A year after DreamWorks released Madagascar, Disney released its own animated movie with a near-identical plot, The Wild. Released in 2005, Madagascar stars Chris Rock as Marty, an ambitious zebra at the Central Park Zoo who dreams of leaving behind his enclosure and exploring the outside world. The cast is rounded out by Ben Stiller as Alex the egocentric lion, Jada Pinkett Smith as Gloria the confident hippo, and David Schwimmer as Melman the hypochondriac giraffe, who all escape with Marty and end up stranded on the тιтular island.

Madagascar was a big hit with audiences and ended up launching a blockbuster franchise. Madagascar was followed by two sequels and a spinoff, and ended up becoming a lucrative property for DreamWorks. Just one year later, Disney tried to replicate that success by releasing a movie so similar that it could’ve been a remake. Unfortunately for the Mouse House, their version was nowhere near as popular as Madagascar. It’s unclear if Madagascar 4 will happen, but Disney made its own unofficial Madagascar movie in 2006.

Disney’s The Wild Is Very Similar To DreamWorks’ Madagascar

The Wild Is Another Animated Movie About Central Park Zoo Animals Heading To Africa

In 2006, Disney released The Wild, whose plot is almost identical to Madagascar. Like Madagascar, it revolves around a bunch of animals at the Central Park Zoo — led by a tenacious lion — who break out of their enclosures and end up running free in the wild. The reason they escape is slightly different: the lion’s son gets accidentally shipped off to Africa, so the lion and his friends go looking for him. But other than that, it’s more or less the same movie.

This wasn’t the first time that Disney and DreamWorks released very similar animated movies a few months apart, but DreamWorks’ version usually comes out after the Disney version (and is usually the inferior one). In 1998, DreamWorks released Antz a few months after Disney released A Bug’s Life. In 2004, DreamWorks released Shark Tale a year after Disney released Finding Nemo. With Madagascar’s story of runaway zoo animals, DreamWorks finally managed to beat Disney to the punch.

Which Movie Is Better? The Wild Vs. Madagascar

Madagascar Is The Superior Movie By Far

The Wild has its moments, but Madagascar is the superior movie by far. Its animation is better-looking, its storytelling is тιԍнтer, its humor is more effective, its voice cast has better chemistry, and it’s much less derivative. The Wild doesn’t just rip off Madagascar; it also borrows elements from Finding Nemo, The Lion King, The Jungle Book, and Cats & Dogs — it’s one of the least original animated movies ever made.