In the summer of 2005, “Madagascar” scored big with both domestic and international audiences, racking up more than half-a-billion at the worldwide box office, making it the top family comedy of the year. Once the fancy-footed lion, a quick talking zebra, an anxiety-ridden giraffe and a smart ‘n saucy hippo were released into theaters around the globe, these four New York friends—better known as Alex, Marty, Melman and Gloria—became the most popular quartet of the season.

Writer/director Eric Darnell remembers being relieved by the reception of “Madagascar,” but not really that surprised. He says, “‘Madagascar’ was a success because it had these entertaining and enjoyable characters that people could identify with—they also connected with them on a human level. And despite their flaws, their  issues, their anxieties, whatever problems they may be facing, you always empathize with them and want them to come through.”

Writer/director Tom McGrath continues, “We just fell in love with the characters that we created along with Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer and Jada Pinkett Smith—and clearly, everyone else did, too. We had this great ensemble cast that we just totally loved. We took on the theme of civility versus savagery and turned that into a friendship story about these zoo animals, when their bonds were tested once they got into the wild. Even at the time we ended the first movie—before it became this huge hit—we were thinking that we could do so much more with these characters.”

Producer Mireille Soria also reasons, “There is something about the design that people love. And I think that’s part of it—they’re very graphic—along with being smart and funny. The first movie was about the importance of friendship and what it means to be a good friend. One of the things that is so great about New York is its diversity, and that is reflected in our group—a lion, a giraffe, a zebra and a hippo who are best friends. And that was something we thought we could explore even further. And we could also celebrate that.”

It was this desire to continue the exploration of the four zoosters that the “Madagascar” filmmakers and DreamWorks Animation’s Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Katzenberg took with them onto a jet bound for the European premiere. McGrath explains, “Even before the movie became as popular as it was, we wanted to do another movie with the characters. We were on our way to Europe and on that plane, we just started hashing out a story—what if our characters went to Africa, their homeland where they supposedly belong? This was a wonderful way to continue the ‘fish out of water’ story—four New Yorkers on the plains of Africa.”

While the original directors and producer began to explore this new storyline, “Madagascar” continued to play to enthusiastic response from moviegoers everywhere. As the new project began to take shape, producer Mark Swift joined the team.

Swift says, “While Mireille was busy finishing ‘Madagascar,’ I worked on the short with the penguins called ‘A Christmas Caper.’ So I guess the penguins brought me into the second film.”

For Darnell and McGrath, it meant the continuance of a working relationship that had already proved to be a good one. Per Darnell: “The reason why Tom and I work so well together, I think, is because we can take each other’s ideas, turn them around and take them to the next level—we bounce them back and forth and come up with something that’s stronger than the sum of the parts. We try to be together as often as we can, approve things together and try to work as one mind as much as possible. Sometimes the needs of production demand that we split up—one of us in animation, one of us in a recording session—and we do that when we have to. But, frankly, the more we’re together in the same place at the same time, the better for us.”

The two met at DreamWorks more than eight years ago and found an instant artistic connection. “Madagascar” gave them the opportunity to work together, as a team. Tom McGrath: “We both often switch our hats around—when working on, say, the drama of the scene or the comedy of the scene—and we’ll swap duties. Because we’re writing partners, it helps us to create a singular vision for the film. And then, in our duties on the film, we try to stay together as much as we can, splitting duties when required—I mean, there are hundreds and hundreds of people working on this film, and we can’t always be in just one place. But when it gets into editorial, that’s where we really get to sit together and focus on our film—we are fortunate to now have done two films together.”

For Soria, the re-teaming was essential: “As the writers and the directors, they embody ‘Madagascar.’ They both bring different sensibilities and we get to take advantage of both of their great talents. One of the nice things about this sequel is that we were able to get Tom and Eric, and many of our department heads who were also on the first film [writer/directors Darnell and McGrath, production designer Kendal Cronkhite, visual effects supervisor Philippe Gluckman, head of character animation Rex Grignon, senior supervising animator Denis Couchon, music executive Sunny Park and Soria herself]. We had an opportunity to return to something that we loved and continue it. And we already had a shorthand—a lot of that ‘Oh, did I step on your toes?’ kind of thing…we’d already been there, done that!”

No matter who would be onboard, the filmmakers knew that without a good, workable story, continuing the journey would be rather fruitless. Mark Swift observes, “The story always comes first. And since ‘Madagascar,’ everybody loves these characters, so they have to have these characters back. They are like a family. It wouldn’t be quite the same if they weren’t there. So, we needed to focus on a story that was inclusive. And Tom and Eric and Etan Cohen wrote a wonderful script.”

Writer/director Darnell offers, “It’s kind of like a chain reaction. When the New Yorkers get on that plane in Madagascar to take off, who is on that plane? Well, it’s Air Penguin, they had to fix the plane and pilot the plane. So on with the penguins. You can’t leave Julien and Maurice and Mort behind. They’re funny. They’re part of the group, just like the chimps, Phil and Mason. And boom, you’ve got a big entourage. So we needed to service these characters, but also the characters they meet in Africa—that’s a big balancing act.”

It was precisely the popularity of the characters—not just the zoosters, but also Julien and his cohorts, the penguins, the chimps—that provided one of the biggest challenges. Writer/director McGrath explains, “Because you love all these characters, you want to spend time with all of them, but it’s very hard to juggle independent storylines. And so, that’s always a challenge. I think we pulled it off. All of our secondary stories support the main story, which is tough to do with a cast of, what, 13 characters?”

The writers put Alex at the core of the film, along with his story of meeting his parents, who turn out to be completely different. Alex is the King of New York, the showman, a star—probably not skills that go very far on the vast plains of Africa. For Marty, who’s always dreamed of running with the herd, how does it really work, to be part of an enormous group of zebras who are…exactly like you? Gloria, now a little more grown up, feels it may be time to explore a relationship and has the opportunity to do just that. Melman not only finds himself included in a tower of giraffes (yes, that’s the official group name!), but also facing his true feelings for Gloria…just in time to see her being romanced by another.

The writers reasoned that while the first film had a wealth of broad moments, it also had subtle, quiet beats, where characters were discovering something within themselves. With this storyline of exploration—to be part of a family, part of a group— there were more opportunities for such times. Each zooster undergoes some sort of inner exploration (who am I really? what is it I really want? is it love or infatuation?), which meant bigger challenges for the animators: to manifest these emotional searches on the outside. In short, the zoosters would need to beef up their acting chops, courtesy of their creators.

While McGrath finishes, “It’s a whole different set of challenges, but that’s what our animators are trained to do. They’re all really actors at heart who may not want to step out onstage themselves, but they’ll push their animated creations out there and see what they can do.”