first film was already great, but this one is a vast improvement, the opening shots of the savanna are absolutely gorgeous, to the point of looking photorealistic at times.
- Artistic License – Biology: When the little old lady and Alex fight, he's punched in the mouth and spits out a tooth. Said tooth looks exactly like a human molar, but lions' back teeth are shearing carnassials, not grinding molars.
- Artistic License – Ornithology: The flamingos have a hot pink coloration that is more reminiscent of American flamingos (which are, as their name suggests, endemic to North and South America) than that of either of the species actually found in Africa (greater and lesser), which have paler plumage.
- Ascended Extra:
- Kowalski, and Private now speak a lot of lines in this movie. The penguins in general are much more involved in the plot of this movie.
- Mason and Phil have major roles in this movie after having minor roles in the previous film.
- Mort has a bigger role in this movie after having an Advertised Extra in the first film. He is the only lemur beside Julien and Maurice to come to New York.
- Nana was only the subject of a brief gag in the first movie, here she's the main human villain.
- Bad Guys Do the Dirty Work: Alex goads Nana into attacking Makunga by making her think Makunga deliberately stole her hand purse.
- Bait-and-Switch: For a moment at the end, it almost looked like Melman and Gloria were the ones getting married. Turns out they were the best man and bridesmaid for Skipper and his hula doll.
- Batman Gambit: Alex tricks Makunga into taking Nana's purse, and then lets her see that Makunga has her purse. Predictably, she proceeds to kick Makunga's ass.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Marty's dream of being with thousands of his own kind goes from being cool to depressing for him.
- Betty and Veronica: Melman (the Betty) competes with Moto Moto (the Veronica) over Gloria (the Archie).
- Big Bad Ensemble: Makunga and Nana are the two main antagonists of the movie. The former plans to overthrow Alex's father Zuba as the Alpha Lion, while the latter poses a threat to the animals of the reserve by building a dam which deprives them of water.
- Big Applesauce: All of the tourists who get their jeeps stolen just happen to be from New York. This leads to Nana giving them a Rousing Speech about how New Yorkers are survivors, and "if we can make it there, we can make it anywhere!" and posing like the Statue of Liberty.
- Big Damn Reunion: After believing Alex was dead for who knows how many years, Zuba and Florrie meet him unexpectedly. Once she recognizes him, they have this and throw a celebration.
- Black Comedy Animal Cruelty: Nana beating up Alex is completely Played for Laughs.
- Blatant Lies: After Melman confesses his love for Gloria, the other animals stare at him. He then talks about how his love for Gloria was like "loving a beach."Melman: Like the beach, or the way you love a good book, or the beach...
- Bloodless Carnage: Averted. Zuba's ear clearly has a blood splatter after it's shot by poachers.
- Bookends: The Traveling Song/Alex on the Spot. Similar songs set to the same tune that play near the beginning of the movie when Alex is first introduced to the Zoo, showing how he was first lost from his home in Africa, and again near the end of the movie when Alex dances for the tourists, now with him back home. The song also plays again in the final scene.
- Breast Attack: During Alex and Nana's fight, he is about to slam a rock on her, but Nana gives him a purple nurple which makes him drop the rock on his head instead, which is what leads to Nana standing as the victor.
- Brick Joke: The shark that chases Mort.
- Bring It: Said by Nana after running out of bullets and threatening Alex and Zuba with her purse.Nana: Bring it on! Bad kitties!
- Carnivore Confusion: The lion pride are a group of wild carnivores, yet they aren't portrayed as hungry savages like Alex and the fossa were in the first film. On the same note, Alex or the other lions are never shown hunting or eating any animals.
- Cannot Spit It Out: After his Anguished Declaration of Love failed and discovering he has a "fatal" Witch Doctor disease, Melman struggles to tell Gloria how he feels about her. Lampshaded by Alex when the two are arguing.Alex: Melman, why don't you just tell her?
- Chain of People: In the climax, the gang helps Alex and Zuba escape from the humans by sending down a metal basket that is connected to the plane via some of the chimpanzees forming a chain.
- Chekhov's Gun:
- Marty's constant reminder that Alex bit his butt in the first film becomes a Plot Point late in the film.
- Nana's handbag, which Alex steals from her during their first fight early on, is later given to Makunga, causing him to get beaten and dragged out of Africa by her.
- Childhood Friends: The prologue reveals that Alex, Marty, Melman and Gloria have been friends with each other ever since Alex began living at the Central Park Zoo as a cub.
- Chubby Chaser: Moto Moto. He likes 'em big, he likes 'em chunky. The hippos of the movie seem to believe that the fatter the hippo, the better, since that's all he likes about Gloria.
- Comedic Spanking: Part of Nana's beatdown on Makunga involved spanking his bottom, which Alex winced at.
- Compressed Vice: Melman's crush on Gloria flat out didn't exist in the first movie. It was, however, shown in a flashback in the second movie as having existed for years.
- Conflict Killer: A comedic example during the plane crash. Alex and Marty begin fighting when Alex confesses that he accidentally broke Marty's iPod, but Melman's Anguished Declaration of Love towards Gloria (who was asleep and didn't hear it) has them immediately stop fighting to look at him, unamused.
- Contrived Coincidence: It sure was convenient how the animals landed in the exact same wildlife reserve that Alex's family lived in.
- Cool and Unusual Punishment: During her fight with Alex, Nana gives him a titty twister.Nana: Come in, Tokyo!
- Cooking the Live Meal: The New York tourists who have been stranded in the African wilderness and turned feral attempt to roast Alex the Lion by tying him to a wooden spit and turning him over a fire. In a parody of the common gag, Alex attempts to blow out the fire as he faces downwards, only for the fire to blaze up even higher as he supplies it with fresh air. He is saved by his father bursting in and freeing him from the spit, which gives Alex opportunity to assuage the angry tourists by displaying his dance skills.
- Crotch-Glance Sex Check: When the chimps negotiate with the penguins and demand maternity leave, Skipper looks under the table and claims they won't need it because they are males.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Alex's "dance" fight versus Teetsi. Teetsi owns him.
- Curb-Stomp Cushion: Even though Nana still clearly has the upper hand, Alex puts up a much better fight than in the first film.
- Distinguishing Mark: Both Zuba and Alex have a birthmark in the shape of Africa on their right paw. It's how Zuba identifies Alex as his son.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?:
- Alex doesn't quite fit in because he's more of a theater performer who loves dancing and really isn't into playing sports. Coming-Out Story, anyone? Especially considering that Alex calls himself "the King of New York."
- And in the beginning, King Julien comes out of the cake and says, "I'm a woman! Which one of you is attracted to me?"
- Don't Think, Feel: This is Alex's advice to his dad when they dance together at the end.Alex: Don't think, dad. Feel!
- Ear Notch: The result of Zuba getting shot by the poachers.
- Fantastic Racism: When the chimps go on strike angry that Skipper rejects maternity leave for them, chimps are holding signs with one that reads "CHIMP POWER" and another sign with a No symbol with a penguin in it. Hypocrisy, much?
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: There are several clues when the Zoosters reconvene at the plane that the zebra there isn't Marty, namely how he's much more jovial than Marty was upon seeing the other zebra perfectly copy his fountain trick and how he inexplicably understands Swahili after just a day in Africa. As Melman and Gloria begin to argue, unlike Alex, he looks more confused rather than concerned and asks "What are we talking about?" like he doesn't know the context of their relationship. Just before the reveal itself, he says "I thought you guys were friends," as if he isn't part of their friend group.
- Five Stages of Grief: Both Alex and Marty go through these during their respective problems.
- Alex's starts when his relationship with his father Zuba gets strained after he falls for Makunga's manipulation in getting him and his family exiled: Denial (tries to reason with Zuba that their banishment could've been avoided if he said it word-for-word that his rite of passage was going to be a fight and not a dance), Anger (gets upset and briefly decides to cut ties with him after Zuba states he wasn't a real lion), Bargaining (rants his problems to a zebra he thought was Marty and accuses the real Marty of not having problems), Depression (becomes saddened that Marty decides to cut ties with him for not being able to distinguish him from other zebra while still reeling from his falling out with his father) and Acceptance (decides to prove his worth to his father regardless of what he said and makes amends with Marty).
- Marty's starts when he starts to not feel special compared to the other zebra: Denial (becomes shocked when the other zebras do his water trick with ease), Anger (becomes mad at Alex when he mistakes another zebra for him), Bargaining (ends his friendship with Alex), Depression (as Alex begins to make amends, he is seen looking away from him as if not wanting to see his face), and Acceptance (accepts Alex's apology and joins him in saving the watering hole).
- Four Lines, All Waiting: Each of the main characters gets their own subplot, as do the penguins (as usual), the tourists, and even Mort. They all turn out to be significant. Even Mort's.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: The newspaper article briefly seen at the beginning of the movie dates Alex's arrival in New York as April 8, 1972, suggesting the modern day plot takes place some time in the 80s. note
- Funny Background Event: When Alex is trying to find Marty in the middle of a herd, one of the zebras really wants Alex to leave his Carmen Miranda-style fruit hat.
- Glass Smack and Slide: Mort the mouse lemur tries to follow the rest of the gang as they are about to take flight. However, just as he's jumping toward the plane, King Julien closes the door, and Mort smacks flat against its small window before sliding down.
- Gossip Evolution: The monkeys' relaying of Alex's message changed from "She's got a gun, let's get out while we can" to "Let's have fun and take out the dam" and "No, pull up. They'll kill us. There's gotta be another way." to "No pull up. Kill us. There's no other way." And both times, "pass it on" gets turned into "basset hound".
- Growing Muscles Sequence: During the battle, Teetsi bulks up considerably, in contrast to his rather meek appearance.
- Gullible Lemmings: The desperate animals of the reserve, when Julien proposes making a sacrifice to a supposed nearby volcano god, solely so he can take some kind of power.
- Gone Horribly Right: Siding with Gossip Evolution. When the zoosters and penguins rescue Alex and Zuba from the tourists, Alex suggests they get out while they can, which was misheard as he wants to take out the dam. The result: the water was returned.
- Groin Attack: Alex was kicked "right in the batteries" (as Marty put it), at the end of the fight with old lady. She kicked Makunga in the crotch as well, at the end of the movie, when he was tricked into taking her bag.
- Heavy Sleeper: Gloria sleeps through all the racket the plane makes and only wakes up when it crashes.
- Help, I'm Stuck!: When all of the main animals scramble into the plane, Gloria's butt is too big to fit in the door, rendering her unable to go through without a push.
- Hypocrite:
- After Alex and Nana’s fight, ending with Nana winning and hitting him in the groins, Gloria gets mad at Alex for harassing old ladies, despite Alex clearly being more harassed than her, because she states they needed the tourists help. Later in the film, when Marty, Melman, and her needs the penguins help to save Alex, Gloria threatens to beat them up, even though they clearly need their help.
- Marty had a lot of this with his argument with Alex. Marty calls Alex stupid. This coming from the guy who wanted to go the wild not knowing he could die quicker there, also Alex accidentally mistaking him for a zebra isn’t stupid at all, especially when the zebra looks and sounds exactly like Marty. Marty then also accused Alex for only caring for his problems, although it’s not like Alex was willing to starve himself to death for Marty's safety when he couldn’t control his hunger or save him from a bunch of foosas in the previous movie. Even in the same movie Alex showed he cared for Marty’s problem like confessing to him that he broke his iPod and stole nana’s bag to get her phone and call for help. Also in Madagascar 1 Marty pushed Alex to play with him more despite Alex stating he hasn’t eaten in two days and he has no energy causing Alex to go savage showing that Marty doesn’t care about Alex’s problems any more than Alex those.
- Makunga condescendingly mentions to Zuba that it would be disappointing that the latter's son Alex/Alakay wouldn't grow up as responsible as Zuba himself was. Later on, when Makunga becomes the Alpha Lion after Zuba, he doesn't even bother showing any sense of responsibility to his fellow savanna animals due to his ego.
- Identical Stranger: Marty and another zebra, who looks, sounds, and behaves just like him. He is insulted when Alex can't tell one from the other, even if the differences between both don't exist.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy:
- When Melman sees Gloria on her date with Moto Moto, he says something like, "You don't know how lucky you are. You've found the perfect woman, so you better treat her like a princess." Then he goes on to describe in depth what he would do if he were in Moto Moto's shoes.
Melman: And breakfast in bed, every morning. Her favorite is six loaves of wheat toast, buttered on both sides, no crusts.- This becomes his reason for a planned Heroic Sacrifice when Melman offers himself up for Julien's crazy plan to sacrifice to the Rain Gods. He believes he's dying anyway, so he figures he might as well go down trying to get Gloria some water.
- I'll Kill You!: During the plane crash, Marty goes ballistic on Alex after Alex confesses that he broke his iPod."I'M GONNA KILL YOU, BUTT-BITER!"
- Insane Troll Logic: King Julien's "plan" to bring back the missing water by throwing somebody in a volcano is based on absolutely zero evidence, and it's indicated that even he has no idea how this would work... or if he even actually believes it will. Nonetheless, he keeps defending the plan to anyone who questions it. Later, when Alex successfully destroys the dam, Julien immediately takes credit for it because the shark chasing Mort fell into the volcano by accident.Random animal: Will this actually work?
Julien: No. I mean yes!
[later]
Julien: Quickly! Before we all come to our senses! - Innocently Insensitive: Alex offends Marty when he mistakes one of the wild zebras for him and angers him further by suggesting other things such as putting a bell on him to tell him apart from the others. Although he didn't mean to offend or insult Marty but ends up straining their relationship.
- Interrupted Suicide: Gloria interrupts Melman's attempted sacrifice in the volcano because she returns his feelings.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Gloria discovers that Moto Moto is a pretty shallow guy, as he only asks her out because she's the fattest girl he's ever met. Moto Moto is still a pretty friendly guy, however, and helps takes part in the search for water underground and seems to still be friends with Gloria even after she rejects him.
- Jump Scare: The shark popping out of the water and onto the beach to chase after Mort.
K-Z
- Karma Houdini: The poachers who captured Alex as a cub. The last we see of them is them driving away in their truck, with Zuba in hot pursuit. Zuba says that when he eventually caught up with the poachers, he couldn't find Alex, and thought the poachers had killed him. It is unknown what happened to the poachers. (One can only hope that Zuba tore them to pieces off-screen).
- Kiss of Life: Used as a diversionary tactic by Private when he pretends to get hit by a tourist jeep and plays dead. While the tour guide is administering CPR, the penguins steal the jeep.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Makunga eventually meets his downfall when Alex tricks him into taking Nana's purse, then unleashing Nana to attack him. Then Nana drags Makunga away as the other animals cheer. The commentary confirms that Nana brought Makunga back to New York in a kitty cage!
- Lava Pot Volcano: There's a volcano that always has lava ominously boiling in the water and erupts if things are thrown into said lava.
- Leitmotif: Africa gets the BornFree theme.
- Logo Joke: During the DreamWorks Animation logo, one of the penguins peeks out from behind the moon, slaps the boy and drags him behind the moon to beat him up with the other penguins. Once the boy is taken care of, the penguins come out and claim his place.Skipper: Well done, boys. Looks like ice-cold sushi for breakfast.
- Lighter and Softer: While the first film (despite remaining mostly comedic in tone) wields markedly disturbing elements of psychodrama (particularly in its third act, in which Alex undergoes a Sanity Slippage transforming him from a neurotic, uptight showman into a savage apex predator with a visible desire to devour his lifelong friends as per his natural instincts), this instalment hews closer to a broader ensemble comedy, with any potential predator-prey tensions between the film's coexistent lion and herbivorous characters neglected almost entirely instead of deconstructed. All that being said, this movie deals with the topic of death (with the New Yorkers thinking Alex and the Zoosters are dead, Alex being revealed to be a kidnapping victim of poachers, and Melman almost being Driven to Suicide), Alex having more personal issues with both his father and Marty that almost break him, and a whole community suffering under the threat of no water.
- Love Interest vs. Lust Interest: A variant in which the target character is pursuing the "Lust" interest while they're pursued by the "Love" one. Gloria initially has an interest in the Chick Magnet Moto Moto, who in turn finds her attractive for her body fat, but that's all he has for her. Gloria's friend Melman, on the other hand, has a crush on Gloria for her personality and status as a person, and experiences a Heroic BSoD the moment he sees her with Moto Moto just when he decides to confess his feelings for her (although not without interrupting their date to tell Gloria anyway and also call out Moto Moto on his behavior), prompting him to volunteer himself for a sacrifice hosted by King Julien (which Julien proposed in an attempt to restore the river adjacent to the African animals' land after it was dammed by the lost tourists) shortly afterwards. In a fortunate coincidence during the sacrifice ceremony, Gloria realizes Melman's crush on her was genuine, and dumps Moto Moto to go to the event and spare Melman from his attempted death. Since then, Gloria and Melman remain an Official Couple for the rest of the Madagascar series.Gloria: Melman, I gotta know... Did you mean those things you said about me?Melman: Of course I did.Gloria: That's crazy.Melman: It is?Gloria: It's crazy to think I had to go halfway around the world... to find out the perfect guy for me lived right next door.Melman: Then it's you and me, neighbor. You and me for the next 18 hours.Gloria: I'll take whatever you got.
- Loving Details: Melman recites a lot of minor details about Gloria when he interrupts her date with Moto Moto, including her favorite flowers and favorite meal. This convinces Gloria that Melman really loves her, while Moto Moto is only interested in her because of her bulk.
- Love Revelation Epiphany: Melman is in love with Gloria but she doesn't know yet. By the time she finds out, Melman attempts to sacrifice himself to the volcano for the others safety and then Gloria realizes she has feelings for him too.
- Love Triangle: Melman/Gloria/Moto Moto.
- A Minor Kidroduction: As a tribute, the film starts off with Alex, Marty, Gloria and Melman as kids.note Young Melman: (to Young Gloria, dismayed) You think he's [Alex] cute?
- Marilyn Maneuver: King Julian's grass cheerleader skirt momentarily goes upwards from jumping out of a cake before fixing it to congratulate the four.
- Mean Boss: Skipper becomes this to the chimpanzees. Some time before the gang needed the plane to go and rescue Alex, Skipper refused to give the apes maternity leave (even though they're all male), which makes all of them go on strike. And even then, Skipper says that he would only give it if they were to bust up the union. And the reason why he eventually gives in is because Mason and Phil are in possession of pictures of him and his doll that they use for blackmail.
- Medium Blending: King Julian's in-flight entertainment is actual live-action footage of plane crashes from old-timey films.
- Meeting-the-Parents Sequel: The protagonists end up in an African savannah where they end up meeting Alex's parents.
- Mistaken for Dying: Melman gets told by the other giraffes that he's going to die due to a brown spot that supposedly killed the previous witch doctor. Except that said spot is really a natural giraffe's spot, so the witch doctor turns out to be still alive and kicking.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Alex has one after falling into Makunga's manipulation for the Alpha Lion position, which led to his relationships with his family and friends becoming strained. This ultimately caused Alex to feel guilty for what he did, especially when he ended hurting his friendship with Marty.
- Noodle Incident: Apparently, the giant slingshot used to launch the Penguins' plane into the sky is only the second biggest slingshot Skipper's seen. We don't get any details on what the biggest slingshot might have looked like, nor how Skipper knows of such a thing.
- Offscreen Airplane Pull-up: A plane is launched off a slingshot and into the forest. The plane tumbles below the tree canopy, and a bunch of nervous onlookers edges closer to get a better view. Then the plane reappears, having recovered from the tumble and is now flying perfectly.
- Oh, Crap!: When Joe (the last Giraffe witch doctor) appears alive and well, the other giraffes who told Melman he was dying are initially relieved…..before realizing what Melman’s about to do.
- "Pan from the Sky" Beginning: The boy in the moon logo dissolves into a blue sky, from which then the camera pans down on the African landscape until it stops at baby Alex playing with his dad.
- Parental Bonus: "Maternity leave?" (glances under the table) "You're all males!"
- Pec Flex: Moto Moto does this a few times.
- Planet of Copyhats: Apparently, all hippos are sassy like Gloria, all giraffes are neurotic and hypochondria-prone like Melman, and all zebras are laid-back and wise-cracking like Marty (as well as look and sound exactly like him). Alex's natural gravitation towards a leadership role is shared by his species, but his flamboyant mannerisms, love of dancing, and aversion to violence aren't.
- Planet of Steves: Every zebra acts and nearly looks the same as Marty (not to mention that like Marty, they're all voiced by Chris Rock). Alex is only able to tell Marty apart from the others because of the teeth marks on his butt from the previous film.
- Plot-Mandated Friendship Failure: Marty ends his friendship with Alex after the latter ended up insulting his best friend thanks to an argument with a zebra that he thought was Marty.
- Poor Communication Kills:
- A large part of the conflict between Alex and Zuba comes because Zuba didn't think to tell Alex that his initiation ceremony involved fighting another lion. As a result of this misunderstanding, Alex believes it's a dance fight and gets his butt kicked by Teetsi, leading to him and Zuba being banished.
- This also became a heartbreaking one between him and Marty, after he took his frustrations out on a Zebra that he thought was Marty, which led to Marty, who is deeply hurt by everything Alex said about him to the other Zebra, ending his friendship with him.
- Pop-Star Composer: will.i.am co-wrote and performed the songs and music of this film.
- Previously on…: The flashback at the beginning of the film is followed by a cut to the premise of the first movie recapped in the form of a couple of news broadcasts. It also makes a point of including the scene of Alex getting beat up by Nana, which turns out to be significant.
- Pun: Melman sees an elephant with his trunk in a knot. His response: "Someone's been knot-ty." Thank you and goodnight!
- Punching Bag of Hatred: Alex punches a bird hive nest with a face drawn on it, representing Makunga, who had tricked him earlier and replaced his dad as the Alpha Lion. His constant punching ends up waking the birds up and they start attacking him before flying away.
- Real Is Brown: Compared to the other two films (especially Europe's Most Wanted), Escape 2 Africa has a rather drab color palette, this is justified due to most of the movie taking place on the African savanna, which is often that dull in Real Life.
- "The Reason I Suck" Speech: Alex gives such a speech to himself rather than someone else. Alex tells Marty he's been a great friend while the former wasn't a much as a good friend like the latter.Alex: You've helped me so often to see the bright side of my problems that I never think of you as having any. I wasn't there for you when you needed me. Just like back at the zoo. What kind of friend does that make me? A pretty lousy friend, I guess.
- Recurring Riff: Hans Zimmer created one for the movie, the first few minutes of the soundtrack "Once Upon a Time in Africa", it plays again in the vocal soundtracks "The Traveling Song" and "Alex on the Spot".
- Retcon: A few plot elements are introduced as if they have always been there:
- Alex's birthmark is the most notable example, being rather prominent in size and location, but not seen at all in the first movie. Granted, his fur might have grown so long, it may have covered said birth mark and said fur may have been lost but Alex's fur still seems consistent.
- Melman's crush on Gloria did not come up in the first film at all, but here it is introduced as if he has been in love with her since childhood.
- While Alex was shown to be fairly energetic, there was never any indication that his performance at the zoo consisted of anything besides posing and roaring. Here he's known well enough for his dancing that New York tourists are able to recognize him by it.
- Savage Piercings: Spoofed - when the other giraffes make Melman their Witch Doctor, they present him with the requisite nose bone: "Don't worry, it's a clip-on."
- Scene of Wonder: The zoosters have this kind of moment when they look over the African plains and see others of their own kind for the first time.
- Sexy Surfacing Shot: Moto Moto is introduced rising out from the water and strutting to Gloria to flirt with her.
- Shoo Out the Clowns: Right before the Zoosters' big arguments, the Penguins and the recruited monkeys are shown to be very far away from them so that Alex, Marty, Gloria, and Melman are free to have emotionally tense arguments without any silly characters around, other than a zebra that looks like Marty. Just as things start to derail with Alex and Marty, Gloria and Melman leave the scene so the two can have a truly emotional falling out.
- Shown Their Work: The flashback to Alex as a cub arriving in New York City has the Twin Towers in the background, making it one of the few post-9/11 movies to feature them. This lines up with the scene taking place in 1972, according to the newspaper.
- Shout-Out: Alex being frightened when he sees Mort outside the plane wing and then momentarily mistaking him for a gremlin.
- Stupid Question Bait: Subverted when Skipper is organizing the newly recruited (by Phil and Mason) monkeys to repair their plane.Skipper: (addressing the Monkeys) Stop lollygagging, and let's get to work. We'll divide into three groups. Group Alpha, you're in charge of sheet metal fabrication. Group Bronson, you'll handle assembly. Group George Peppard, you'll handle craft services. Any questions? (Mason is about to say something, but Skipper interrupts him) Good! Now let's get to work!
- Summon Bigger Fish: How Alex and Zuba ultimately dispose of Makunga. Specifically, they sic Nana on him.
- Super Not-Drowning Skills: Both the shark that chases Mort, and the fish in the dried-up water hole.
- Super-Persistent Predator: The shark which manages to flop very fast across an unclear distance of land and right into a volcano in pursuit of the very small lemur Mort.
- Sure, Let's Go with That: Melman saying Gloria has a beautiful laugh as she snorts happily causes Alex and Marty to look at each other, and give frozen smiles.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Turns out, jury-rigging a rusty old plane wreck that’s been rotting in the jungle for god-knows-how-long with nothing but bamboo, and flying it from Madagascar all the way to New York City wasn’t the penguins’ smartest idea. Not only does the plane almost fail to take off at first and run the risk of bursting into flames just from turning on the engines, the leaky, rusted out fuel tanks don’t even make it past Kenya before running empty and stranding the group once more.
- Sympathetic Villain, Despicable Villain: Of the Big Bad Ensemble, Nana's the sympathetic villain, while Makunga's the despicable villain. Both menace the main cast - particularly Alex - over the course of the movie, but Nana's depicted as a Cool Old Lady who acts like a parental figure to the other stranded tourists, and is just trying to survive in the wilds of Africa. Makunga, meanwhile, is a one-note Jerkass with nothing resembling a redeeming quality in the slightest.
- Talking Down the Suicidal: Gloria stops Melman from foolishly jumping into the volcano and sacrificing himself to bring water after she finds out about his feelings towards her.
- Take That!: King Julien's reaction to entering Africa (which he mistook for New York).Julien: Hmm. It's a bit of a dump. Are you sure we're not in New Jersey?
- Tastes Like Chicken: According to Nana, this is how lions taste like. We don't know where she got such an idea, but
it's probably best not to think about it.Tour Guide: We can't eat a lion.
Nana: Don't worry, it tastes like chicken. - Terrestrial Sea Life: A great white shark chases Mort from the beach, all across the savanna until they reach the volcano. A fish also manages to survive in a tiny puddle after the watering hole has dried up, even jumping around once the water returns a day later.
- This Is Something He's Got to Do Himself: Alex, on his quest to save the watering hole. Marty disagrees and decides to come with him.
- Threatening Shark: Exaggerated with the shark who attacks Morty. It's so determined to eat him that he chases him all over the African continent!
- A Tragedy of Impulsiveness: This is coming and going for both Alex and Marty after Alex's falling out with Zuba and when he mistakes an Identical Stranger for Marty.
- Alex does not understand the full context of Marty's problems of the zebras being able to do the latter's tricks with ease, thus making Marty feel less special, and he accuses Marty of having fun without him while Alex himself is having "the worst day of his life". Had Marty explained his side of the story, Alex could've been more sympathetic to him.
- When Marty talks back to Alex about making everything about himself and decides to cut ties with him, Alex loses his cool and explodes at Marty on showing No Sympathy for his situation, which Marty has no context of as Alex has already poured his heart out to another zebra. Had Alex just repeated what he said earlier about him "ruining his parents' life" or if he had been attentive of the other zebra's personality, Marty could've been more forgiving to him and the argument could've been avoided as well.
- Trailers Always Spoil: In the teaser to Escape 2 Africa, Melman admits that he loves Gloria. At first, this seems to be a gag based on the fact that their plane is falling out of the sky (especially given the characters' reactions), but it turns out that it's the driving point of Melman's plotline in the movie.
- A Truce While We Gawk: Alex and Marty are understandably frantic during the plane crash, and then get into a slap fight when Alex admits that he broke Marty's iPod a while ago. They forget about both of these to stare at Melman when the latter makes an Anguished Declaration of Love to Gloria (who misses it due to being fast asleep).
- Tyrant Takes the Helm:
- Makunga manipulates Zuba into surrendering leadership of the pride and the reserve, and takes power.
- However, Julien also more or less takes over the reserve when he convinces the desperately thirsty animals of the reserve to make a sacrifice to the volcano god.
- Unrequited Love Switcheroo: In the film, Melman loves Gloria but Gloria doesn't know and dates Moto Moto. By the time she finds out and realizes she has feelings for him too, Melman decides to sacrifice himself to the volcano.
- Wedding Bells... for Someone Else: About at the end of the sequel, we're lead to believe that Melman and Gloria are getting hitched. Then it pans down to reveal that it's really Skipper marrying Lola, a bobble-head doll, which was an even weirder coupling.
- What Happened to the Mouse?:
- After Teetsi defeats and humiliates Alex in combat, he is never once seen afterwards. Odd, since he was seen talking with Makunga beforehand, implying they were in cahoots.
- We never get to find out what happened to Nana and Makunga after the former delivers a beat-down on the latter and takes him off-screen.
Word of God says she took him home as a pet, implying the other tourists, who were last seen a couple minutes ago, returned home as well.
- Wholesome Crossdresser: Julien: "Which of you is attracted to me?"
- Wiper Start: The penguins' first attempt at Rico hotwiring the safari jeep results in this.
- Worthless Yellow Rocks: The gold and diamonds the animals dig up at the watering hole while desperately looking for water. The penguins, who are from New York and are well aware what gold is worth to humans, take it all for themselves (the loot comes back in the third film, although the trope is no longer in play). Marty and the Zoosters are also aware of its value in civilization, but they have greater concerns. Justified, as the animals of the reserve really have no use for gold or jewels, while animals that intend to be among humans can use it.
- Would Harm a Senior: Alex is more than willing to get in a one-on-one fight with the little old lady who beat him up in the first film. Despite Alex being a fully grown male lion, the old lady still wins the fight.
- You No Take Candle: Alex, while trying to explain his plane crash to the animals in Africa.Hippo: ...is he dancing about a plane crash?
- "You!" Squared: Alex and the old lady who beat him up in the first movie recognize each other in the safari:Nana: I know you.
Alex: You.
Nana: Bad kitty! [beats him up again]