Oh, I agree. [spoil]I love all of the circus characters and how well everyone got along at the end, and I would hate it see that ruined, like them leaving the circus in a fourth movie or something. They’ve lived in enough places: the zoo, Madagascar, and Africa. I’d love to see them stay with the circus.[/spoil]I’d like it to stay as a trilogy, like Toy Story. Both series’ are perfect staying how they are.
Yeah. However I’ve heard rumors about a spin off movie with the Penguins being planned. I have abosolute zero objections to that if it’s true. But another movie with Alex, Melman, Gloria, and Marty would be unnecessary because their story has been wrapped up quite nicely.
Exactly! Even a short movie with the main characters would be okay, but just not another full movie.
A bit overdue on this one - I watched it a fortnight ago, but luckily I have a good memory. You can read my review HERE or click on my sig below.
The In-A-Nutshell version: This is the “Rio” of 2012 for me, and unless Brave appeals to my heart as strongly as this, I have a feeling the Pixar film is going to be a “Rango” for me (ie appeals to my head, which is not really a bad thing, just that I engage with it on a more intellectual level than being emotionally-vested). 
Just saw it today!! Oh my goodness, it was excellent! I loved it! I tell you, this might be DreamWorks’ best film ever! It had hysterical moments, heartwarming moments, and lots of action! Two thumbs up! 
I’m genuinely surprised by all the rave reviews! I didn’t like the other Madagascar films, but I hear this is the best. I’ll definitely have to watch it now.
OWP: I know right? 
I think I’d put Madagascar 3 as the best animated film of the year so far. Sorry Pixar, but um, Brave didn’t cut it for me. I still enjoyed Pixar’s film, though, I’ll explain more in a future review.
But Madagascar 3 is a whole different animal (pun unintended) - it has a bigger scope, a romantic sub-plot, and the message (of redemption for one character and finding one’s true home for the Zoosters) was handled better and less clumsily than Brave’s.
EJE: Well, you like globe-trotting films, right? And foreign languages, right? (Frances McDormand’ character gets a beautiful French number from Edith Piaf in one memorable sequence) And animals, right?
So go see it already! Or if not in theatres, definitely a rental.
TDIT - I have to say, I actually love M3 and Brave equally, which is rarely the case for me to say about a Pixar film and a Dreamworks film. I think it’s because I’m well… remember my screenname? But I can understand why M3 has more appeal; my aunt and my brother saw M3 and Brave with me, and I had little doubt that they’d love M3 more (my aunt is a big animal lover/Madagascar series fan and my brother loved the combination of M3’s humor and great sound design, as he is obsessed with sound design). To me, M3 had more heart and soul than some of DW’s other films, and that’s saying something since I like pretty much all of the DW films I’ve seen; and with the addition of its great humor, action, entertaining story, and awesome characters, M3 easily stole my heart.
I did want to see this. Hopefully I get to. The clips on the internet make me laugh. 
OWP: I agree with you on all counts. I’m kinda behind on writing a review for Brave (which I saw when it bowed in Singapore cinemas back in August), but, long story short: [spoil]Madagascar 3 beat Brave by a little bit for me[/spoil].
LQstudeisPixar - They should be available on DVD and Blu-Ray now. At least, they are for Singapore. Or download them from iTunes.
I’m not too crazy about Brave, but this film was completely overrated.
Yes, it was better than the first two, but that doesn’t mean it’s great, taking in consideration how terrible those two were.
This one had some truly funny moments, but overall, I think it only had rave reviews because the evaluation bar for this franchise was too low.
Neither Pixar nor Dreamworks were at their best this year.
Well, fairy 'nuff, SoA. Have you seen Rise of the Guardians? I think I might miss out on it as I only have other movies in mind to watch in cinemas (and maybe a rewatch of Wreck It Ralph, which I’ve just seen today), and RotG is ending its cinema run here soon.
I was a bit underwhelmed with Pixar this year too. I was pleasantly surprised by Hotel Transyvlannia recently, and that was from Sony Pictures Animation, whose only decent film was Surf’s Up (the technical beauty of the waves and the fresh ‘mockumentary’ approach was what impressed me for the latter). And as you’ve probably guessed from the previous paragraph, Disney hit my expectations out of the park for Ralph.
It really seems like a backwards and upside-down year for the animation industry.
Yes, the mockumentary by Sony was pretty good. I wasn’t impressed by Hotel Transylvania, though.
Rise of the Guardians was just released here, for Christmas, so I haven’t watched it yet. Maybe it’ll change things and make Dreamworks shine this year.
Ah, interesting. What aspects of Transylvania did you feel could be improved?
I personally am a sucker for parodies/crossovers/deconstructive stories. So Hotel’s spoofing of the horror genre really appealed to me. Plus, Adam Sandler made a wicked Count. Yeah, the story was incredibly predictable (except for the revelatory scene in the village before the climax) and there were some parts where I wished they would slow down and have a decent conversation, but overall, it hit me on an ‘entertainment’ level more than Continental Drift did, and probably as much as Mad 3.
And the [spoil]Twilight spoof on the airline video[/spoil] nailed it for me.
Oh dear, I should really be copypasting this onto the Hotel Transylvania thread, haha.
I keep it short so that this won’t turn into an HT thread, but I thought it was childish and I didn’t like the animation and designs.
Not too far from my opinion of Madagascar 3, by the way, tough that one at least had nice landscapes, the only designs I didn’t like were the characters, but that’s a fault from the original.
I know I’m going to regret asking this, so don’t answer it; how could anyone not love Madagascar 3 or Brave?! 
I won’t elaborate on it not to spoil the rhetoricality of your question, but the thing is that films, like everything, either turn you on or off. It’s something very personal, as you can love a very bad film or hate a very good one.
I think Madagascar 3 isn’t awful, and that Brave is a good film. But I don’t really love either. There are too many turn offs in both for me.
Madagascar 3? I saw it a while back when I was at my cousin’s place. (In Dutch but it wasn’t too bad. Except Marty’s voice. Ouch.) But it was pretty cool nonetheless! It didn’t do much to me like the first two did but it was still enjoyable.
I missed the ending though. D:
Eh, as long as you saw the Katy Perry Fireworks sequence (which was mesmerising in 3-D on a cinema screen), you didn’t miss much regarding the ending, Badger. I felt the climax was pretty weak, and that they should’ve raised the stakes higher and made the showdown battle more dangerous. It tied up too neatly and felt like the end of a weekly cartoon episode than the finale of a motion picture.
If you want great animated film climaxes, it’ll be Up, Wall-E, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron or How to Train your Dragon, off the top of my head. Weak ones would be Madagascar 3, Cars 2 and Ice Age: Continental Drift (in the sense that the villain wasn’t threatening enough or the heroes weren’t in any huge danger in the final battle).
I did love the callback to [spoil]Circus Americano, though, it’s a great Chekov’s Gun.[/spoil]
Well I’m glad to hear that the Fireworks scene is a good scene. I’m not really sure how to distinguish between a strong or weak climax. Plus, I thought you liked those movies that you said had weak climaxes, and didn’t the main characters in those sequels [spoil]almost die[/spoil]? Sometimes the sequels are even easier to re-watch than some original films.
I guess you mean with them being sequels, it’s more likely for the audience to expect the characters to survive, and those original films have more depth considering they are the first ones? It’s fine if you think that. Sorry, I’m just curious, but I pretty much think I know what you mean. All of the ones you mentioned (weak or strong climaxes) are good too (but I have not yet seen Spirit 
).