Wednesday, December 3, 2014
Penguins of Madagascar Adoption Movie Review
Years ago, in Antarctica, three young penguins noticed an
abandoned egg. They broke away from a migrating group of penguins and bravely
went to rescue the egg, in spite of being told by another penguin, “we lose a
few eggs every year; it’s only nature.”
The rescued egg hatches into Private, a kind but clumsy
penguin who immediately greets the other penguins, “Hello. Are you my family?”
Ten years later, the penguins operate as a military unit of
sorts. They are captured by Dave, an octopus bitter at being displaced from a
zoo by the penguins, years earlier. Dave intends to capture all of the
zoo-living penguins in the world, and to use a Medusa Serum to make the
penguins ugly and deranged. A team of secret agents called the North Wind is
aware of Dave’s plans, and works with the penguins to thwart them.
The Adoption
Connection
Private is, more or less, the adopted brother of Rico,
Kowalski and Skipper. He quickly identifies them as family. One of the penguins
explains to him, clumsily, “You don’t have a family and we’re all going to die,”
before actually beginning to function as family. Another penguin corrects the
first one, “You know what, kid, you’ve got us, and we’ve got each other. If
that’s not a family, I don’t know what is.”
Strong Points
Private does have a loving, loyal family in his penguin
brothers.
Challenges
Private is loved by his adoptive penguin siblings, but they
mostly nurture him and value him as cute. Private, more than anything, wants to
“be a valued and productive member” of the family, but they don’t seem to take
him seriously for much of the film. They even refer to him as their mascot. And
ultimately, Private’s cuteness is a key factor in what allows him to save the
day. Ultimately, though, the other penguins affirm, “Looks don’t matter. It’s
what you do that counts, and look at what you did. You are the most meaningful
and valued member of the team.”
Dave has turned villainous because he felt unloved. He wants
other people (well, penguins) to feel how he felt. The penguins actually treat
him rather unkindly. I watched this film with a nine-year-old who commented
afterwards that, if the penguins had been nice to Dave, Dave might have been
nice back to them. It’s a valid point. At the end of the film, it seems that
Dave will be liked by a little girl, and a penguin does express, “I hope you
find happiness.”
Recommendations
Penguins of Madagascar is a good fit for kids ages 5-11. The
penguins are, more or less, an adoptive family, but their adoptive status isn’t
part of the plot; it’s just part of life. The movie also does open a way for
parents to talk with their kids about some difficult feelings – feeling unvalued
(like Private) or unliked (like Dave).
Questions for
Discussion
What makes a family, a family?
Private felt like he wasn’t valued as a member of the
family. Have you ever felt that way? What changed it for private? What changes
it for you?
Have you ever felt like Dave, like people don’t like you?
What was that like? Did it get better?
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