I’m sure that when you see that a sequel to the 2005 animated hit Madagascar, your first thought is not whether Ben Stiller is returning to voice Alex the Lion. Of course he is, this is his animated franchise. Mike Myers has Shrek, Tim Allen had Toy Story, Billy Crystal had Monsters Inc., Jerry Seinfeld had Bee Movie, Jack Black will soon have Kung Fu Panda and Stiller has Madagascar. Every big comedic star gets their own animated franchise — that is just one of the rules of the road.

Anyway, the point is that when it comes to Madagascar there was one thing that worked, and it wasn’t necessarily the vocal performance of Mr. Stiller, it was a group of sneaky, disciplined Penguins led by the Skipper (voiced by Tom McGrath). Those little dudes rocked our world, and they are back for another round. And yes, Ben Stiller is back, along with Sacha Baron Cohen as the crazy Limur Julien, David Schwimmer as they hypochondriac giraffe Melman, Chris Rock as Marty the Zebra and Jada Pinkett Smith as Gloria the Hippo.

Regarding the first film, had it not been for Kung Fu Panda, I would hold this as one of the better efforts from Dreamworks Animation. Therefore, I will say that I am mildly interested — especially if the aforementioned penguins continue to do their thing.

USA Today has scored a bunch of new photos from the film, now titled Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa which hits theaters on November 7, 2008. They can be seen below.

Sound Off: Are you interested in a sequel to Madagascar?