Alex the Lion is the king of the urban jungle as the main attraction at New York's Central Park Zoo. He and his best friends Marty the Zebra, Melman the Giraffe and Gloria the Hippo have lived their entire lives in blissful captivity.
Not content to leave well enough alone, Marty allows his curiosity to get the better of him and with the help of some prodigious penguins, makes his escape to explore the world he’s been missing, Alex, Melman and Gloria discover their friend missing and decide to break out of the zoo and get Marty back home before anyone notices they’re gone.
Even in New York, a lion, giraffe and hippo wandering the streets are bound to attract some attention! Marty is tracked down in Grand Central station but before they can catch the train home some well-meaning humans put them on a ship to Africa, and freedom from the stress of New York life.
When those plotting penguins sabotage the ship, Alex, Marty, Melman and Gloria find themselves washed ashore on the exotic island of Madagascar – now these native New Yorkers have to survive in the wild and discover the true meaning of the phrase “it’s a jungle out there”